No fangs out, just wide smiles and lots of warmth.
Sunday, 28th May 06 — The Star: By Florence A.Samy
There were no fangs, bloodshoot eyes or chilling temprature when the two women met — only wide smiles and a lot of warmth.
It was the first time the legendary Datuk Maria Menado and Maya Karin met face-to-face but when they saw each other it was like a meeting of old friends.
Although from different generations, Maria & Maya had both achieved fame immortalizing the role of the pontianak.
"It's a huge honour to meet Maria as she is the first to bring the pontianak character to the movies, and she did it so brilliantly" said an excited Maya.
Maria was equally thrilled to meet Maya, saying: "It's an honour to have a photograph taken with Maya".
Both admitted to being fans of one another, having watched each other's pontianak movies.
The two met at the soft launch of Cathay Cineplexes Sdn Bhd's flagship multiplex at Cineleisure Damansara (next to the Curve) on Friday night during a special screening of blockbuster hit X-Men: The Last Stand.
Cathay-Keris Films was the first studio to produce pontianak films and Maria starred in the popular Pontianak, Dendam Pontianak and Sumpah Pontianak, directed by the late B.N. Rao.
Maria, who retired from the movie industry in 1963, looked resplendent in a red kebaya, her hair pulled back in a chic chignon.
Despite referring to herself as an orang tua, Maria, named as Malaysia's most beautiful woman in 1957 by the Time magazine, still looked youthful.
Maya, 27, who won raves for her lead role in Suhaimi Baba's Pontianak Harum Sundal Malam and its sequel, looked captivating despite wearing a simple green top with blank and white striped pants.
The actress of Malay-German parentage had won several awards, including the Best Actress award at the 49th Asia-Pacific Film Festival in Japan.
The two women also had another thing in common — both grew up in Indonesia.
Maria was born in Menado, North Sulawesi, while Maya spent a number of years in Bandung.
On the movie industry, Maria said things had improved quite a bit, thanks to advance technology, including special effects.
"Things were very different in the old days. The takes were done little by little, we had to find our own transport and I had to come to the studio at least two hours early to do my own make-up" she added.
Praising Maria, Maya said actors in the old days had a lot of discipline, commitment and dedication.
"Nowdays, some actors or actresses take things too easy, such as showing up late for shooting or forgetting their lines. I hope I'm not one of them," she added.
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