What a wonderful job the directors of Cigarette Girl, Kamila Andini, and Ifa Isfansyah have done! The Indonesian mini-series has recently been trending on Netflix. The plot builds around the tragic life of a talented craftsperson, Dasiah. She has been seeking an outlet for her talent in traditional Indonesian culture. The skills of a woman in the cigarette industry are not welcome at the time in which the story is set. How she manages to overcome all the obstacles and stick to her passion has been portrayed efficiently in Cigarette Girl series. Her failed love life adds to the tragic story of her life. The main characters have been portrayed by skilled actors like Dian Sastrowardoyo, Putri Marino, Ariyo Bayu, and others. The five-part miniseries has a solid plot and is nothing like you have ever experienced! It remains a matter of concern to the audience as to whether Dasiah will be able to follow her dreams and pursue romance. The concern arises as a result of the connection that we feel with the character through the brilliant screenplay.
Spoilers Ahead
What Ambitions Did Dasiah Have?
Dasiah’s ambitions did not know any limits, and she wanted to attain great heights in the tobacco industry. She belonged to a family with a tobacco business, and she was given factory overseer post by her father, Mr. Idroes. She was, however, never allowed into the flavor-making room, as the flavor-maker, Dibjo, believed that the presence of women could ruin the flavor of cigarettes. This displays the biased mindset that was presented towards women with exceptional skills, which could easily hurt the male ego during the 1970’s. She was, however, very keen on entering that room someday and experimenting with new flavors. She was so well-versed in the quality of tobacco that she could easily tell good quality from bad just by sniffing or having a look at it. She gave advice to her father to keep their business running well, which was however not accepted well by the men of her society. People considered her too old to get married, but the harsh words stemming from the men’s insecurities could never put off her indomitable spirit.
How Did The Love Between Soeraja And Dasiah Blossom?
Dasiah finds a man on the streets who is seen fighting some miscreants, and we know that there is an instant spark just as their eyes meet. The man who revealed himself to be Soeraja had been taken in by the family and was given work. He proved to be a useful resource for the family business, as profits had increased since his arrival. He sourced superior-quality tobacco for the business from the north. His efforts in the business had made Dasiah take a liking to him, which she initially never expressed. Seeing Dasiah’s interest in the flavor room, he also sneaked her the key to it, where she experimented all day. She had been able to create one of the most exotic flavors with rose extracts, which she made Raja taste first. We feel the tension building when they fail to express their love for each other. Later, Dasiah’s marriage is fixed with Seno Aji, the son of another bigger cigarette businessman, as her father believed that it would profit their existing business. It is now that Raja expresses his love for her. She instantly reciprocates his plea and breaks her engagement with Seno, telling her parents about it. They do not accept it initially, and Raja is thrown out of the house. Later, Raja meets Mr. Idroes and apologizes, telling him about his daughter’s hidden talent. He makes him taste the cigarette that Dasiah has made. Mr. Idroes acknowledged her talent and accepted their love, eventually fixing their marriage. The new flavor concocted by Dasiah is also launched by Mr. Idroes by the name of Gadis, making their brand, Merdeka Kretek, more popular in the town.
What Tragedy Befalls Dasiah’s Life?
As they were making preparations for the marriage, an attack was made on the family by the National Army. Massacres in 1965 had taken many innocent lives, and Mr. Idroes’ name was also somehow on the list. Mr. Idroes is shot dead, and Dasiah is taken captive by them. Raja flees the scene, saving his own life, as requested by Dasiah after being shot in the leg. He is later saved by Purwanti, Djaged’s daughter, Mr. Idroes’ rival businessman. Raja tries searching for the family but fails, and he then makes a deal with Djaged that he will provide him with the recipe for the famous cigarette Gadis, and in return, he will have to ensure that Dasiah is safe, as he has good contacts with the military general.
After Djaged’s company makes a huge profit, Raja plans to marry Purwanti in return for being made a partner in the company. He finally attains the partnership, and the company is renamed Djaged Raja (DR). Meanwhile, Dasiah has been suffering in prison for the past 2 years but still expects that she will someday reunite with Raja. Finally, after being released, she learns that Seno has been taking care of her mother and sister. She also gets to know that Raja was going to marry Purwanti. She goes to the ceremony and finds out that Raja stole her recipe for Gadis kretek to give it to Djaged, which shatters her and makes her feel betrayed. While walking away, she is pursued by Raja, and she asks him if he is ready to leave things behind and start everything from scratch. Raja, however, does not agree to it, leaving Dasiah heartbroken.
How Does Seno Aji Take Care Of Dasiah?
After a massive heartbreak, Seno lends her a shoulder to cry on. He provides her with a shelter and also offers her work as a flavor maker in her father’s factory. She works discreetly from her house along with an assistant, Eko, and teaches him a lot about flavor making. Seno again offers to marry her, to which she agrees, and just a few months after their marriage, he is summoned for an insurgence in Irian Jaya. He dies on the line of duty, leaving Dasiah a widow. He had never stopped searching for Dasiah, even after she had gone missing. He had waited patiently for her to return, unlike Raja. This proves his undying love, affection, and dedication for Dasiah.
