Syamsul Yusof

Biography

Syamsul grew up in Kuala Lumpur. He is the son of famed director; Dato' Yusof Haslam. His brother, Syafiq Yusof, his cousins, Rizal Ashreff and Sabrina Ali and his half-brother is Faizal Yusof are also actors. Syafiq and Faizal themselves also have their other careers as film directors.

Beginnings

Born into a family who owns one of the largest film companies in Malaysia, the desire in film directing was ingrained to him from a very young age. His father, recognising this, decided to test his directing abilities by allowing him to direct the former's police drama series Gerak Khas for a few episodes as an assignment. After those episodes were given the approval by his father, Syamsul was now confident enough to sit in the director's chair.

He eventually decided to produce and direct his first feature film. The script that would eventually became Evolusi KL Drift, co-written by him and his cousin Rizal was initially rejected by his father for further redrafting. After the revision, his first film project was finally approved alongside a budget of RM 1.35 million. Despite his lack of directing experience and the immense pressure of keeping reputation of his family, Evolusi KL Drift managed to succeed. The film's success paved the way for several other directorial endeavours.

Rise of success

After directing Evolusi KL Drift; he continued on with an action oriented film Bohsia: Jangan Pilih Jalan Hitam, which had gained unwanted publicity due to the film title's issues with the vulgar language used and certain copyright issues but he managed to pull through. The film managed to become successful despite this. Next, he continued to direct the sequel to Evolusi KL Drift. The film was a critical and box-office success, with Syamsul bagging the Best Director award at the 23rd Malaysia Film Festival.

He wanted to punctuate his mark as a director dabbling on other film genres. So in 2011, he delved into the horror genre with Khurafat: Perjanjian Syaitan, in which it collected a gross collection of RM 8 million to the surprise of film thespians. Critics gave praise to his first attempt in directing the horror film. He also added his year's roster with KL Gangster, being careful in its production. The film collected a gross of almost RM 12 million, twice what his father achieved through Sembilu II, despite competition from foreign films screening during that time. Th film also won him the 24th Malaysia Film Festival's Best Director award for two years in a row.

2013-present: Recent development

He continued to direct several other films such as Aku Bukan Tomboy plus the sequels to Bohsia: Jangan Pilih Jalan Hitam and KL Gangster 2. His latest film, Munafik, was released to Malaysian cinemas in February 2016.Currently, Syamsul acted in his latest film Makrifat Cinta which is now on filming while waiting for new film starring him with Bella Dally, Desolasi directed by his brother, Syafiq Yusof.

Musical career

Syamsul also dabbles in a singing career. He produced an EP with Anwar Fazal, entitled The Love Legacy back then. The EP contained four songs - "Bidadari", "Apakah Semuanya Itu" (used as the soundtrack for Evolusi KL Drift 2), "Ya Robbi" (soundtrack for Khurafat) and "Hingga Hujung Dunia" (soundtrack for Aku Bukan Tomboy). In 2016, he released a new single which was a collaboration with singer Mawi, "Kalah Dalam Menang". The song was used as the theme song for his latest film, Munafik.

Personal life

Syamsul Yusof married actress Puteri Sarah Liyana Megat Kamaruddin in 8 March 2014. In November 2016, the couple expecting their first child and Syamsul confirmed that Puteri Sarah was pregnant of their first son. In April 2017, Syamsul and Puteri Sarah welcomes their first child - a baby boy named Syaikhul Islam, born on April 19.

Discography

Endorsements