KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 2 — After exploring Malaysian stories in La Luna (2023) and Badak (2025), Singaporean filmmaker M. Raihan Halim is back with Goreng!, a new action comedy that turns a humble pisang goreng (banana fritters) stall into unlikely cover for a bank heist.
The film follows Johari Hamzah, who devises an ambitious plan to rob a bank by renting a shop directly opposite it and digging a tunnel into its vault.
To avoid attracting suspicion, Johari and his friends run a pisang goreng stall by day while working on their underground tunnel at night.
But their carefully planned heist begins to unravel when their humble shop, Goreng, unexpectedly goes viral, leaving the gang scrambling to cope with a sudden rush of customers.
Things get even more complicated when a food influencer discovers the secret tunnel beneath the shop.
The film stars Sky Iskandar, Nadhir Nasar, Chech Harith, Tony Eusoff and Amelia Henderson, with additional cast members expected to be announced as production progresses.
Speaking to Malay Mail yesterday during a media visit to the film’s set, Halim said Goreng! was partly inspired by the entrepreneurial spirit he observed among Kuala Lumpur’s younger generation.
“When I come to Kuala Lumpur, one thing I really love about people here is the hustle.”
He recalled taking a Grab while visiting the city and meeting people who worked multiple jobs, including driving after their regular daytime work to earn extra income.
“To me, I really, really love that hustle of Kuala Lumpur.
“I like seeing the stories of younger people who are hustling to build businesses, whether it is a kopi shop or a burger business.”
Halim said the creative ways young people were building businesses reflected an entrepreneurial streak in the city that eventually became part of the film’s DNA.
While its premise revolves around a bank robbery, he said the story is ultimately grounded in the lives of ordinary people trying to make a living and find their place in a fast-changing city.
The filmmaker also looked to Malaysian comedies of the early 2000s for inspiration, particularly the work of veteran actor and filmmaker Afdlin Shauki, including Buli Balik and Baik Punya Cilok.
“Those are the films that I really love, and I want to bring that feeling back in a modern setting,” he said.
And although pisang goreng plays a central role in the movie, Halim said culinary skills were hardly a prerequisite when he assembled his cast.
“I wanted them as actors first, so whether they could fry pisang goreng or not was fine,” he said.
Halim said Nadhir and Sky caught his attention after he saw them in the drama series Project: High Council and its film prequel Kahar: Kapla High Council.
Rather than immediately assigning them characters, he said he wanted to spend time getting to know both actors before developing roles that could showcase their strengths while pushing them beyond the kinds of characters audiences might expect.
“I don’t want to make the same kind of film for myself.
“I need to do something different, and I hope when people watch this, they feel that we haven’t seen this kind of film in a long time,” he said.
Filming for Goreng! is currently underway, with production taking place almost entirely in Kuala Lumpur.
Halim said the film is targeting an August 2027 release, although the date remains subject to change.
He acknowledged that finding the right release window is never straightforward, particularly when it comes to predicting which films will connect with audiences.
“To be honest, there is never a good time.
“I think films like Libang Libu are a very good example.
“It just came out of nowhere and found its audience.
“So we’re looking at that.
“I don’t see anything earlier than August 2027,” he said.
The film’s poster and trailer are expected to be unveiled at a later stage.
Goreng! is produced by Clover Films, Papahan Films, Act 2 Pictures, Golden Screen Cinemas (GSC), One Tree Holdings and ACO Media Produksi, with GSC Movies serving as distributor.
