Sazzy Falak
Actress and Talent Manager, SinclairFalak Sdn. Bhd, 2014
Diploma in Multimedia, Advertising & Broadcasting
When you run a business, you don’t just open a shop and sell things and hope to succeed. You need to develop a business plan, position yourself, and know whom you are trying to reach. The same thing applies to an actor: as an entertainer, you are your own company, and your name is your own brand.
19 February 2014
Official Website
The Other Side of Sazzy
Written by Catalina Rembuyan
Sazzy Falak is one of Malaysia’s most recognizable faces on the silver screen and television sets. Beloved television personality and award-winning actress, Sazzy shares her insights into the entertainment industry and reveals a side few people get to see. Catalina Rembuyan has the story.
The vivacious Shazlini Shamsul Falak, or Sazzy Falak as she is better known, is no stranger to local screens: famed for playing the role of spunky Sasha from the Gol & Gincu film and television series, and recently starring as the gutsy and rebellious Zulu in the romantic comedy Jin Notti, Sazzy Falak is one of the most recognizable name and face in the Malaysian entertainment industry.
Loved by her fans for her warm personality, Sazzy’s personal and professional life are well-known: having married in 2006 to financial coach and actor Nazril Idrus, Sazzy is now working under Media Prima and hosting on TV9 after 3 years of being a familiar face on ASTRO Ria. She also appears in various films like Tipu Kanan Tipu Kiri, Sepi and the recently released Jin Notti. Today, Sazzy lets us in on a side she rarely lets others see: her life as a businessperson.
Sazzy began her career in show business working as a part-time model and host to fund (my lifestyle – no allowances) her way through her studies at Limkokwing University of Creative Technology (then known as Limkokwing Institute of Creative Technology). Coming from a family that was firmly entrenched in a business background, it had never occurred to her that she would be joining the entertainment industry full time.
“I really owe a lot to those who continued to see in me what I did not see in myself,” she said, expressing how, despite constant encouragement from others, she deeply doubted her ability to shine in the industry. “Osman Ali wanted me to act for him for three years, and for a long time I just refused because I simply had not enough confidence.”
Talent is important, but having only talent is not enough in this industry if you want to make it. You need to position yourself in a certain way and know what offers to accept, turn down, or seize.
After some deliberation Sazzy took the plunge, and she has never looked back since. Now, Sazzy reveals to us the secret of her soaring success in the industry.
“When you run a business, you don’t just open a shop and sell things and hope to succeed. You need to develop a business plan, position yourself, and know whom you are trying to reach. The same thing applies to an actor: as an entertainer, you are your own company, and your name is your own brand.”
Sazzy shares with us the importance of an actor needing to develop a five or even ten-year plan for his or her career. “Many young actors trying to break it and make it in the entertainment industry think that if they keep auditioning and keep on working at bit roles, they’ll eventually be lucky and land themselves a main role. It doesn’t work that way.”
Her own ascension has been carefully navigated and planned by a combination of good advice and sound business sense. It was her parents who first suggested to her the importance of treating herself as a company by trademarking her name, a suggestion that struck her as odd at first but made an incredible amount of sense as she is now in the industry full-time.
“Talent is important, but having only talent is not enough in this industry if you want to make it. You need to position yourself in a certain way and know what offers to accept, turn down, or seize,” she explained, adding that while talent may get you recognized for a while, in order to succeed in the industry one must have some sense of know-how about how to survive in the industry and stand out.
It is this knowledge that she shares with other young artistes through her talent management and consultancy service, SinclairFalak Sdn. Bhd, where she and the Sinclair siblings – Ashraf and Aishah Sinclair – manage the careers of various artistes, including that of Sazzy’s own husband.
It’s easy to experience burn-out. I’ve seen it happening many times and I myself have often been pushed to the edge and felt like giving up, but I remind myself that I want to see something through and I set myself to do it. That is why having a plan that stretches for several years defining what you want to achieve is important.
“No matter what you plan to be – whether you want to be a soulful singer who writes her own lyrics, a socialite who graces through the elite circuits of society, or an actor trying to break out of a cycle of constant small roles, you need to plan your image and know how to get around the hoops of this industry.”
For Sazzy, the only thing that can qualify as failure is giving up. “It’s easy to experience burn-out. I’ve seen it happening many times and I myself have often been pushed to the edge and felt like giving up, but I remind myself that I want to see something through and I set myself to do it. That is why having a plan that stretches for several years defining what you want to achieve is important.”
“The most important value for a young artiste to have is a sense of commitment.”
On the subject of future plans, Sazzy confesses that she is looking forward to starting a family. In the much nearer future, Sazzy is getting ready to go through the annual overview of SinclairFalak Sdn. Bhd. and keep moving forward for the following year.