Why Was Dasiah Being Sought By Raja?
The narrative keeps swinging between the past and the present, where we get a glimpse of Dasiah’s life as a young woman and that of the present day, where Raja is seeking her in his old age. On Raja’s deathbed, all he had been seeking was Dasiah. He had summoned his son Lebas to find out her whereabouts after handing him a picture of the Idroes family. He set out to seek all information about her from a Kretek museum, as he had come to know that Jeng Yah’s family had been somehow associated with the place. On reaching the place, he meets Arum, who tells him that her family has donated their belongings to the museum. She asks Lebas how he got her mother’s picture, and then Lebas gets to know from her that she is Rukayah’s daughter and Dashia’s niece. They find out through several letters and photos that Jeng Yah was none other than Dasiah. The events in Cigarette Girl series mostly unfold through the old letters of Dasiah found by Arum and Lebas. They find out secrets about their families that they did not know before. The guilt that Raja felt on his deathbed was haunting him, and he wanted to find Dasiah to apologize to her for his wrongdoings. He wanted to reveal to her that Djaged was the one behind putting her father’s name on the list. He also wanted to tell her how he had been threatened by Djaged about the safety of the remaining Idroes family if he dared to open his mouth to others. He wanted to talk his heart out with his beloved and express to her how much he wanted to be with her, but he was too late for that!
What Is Arum’s Real Identity?
Lebas and Arum unfold many family secrets through old pictures and letters. Arum had been kept in the dark about the real identity of her aunt Dasiah by Rukayah, as she did not want to poke at old wounds. Therefore, Arum did not have any information about her aunt previously. Arum and Lebas seek information from Rukayah and Eko as to what happened in the past, as their interests increase after finding out some truth about the past. After a lot of new information crowds Arum’s mind, she initially backs out and restricts herself from finding answers from the past, as it proves to be agonizing for her. She spends more time with Rukayah, and she later finds another picture of Rukayah and herself as a baby. She again embarks on a mission to find the ultimate truth about Dasiyah. She calls Lebas and asks him to come down, while she is seen knocking down a new wall in the house. In the opening, she finds a room where she gets access to old family artifacts and pictures. In one of the pictures, she sees Dasiyah holding her in her arms as a baby, and it is revealed that she is actually Dasiah’s daughter.
Did Raja Want To Reunite With Dasiah?
Raja tells Lebas that he once saw Dasiyah while en route from Jakarta to M City in the train station. He had confessed his mistakes to her and told her that he had previously sent her apology letters through Seno. While leaving, he promises her that he will come back for her and mend things. After a week, he had gone back, but she never arrived at the station. He searched for all employees of Mr. Idroes to ensure they lived comfortably. Lebas told him that he couldn’t find Jeng Yah but had found her daughter, Arum.
What Happened In The End?
Lebas is seen to get involved in an altercation with his brothers about the authenticity of their cigarette brand, DR. He tells them that Kretek Gadis’ flavor has been stolen by DR and that they needed to acknowledge the real owners of the flavor, which were the Idroes family. Lebas fulfills Raja’s last wish to meet Arum, and we see him apologizing to her. Arum tells Raja that after they had last met at the train station, her mother Dasiah had rushed back home to find the letters written to her by Raja. She had, however, never received them because her father, Seno, had hidden them from her.
Dasiah had taken the decision to live with Raja but Rukayah disagreed, as she thought that Raja would not accept Seno’s daughter, Arum. The day they were supposed to meet, Dasiyah became terminally ill as an infection had spread to her body from the 2 years of captivity that she was in. Rukayah promised to look after Arum, and just within a week, Dasiah had passed away. Raja begged Arum to take him to Dasiah’s grave, which she did, and just a few days later he passed away. It seems as if Raja’s soul could not leave his body before knowing the whereabouts of the woman who was deeply in love with him. Despite living lives apart from each other, the bond that Raja and Dasiah had was beyond explanation.
Final Thoughts
We, as humans, often tend to become selfish and look out for our personal interests. I believe it is of greater importance to recognize peace of mind and stick to loved ones, because at the end of the day, they are all that matter. Raja could have led a more content life if he had chosen Dasiah over Purwanti. Material happiness could never bring him that familial bliss, and he had failed to become a good husband. He chose a successful life over his love for Dasiah, making both their lives miserable. The talents of Dasiah could be put to better use, but the deception of her loved one had clipped her wings. She could never attain the fame that she deserved. The different layers and amazing plot of Cigarette Girl series add to our interests, making the series one of the best in recent times! Despite having several subplots, there was never a dull moment or any confusion in understanding the series. However, we are left wanting more episodes of this amazing romance-tragedy. We have already witnessed similar concepts of heartbreaking romance in movies like A Walk to Remember and P.S. I Love You. The portrayal of heartbreaks and incomplete love in movies and series lingers long, as all of us must have undergone heartbreaks at least once in our lifetime!
