KUALA LUMPUR: Local action thriller Sheriff: Narko Integriti has been labelled by certain netizens as "jaguh kampung" (village hero who can only do well on home ground) since it was not well received in Indonesia.
Its lead star, Zul Ariffin, came to its defense recently and said that it was inappropriate to tag the Syafiq Yusof-directed movie negatively.
"For me, Sheriff has been worked on and produced very well by young director Syafiq Yusof. Imagine at the age of 32, he has already created success in films.
"I found that this film (Sheriff) also got very good reviews there (Indonesia) similar to many Malaysians who praise the storyline, action sequences, and so on.
"It might not be accepted there maybe because they (the audience) are not familiar with the concept of the story. But, if you want to call it 'jaguh kampung', then it's not right," he said in a Harian Metro report today.
The 38-year-old actor added that it was very hard to predict the success of any particular movie.
"So, when their (Indonesian) film shown here fails, can it be also labeled as 'juara kampung' on their part?
"But, this is what it's called (the film industry). Like Sheriff, some people are interested (to watch it) and some people are not interested.
"Everyone has their own taste, we don't know. But, bringing people (audiences) to the cinema is not an easy task.
"Film industry activists already know that. It is possible to make the best film but to make sure people come and watch it is another challenge," he said.
Sheriff, which was screened in 100 cinemas in Indonesia on May 23, was also shown in Brunei and Singapore, as well as in Hong Kong on June 6.
The movie enjoyed a successful run in Malaysia after collecting more than RM60 million at the local box office.
It tells the story of Sheriff, a police officer from the Integrity Department, who partners with Nazri, a young officer from the Narcotics Department, to defeat the drug kingpin Tony Ifrit.
Produced by Skop Production, it also stars Syafiq Kyle, Datuk Aaron Aziz, Azira Shafinaz, and Elizabeth Tan.