TTDI Film Crew Buddies 2

Mid-February 1986. On the first night of arriving back after leaving Morgantown. Joined the newfound friends - the TTDI film crew gang - for a Ramli Sirap performance at the Hard Rock Café, Taman Tun Dr Ismail (TTDI)

One conversation topic in the car, before reaching the Café, was about a friend who’s not with us at that time. He went to the birthday party of Kak Yong’s daughter instead (I’ve met him at the house earlier)

They were talking about how Abang Din was a little bit upset at that moment. His girlfriend was going to be sent overseas by her father, to keep her away from Abang Din. The girl was on the cover of the Remaja magazine that I browsed through at the house earlier. She was a real looker (it was an early 1986 Remaja issue).

It was very hard to imagine, how in heaven did such a hot and glamorous girl could fall for Abang Din; at that time was a gangly dude with a very crew cut hair. I guess my understanding of the opposite sex’s needs and requirements were as shallow as it could get, then.

But that was not all. They said that they wouldn’t worry about it that much if they were Abang Din. Why? Because they said it was an open secret then that Raja Ema and Erma Fatima were clamoring for Abang Din’s affection. Those two glamour ladies, and Abang Din? They gotta be kidding me. Must be some sort of a real big-time lady-killer, that Abang Din.

How was I to know it was not Abang Din that they were talking about; it was Badin that I had misheard.

Lost contact with that TTDI film crew buddies after three months since my arrival back from the States. Several years later, a story about a famous movie cameraman marrying a fellow artist, Erma Fatima, came out in the media. It took me a long while to realize it, but that guy was definitely the Abang Din / Badin that I came to know for a very short period (three days only) previously.

It was the long hair and chubbier profile that derailed my recognition. Badaruddin Azmi was that Abang Din / Badin, the movie cameraman who’s also now a film director / producer.

I did thought about getting back into their circle, a few recent years back. But then, thinking about the years that had caught on to me, and the number of people that had came into contact with them, I felt that it’s not worth it. They would not remember me, let alone recognize me. Just sufficient to know that I used to be tight with some of the guys that had a hand in keeping our entertainment scene as it is today.

Been wondering - had I stayed with them and tried my luck in their line of career, could I be like Aznil or Din Beramboi? Or maybe like, Jalaluddin Hassan?