Mohd Syamsul Mohd Yusof (born 21 May 1984) is a Malaysian actor, film director, writer, producer and singer. He is the son of producer and director Yusof Haslam. He is the youngest director to win the Malaysian Film Festival for Best Director award, doing so at the age of 25.

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Syamsul Yusof
شمس اليوسف‎
Syamsul interviewed in MeleTOP in 2016.
Born	Mohd Syamsul bin Mohd Yusof (1984-05-21) 21 May 1984 (age 38) Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Occupation	Actor film director writer producer singer
Years active	1998–present
Spouse	Puteri Sarah Liyana ​ (m. 2014)​
Children	2
Parents	Yusof Haslam (father) Datin Fatimah Ismail (mother)
Relatives	Syafiq Yusof (brother) Faizal Yusof (half-brother) Rizal Ashreff (cousin) Sabrina Ali (cousin)
Musical career
Genres	Pop, nasheed, hip hop
Instrument(s)	Vocals
Years active	2012–present
Musical artist

Having won best director awards six times ever since at the Malaysian Film Festival and Anugerah Skrin, and was named Best Director at the 57th Asia Pacific Film Festival in Cambodia for his work in the horror/religious movie Munafik. In 2018, its sequel, Munafik 2, set a record as the highest grossing Malaysian film, which it held until it was surpassed by Mohd Syamsul's 2022 epic war film Mat Kilau.

Early life

Syamsul Yusof was born on 21 May 1984 and grew up in Kuala Lumpur. He is the son of famed director; Yusof Haslam. His brother, Syafiq Yusof is a well-known film director. His cousins, Rizal Ashreff and Sabrina Ali and half-brother, the late Faizal Yusof are also actors. Syafiq and Faizal themselves also have their other careers as film directors. He studied at the Malaysia Institute of Integrative Media (MIIM) or also known as Academy TV3 where he took a diploma in Film, TV Broadcasting and Journalism courses.^{[citation needed]}

Career

From 2003 to 2007, Syamsul Yusof started to direct and acted in many TV series for RTM and TV3 such as Gerak Khas, Sembilu Kasih, Air Mata Maria and Tragedi Oktober. In 2007, he direct his first feature film, Evolusi KL Drift,[1] co-written by him and his cousin Rizal Ashreff was initially rejected by his father for further redrafting. After the revision, his first film project was finally approved alongside a budget of RM 1.35 million. Despite his lack of directing experience and the immense pressure of keeping reputation of his family, Evolusi KL Drift was well-received upon its release on 3 April 2008. The film's success paved the way for several other directorial endeavours.[2]

After the success of his directorial debut; his sophomore film Bohsia: Jangan Pilih Jalan Hitam, which had gained unwanted publicity due to the film title's issues with the vulgar language used and certain copyright issues.[3] but he managed to pull through.[4] The film managed to become successful despite the controversy. Next, he continued to direct the sequel to Evolusi KL Drift which released on 25 March 2010.[5] The film was a critical and box-office success, with Syamsul bagging the Best Director award at the 23rd Malaysia Film Festival.[6][7]

In 2011, he directed his first horror film Khurafat: Perjanjian Syaitan starring himself and Liyana Jasmay in lead roles. Released on 13 January 2011, it collected a gross collection of RM 8 million to the surprise of film thespians. Critics gave praise to his first attempt in directing the horror film.[8] He also added his year's roster with KL Gangster, being careful in its production.[9] The film collected a gross of almost RM 12 million, twice what his father achieved through Sembilu II, despite competition from foreign films screening during that time. The movie also won him the 24th Malaysia Film Festival's Best Director award for two years in a row.

He directed Aku Bukan Tomboy, his first comedy film starring Scha Alyahya as Farisha/Eisha. The movie was released on 17 November 2011, later followed by Jalan Kembali: Bohsia 2 (sequel to 2009 film) and KL Gangster 2. After three years of absence, Syamsul came back with his latest film, Munafik, was released to Malaysian cinemas in February 2016.[10] Eleven months later, he starred as mentally-disturbed guy named Aiman in a mystery science fiction film Desolasi, directed by his brother Syafiq Yusof which was released on 8 December 2016. Syamsul appear in biographical romantical film Makrifat Cinta which was released in February 2018.[11]

Syamsul also dabbles in a music. He produced an EP with Anwar Fazal, entitled The Love Legacy back then.[12] The EP contained four songs - "Bidadari", "Apakah Semuanya Itu" (used as the soundtrack for Evolusi KL Drift 2), "Ya Robbi" (soundtrack for Khurafat) and "Hingga Hujung Dunia" (soundtrack for Aku Bukan Tomboy). In 2016, he released a new single which was a collaboration with singer Mawi, "Kalah Dalam Menang". The song was used as the theme song for his latest film, Munafik.[13][14][15] He continued his collaboration with Mawi for a later songs, titled "Bukan Propaganda" used as a soundtrack for Desolasi.

