What made the whole process easier and a lot more enjoyable for Ning was the entire cast and crew that she worked with, whom she had nothing but praises for.

While the show depicted what would be considered a dysfunctional family in a tussle for power, on set, the cast and crew shared a bond like a loving family. In fact, some of the cast would even endearingly refer to her as ‘mama’ and they would even take turns to cook dishes for each other.

“The entire filming process was amazing on the whole, thanks to all the talent on board and support we gave and had for each other. The director Khairul Azri, whom most refer to as Kroll, supplied us with the perfect balance of direction and freedom for us to develop and portray our characters accordingly to the demands of the show as well as match our personalities in a way.

“Everyone on the project was simply wonderful! I’ve previously worked with Ridzuan Hashim, my on-screen husband, who is a renowned actor. It’s a breeze working with him, he’s very seasoned and easy to work with. Then there’s Nazim Othman, a fellow seasoned actor, and many younger actors in their prime, doing modelling, influencing and are such a pleasure to work with. In fact, I do feel like a mum on set; not a tiger mum though—that’s only when I’m in character,” she laughs.

“Plus, I really loved my lines in the show; I personally think I had some of the best lines. Lines that, given the context it’s said in, are really powerful and would make people watching go ‘wow, you really don’t want to mess with her.’”

However, there were some hiccups along the way, which was expected as the crew was filming during the pandemic. Having started filming in the fourth quarter of last year, production had to stop for about two weeks, some time in December 2021, due to a spike in the number of Covid cases.

Ning, who is a self-proclaimed “psycho-perfectionist when it comes to work,” shared that these delays and disturbances threw her off balance.

“I just want to know what’s going to happen next, so I’m prepared to perform to the best of my abilities, but sometimes there are just issues to deal with, such as even weather issues. Thankfully, there’s always a fallback, and I definitely have to thank Skop Productions, as well as the team from Astro, for keeping the whole production on the rails,” she says gratefully.

Having acted since 1997, Ning relishes the excitement of doing dramas, especially TV series. “I just love the thrill of it all, you know? With films, the process is relatively faster, but for drama series, it’s something that you have to wait to reap the value of along the way, as each episode airs.”

Ning believes that Kuasa pushes the borders in terms of what viewers have come to expect from traditional Malay dramas, and in her own words, describes the series as being “very different and uplifting even at some points,” which is also one of the reasons why she took up the role of Puan Sri Lily in the first place.

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Meanwhile, that’s not all that fans of Ning Baizura have to look forward to this year. After enjoying her stunning on-screen performance, one can get ready for a number of auditory pleasures as well.

“As I mentioned, June is my favourite month of the year; it has always been kind to me and I’ve always looked forward to it all these years. So, when Bobo KL reached out to me to perform this month, I was glad and immediately agreed. I told them I want to meet the fans, and Bobo is such a nice, intimate space, so you truly get to interact with people who attend. This session is purely just to meet the fans, so I’ll be performing there from June 23 till the 26th, and then I’ll get to relax a bit before celebrating my birthday,” she says.

What’s more exciting for the fans to know would be the fact that Ning will also be releasing some new songs, and on top of that, she will be looking to tour around Asia in the very near future.

She’s scheduled to perform in Singapore and Indonesia sometime between July and August, after Kuala Lumpur. On top of that, she is also hoping to have enough material to create a physical copy, but the songs will definitely be available digitally across all platforms.

“With Puan Sri Lily’s confidence, I’m telling you, 2022 will be my year!” she exclaims. “I’m really coming out, I know I’m meant to make a comeback; and it’s the endemic now—a lot has been happening, which I can’t say no to. I know I’m going to be exhausted, but it’s a good drive and motivation for me.

“I’m definitely looking forward to it, especially after the pandemic. Although the pandemic did afford me and my family some quality time to bond and do plenty of fun stuff together, things have been challenging no doubt for a lot of us, and it’s important for us to find our strength again, whether it be spiritually, religiously or mentally. This is going to be the year for all of us, God-willing,” she ends on a hopeful note.

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