Petronas warms hearts and appetites with short film titled Rendang Soraya

This Hari Raya Petronas has wooed the people once again with its heartwarming ad titled Rendang Soraya.

The ad which was created by IPG Mediabrands, Reservoir Production house and directed by Ismail Kamarul was inspired by the famous Negeri Sembilan rendang dish.

“Rendang SoRaya” follows the journey of Soraya, a chef-in-training who tries to re-create her mother’s special rendang and in the process discovers precious moments that all Malaysians cherish, beyond the beloved traditional Raya dish.

In her hometown to celebrate Aidilfitri, Soraya traces her mother’s footsteps during the preparations for the rendang, encountering the people close to her mother and discovers the secret ingredient in making the rendang.

Petronas Senior General Manager of Group Strategic Communications, Zahariah (Liza) Abdul Rahman said: “This festive season, Petronas brings you a relatable story that many of us hold on to dearly, as part of our inherited tradition during Raya celebration.

“The Webfilm is more than just about the special Raya dish. It is about what the rendang symbolises – a mother’s love and also the connections she made along the way that have now passed on to her daughter.”

Liza added that the story also reflects another blessing, the strong bond that we create with the people around us which should not be taken for granted.

“The Webfilm also explores the blessing of having a close-knit community, our support system that not only cares and looks out for us but becomes part of our family.”

The film’s producer Sabrina Wong spoke to Marketing magazine about what went into the making of the web film.

“Each advertisement that we do for Petronas involves a lot of research and we want to make sure that we represent all aspects and facets of Malaysia.”

“If you look at our Hari Gawai ad you will see that we want the culture of every community represented.

“Initially we thought of Kelantan and the Kelantanese dialect but we felt that this has already been done by others, Negeri Sembilan is something that not many people know about in terms of its food and culture.

“We started with the idea of which different dialect to feature and then we thought why don’t we opt for a dish that is synonymous with that particular state instead,” said Wong.

“The other challenge was finding the right talent for the ad as we wanted to feature locals from Negeri Sembilan itself, lay people who will represent and lend authenticity to the short film.

“The lead actress Soraya however was not local but is actual of Kadazan descent and hails from Sabah. Her name is Fiza Thomas and she worked with us on the Hari Gawai ad as well,” added Wong.

Watch the ad here;

Credits:

Agency: IPG Mediabrands
ECD: Chan Woei Hern 
CD: Ahmad Nazril, Didi Pirinyuang
Copywriter: Ahmad Nazril, Nawiruddin, Nor Marlina, Carmen Cheong
Art Director: Kelvin, Hafidz
Audio: Realtime
Film Director: Ismail Kamarul
Production House: Reservoir World 
Producer: Sabrina Wong, Ezurain