Mayang Mengurai: A Malaysian Rapunzel

Here's an article about a Rapunzel based tv-series airing in Malaysia. I have a large quote, but there is more on the article page, too.

Rapunzel lets down her hair: Tania Hudson enjoys her Mayang Mengurai stint, but hopes for a less hairy role next time by Shuhaidah Saharani

In Mayang Mengurai, the witch in the story is called Kornilam, whose aim in life is to be beautiful, powerful and rich. With the aid of a great wizard Mohijad, Kornilam gets her wish, but to maintain her beauty and youth, she must adopt three baby girls.

With a little trickery, magic and abductions, she gets the three girls. Mayang Indera (Anne Ngasri) who has powerful, hypnotic eyes, Mayang Merdu (Zarina AF) who is blessed with a mesmerising voice while Mayang Mengurai has her beautiful long hair.

"While Kornilam uses Mayang Indera and Mayang Merdu to get her wealth, my character Mayang Mengurai however, was left in the tower and was destined to never see the world."

That is, until two men get lost in the jungle and accidentally find the tower where the four ladies live. "My character is very kind and naive.

She is the one who is mostly abused in the story. But in the end, she is the only one who can kill Kornilam. It is revealed by Mohijad that Mayang Mengurai's hair is the source of Kornilam's powers, so she could never cut it. "Another way to kill Kornilam is for Mayang Mengurai to wed. These two things are the reasons why she is kept in the tower away from the world.

"It's a pretty challenging role to play, but what's most challenging for me is the hair. It's very heavy and once I put the wig on, I can never take it off until the shoot is over. I have to carry it everywhere I go. Sometimes, it gives me a headache."