KUALA LUMPUR: Popular Singaporean actor Datuk Aaron Aziz may not be close to his fellow "countryman" Aliff Aziz, but the Ombak Rindu star has always respected the controversial singer-actor.
Aaron, 48, said that he had always admired Aliff, 33, as a versatile talent who excelled in singing as well as acting, and was saddened that the Gegar Vaganza 8 champion had landed himself in "lots of trouble" over the years.
"Yes, we are all human and we all make mistakes. Unfortunately Aliff took many 'falls' in his showbiz career, but as a person, he has always been kind and humble towards his fellow Singaporean artistes based in Malaysia," said Aaron at the launch of his latest project, a Hari Raya Aidilfitri advertisement for Bank Rakyat titled Tulus Ikhlas.
The advertisement about a father's remembrance of his late son's kindness and charitable ways marked Aaron's directorial debut in a television commercial and his first appearance in a Hari Raya short film.
Produced by Razor's Edge Sdn Bhd, the 7-minute Tulus Ikhlas was filmed around the Klang Valley over two days early this year, and also starred Sharifah Husna Syed Mustaffa, Aaron Yusof Raj and Adreana Jameela Raj.
The launch which took place at the bank's headquarters in Brickfields here was also attended by the bank's chief marketing and communications officer Nizam Sani.
Aaron said that as a senior and fellow Singaporean, he advised Aliff to learn from the "fall and rise" of well-known Hollywood stars Mark Wahlberg and Robert Downey Jr, who had "bad boy" reputations during the early days of their careers, yet pulled themselves up and are now A-list actors.
"When Wahlberg was in NKOTB and The Funky Bunch, he had a bad rap, and around the same time Downey Jr went in and out of jail for a litany of offenses. Yet they worked hard to turn over a new leaf and successfully pulled themselves up," said Aaron.
"Downey Jr was once labelled Downey & Out, but today everyone calls him Iron Man!"
Aaron also advised netizens to refrain to passing judgements and condemning Aliff or any artiste who "fell on the wayside".
"There will be times when all of us take a misstep in life. It may be our own fault, it may be a wrong judgement we make, but we must learn to forgive especially in the holy month of Ramadan.
"As they always say, everybody deserves a second chance provided they really work hard to make it happen," said Aaron.
Aliff was caught for khalwat alongside actress Ruhainies Zainul Ilyas at her condominium in the federal capital on March 8.
Aliff's singer-actress wife Bella Astillah subsequently filed for divorce at the Federal Territories Syariah Court in Jalan Duta here.
Aliff was previously "caught" by Bella having a relationship with actresses Afifah Nasir and Oktovia Manrose in 2017 and 2019 respectively.
Aliff and Bella were married in 2016 and have two children.
