JAKARTA, March 25 — If you’re a fan of the 2002 teen drama Ada Apa Dengan Cinta? (What’s Up With Love?) and its 2016 sequel Ada Apa Dengan Cinta? 2, then you must be familiar with Milly and Mamet, Cinta’s oddball friends who end up getting married to each other. Guess what? The couple is getting their own rom-com spin off!
Milly & Mamet will feature original actors for the characters, Sissy Prescillia and Dennis Adhiswara. The film will be directed by stand-up comedian, actor and rising young director Ernest Prakasa and co-produced by Mira Lesmana from Miles Films and Chand Parwez Servia from Starvision Plus.
Mira, who produced both AADC movies, said Milly and Mamet are classic scene-stealers.
“But the audience loved it when Milly and Mamet got married in AADC 2. Many of them asked me how did the two hit it off and what’s their life like when they’re not with the gang? So we thought, why not make a spin-off?” Mira said during a press conference at Menara by Kibar in Cikini, Central Jakarta, on Thursday.
Ernest was hired to helm the project because Mira was impressed by the films he’s done with Starvision.
Ernest has written and directed three drama-comedies with Starvision: Ngenest the Movie in 2015, Cek Toko Sebelah (Check Out the Shop Next Door) in 2016 and Susah Sinyal (Poor Reception) last year.
“I’ve been a fan of Ernest long before he became a director. I used to watch his stand-up gigs. When I saw his first film Ngenest, I knew he’d chosen the right career path. Here was a new talent, I thought,” Mira said.
She also said that giving the director’s chair to someone who wasn’t involved in any of the AADC movies could give the upcoming film a fresher look.
Ernest, who wrote the Milly & Mamet script with his wife Meira Anastasia, said making the spin-off was “an interesting learning experience,” especially since AADC was such a popular franchise.
“Usually, when I write a story about a romantic couple, the hardest challenge is to build the chemistry. But now, it’s already there,” Meira said.
Co-producer Parwez said he expects Milly & Mamet to go past AADC 2’s 3.6 million viewers.
Family or career?
The film will pick up where AADC 2 left off: Milly giving birth to the couple’s first-born baby. Now Milly has to resign from her job as a banker to raise the baby, and Mamet holds down a 9-to-5 job at a factory owned by Milly’s father.
Enter a new character called Alexandra, Mamet’s close friend in college, who tells him that she’s found an investor for the restaurant business that she and Mamet have always dreamed of.
Mamet is put in a bind between pursuing his dream or taking care of his family, while Milly is struggling to come to terms with being a stay-at-home mom.
Dennis said he is excited to reprise his role, especially because his nerdy character did not get much screen time in AADC 2.
“I miss playing Mamet. Getting his own film will give me the chance to get to know the character even more,” Dennis said.
Sissy said playing a grown-up, responsible version of Milly will be such a drastic change from getting into the original character, who was more of an airhead.
“Her mind used to be always out there, now she has to focus to take care of a baby, it won’t be an easy job,” Sissy said.
Ernest said other main characters from the original AADC will cameo in Milly & Mamet, but didn’t say which ones.
Milly & Mamet is still in the script development stage. Filming is expected to start in August and the final movie will be released in December. — Jakarta Globe
