KUALA LUMPUR: The apparent 'closeness' between lead stars of the 'Terjerat' drama series, Aliff Aziz and Ruhainies , was alleged to be an exercise in building chemistry between the two artistes for the show.
A Harian Metro report yesterday quoted a production crew member as saying that the pair even called each other 'baby' on the set of the series.
"We didn't expect for such closeness on the set to escalate further, especially to the extent of it leading to the private confines of her home," said production personnel only identified as Mr Z.
"Different onscreen sparring partners would have different approaches in building their rapport, like chatting away or practising their lines together when not in front of the camera.
"But in this case, I could see that the relationship between the two certainly looked more than just that of acting.
"Our crew on the set did remind Aliff not to get too close to his co-star, considering his history.
"But he insisted that he needed to do what he believed he had to do for his role in the drama series.
"Sometimes we could see the two of them just being in a car together."
According to the crew member, the pair had also been seen several times arriving to the set together, even though they had different call times.
"What really surprised us was that Ruhainies and Bella (Aliff's wife Bella Astillah) had seemed very chummy and looked like they were even the best of friends.
"So, it didn't cross my mind that Aliff and Ruhainies would go this far."
The crew member added that Bella's decision to pull out from the production was the right thing to do.
"In the drama series, Bella's character steals her elder sister's (played by Ruhainies) husband (Fendy Bakry).
"There would have been a scene in which Bella's character seeks forgiveness from Ruhainies' character. It's just not right seeing what's happening in real life right now."