In the month of October 2020, Syamsul confirmed on his Instagram account that he is working on a screenplay for Munafik 3, a sequel to the highly successful Munafik 2 and the third entry in the Munafik film series.

Personal life

Syamsul married actress Puteri Sarah Liyana Megat Kamaruddin on 8 March 2014.[16] They have two children, Syaikhul Islam (born 2017)[17][18][19][20] and Sumayyah (born 2019).[21][22][23]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Credited as				Role	Notes and awards
		Actor	Director	Writer	Producer
1998	Maria Mariana II					Bridesmaids	First appearance
2005	Gila-Gila Pengantin Popular					Ijam
2008	Evolusi KL Drift					Zakaria	His directing and screenwriting debut Special Jury Award Malaysia Film Festival 21-Best Stunt Action on Screen
2009	Bohsia: Jangan Pilih Jalan Hitam					Murad	Nominated- Best Editing Malaysia Film Festival 22
2010	Evolusi KL Drift 2					Zakaria	Won Best Director - Malaysia Film Festival 23 Won Best Film Editor - Malaysia Film Festival 23 Won Best Screenplay Film - Malaysia Screen Awards 2010 (Nominated) Best Film - Malaysia Screen Awards 2010 (Nominated) Best Director - Malaysia Screen Awards 2010
2011	Khurafat: Perjanjian Syaitan					Jamal	(Nominated) Best Screenplay - Malaysia Film Festival 24 (Nominated) Best Original Story (Nominated) Best editing (with Hisham Jupri)
	KL Gangster					Ahmed	Won Best Director - Malaysia Film Festival 24 Won Best Editing - Malaysia Film Festival 24 (Nominated) Best Film - Malaysia Screen Awards 2011 (Nominated) Best Director - Malaysia Screen Awards 2011
	Aku Bukan Tomboy					Bilal
2012	Jalan Kembali: Bohsia 2					Muz
	SAM: Saya Amat Mencintaimu					Khalid
2013	Gangster Celop					Adam
	KL Gangster 2					Ahmed
	Oh Mak Kau!					Lutfan
2014	Abang Long Fadil					Mohammad
2016	Mat Moto					Hamza	Cameo appearance
	Munafik					Ustaz Adam	Won Best Director - 57th Asia Pacific Film Festival Won Best Director - Malaysia Film Festival Won Best Director - Anugerah Skrin 2016 Won Best Film - Malaysia Film Festival (Nominated) Best Actor - 57th Asia Pacific Film Festival
	Desolasi					Aiman
2017	Abang Long Fadil 2					Inspector Hussein Ali
2018	Makrifat Cinta					Mahathir
	KL Special Force					Asyraff
	Munafik 2					Ustaz Adam
2022	Mat Kilau					—
2023	Munafik 3					Ustaz Adam	Pre-production
	The Original Gangster					Don	Pre-production

Television series

Year	Title	Credited as			Role	TV channel	Notes
		Actor	Director	Producer
2005–2007	Sembilu Kasih				Syamsul	TV3
2007	Airmata Maria				Johan
2008	Farah Syafikah				Syamil	TV2
2009	Cik Ah Cik Nin[24]					Astro Prima
	Gerak Khas (Season 11)				Syamil	TV2	Episode: "Diburu Along"
2011	Khurafat: The Series				—	Astro Ria	Story
2012	Tanah Kubur (Season 4)				Malek	Astro Oasis	Episode: "Bunga Haram"
	Ameera				Ameer	TV3
2012–2013	Evolusi KL Drift: The Series[25]				Zack	TV2
2014–2018	Gerak Khas				Supt. Jefri		Also co-producer
2018	Sejadah Untuk Dia				—	Astro Oasis	Original idea
2021	Ramadani				Tuan Rahmat	TV3
2021–2022	Gerak Khas Undercover				—		Also as executive producer

Telemovie

Year	Title	Credited as			Role	TV channel
		Actor	Director	Producer
2009	Maisara				Mus	Astro Prima
2012	Asmara Beijing				Rizal	Astro Citra

Television

Discography

EP

• "The Love Legacy" (2012; with Dr. Anwar Fazal)

Single

• "Kalah Dalam Menang" (2016; featuring Mawi)[26][27]
• "Bukan Propaganda" (2016; featuring Mawi)[28][29]
• "Senorita" (2017; featuring Dato' AC Mizal & Shuib Sepahtu)
• "Selamat Tinggal Masa" (2018; featuring Black)
• "Menangislah" (2018; featuring Mawi)
• "Satu Kalimah" (2020)
• "GK Undercover" (2021)

Awards and nominations

References

External links

• Syamsul Yusof at IMDb
• Syamsul Yusof on Twitter