When Adi Putra and Nora Danish co-starred in the film Aku Terima Nikahnya last year, she was rumoured to be the third party in his already rocky marriage.
Adi very nearly separated from his wife of seven years, Malaysian film producer Aida Yusof, around that time. The couple even filed for a divorce before retracting it shortly after.
Since then, their relationship has become better than ever and they are now have a ninemonth- old daughter Zara Adelia.
Despite that, Adi is unafraid of fresh rumours that might re-surface.
"Why should I be scared? I'm doing it for the sake of my job and I don't care for controversy," said Adi, who recently made his directing debut.
"I will act not just once or twice but maybe even 100 more times with (Nora). People will always talk and we cannot stop them."
Suami Aku Ustaz, which is produced by Adi's company Nur ADP, was shot in April and is in its post-production stage and slated for a 2014 release.
But it looks like his first directorial attempt might also be his last. Adi said that for future films, he might get other directors on board.
"My main career is in acting. I'm not partial towards directing. I still enjoy acting very much," he said.
Suami Aku Ustaz is a big-screen adaptation of a novel and is about a religious teacher (Adi) and his much-younger 17-year-old wife (Nora).
Adi said of his dual roles: "Both acting and directing have their own challenges.
"When you act, you have a single focus, but when you direct, you take care of multiple things."
Adi has been in the industry for the last 13 years and has been based in Malaysia for 11 years.
Year after year, he has earned himself multiple nominations at Malaysian awards ceremony
Anugerah Bintang Popular Berita Harian.
Missed the mark
But he always missed the mark and went home empty-handed.
There were also times when he conceded defeat to local star Aaron Aziz, who has gained massive popularity across the Causeway.
Adi was among the Top 5 in the running for the Bintang Paling Popular (Most Popular Star) award at this year's ceremony in April, but he lost to Malaysian actor Shaheizy Sam, who received the most number of public votes.
After the disappointing results, the 32-yearold actor decided to withdraw himself from next year's Anugerah in a controversial move.
Is he being a sore loser?
"Not at all," said Adi, whose real name is Mohamed Hadi Putera Halim.
"I didn't say it because I was upset I didn't win.
But because it created chaos among the fans while I was calm about it. For me, it is a way to control the situation."
After this year's Anugerah, his fans, known as 1Hotlovers, questioned the reported 24,000 votes through SMS and voting forms , claiming that they had submitted 42,000 votes.
They took to Twitter to demand an explanation, calling the organisers "liars" and saying that they felt "cheated" and were "made to look stupid".
They also posted a picture of the stacks of Malaysia's Berita Harian newspapers that they had bought for the voting forms.
But to Adi, the Bintang Paling Popular title is inconsequential.
"I'm not an award winner. An award will not guarantee (how far you will go)," he said.
"Name me past award winners and tell me where they are now. If we do things willingly and readily, we don't feel the need to be honoured."
Speaking calmly, Adi said that he does not "even dare" to consider himself popular.
"To be popular is easy, but to shoulder the weight of popularity is extremely hard," he said.
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