Cinta Tapi Beda

Title translation: Loving but the Difference

Cahyo, from a devout Muslim family in Yogyakarta, works as a chef in Jakarta. Cahyo is trying to recover from his ex-girlfriend, Mitha, who has cheated on him.

In a contemporary dance show under his aunt’s direction, Cahyo meets Diana, a Catholic from Padang and a dance student who stays at her uncle’s house. This uncle is in an interreligion marriage, with his wife being a Muslim. Diana-Cahyo decide to date albeit their different faiths. They are even considering marriage seriously.

Diana is in trepidation when Cahyo takes her to meet his parents. Cahyo’s mother understands his son’s love but Pak Fadholi doesn’t approve of it. If Cahyo insists, Pak Fadholi will severe his ties.

Diana’s mother also objects to her daughter’s decision. Diana’s siblings have abandoned their faith after getting married. This mother forces her daughter to obey her. Thus Diana returns to Padang and accepts her engagement with dr. Oka, a man of the same faith that her mother chooses for her. Diana tries to forget Cahyo.

Cahyo goes through the worst times of his life. He neglects his work and then gets fired. His father also matches him with a daughter of a lurah (head of a village), their relative in Padang. Diana tries to love Oka and Oka tries to help her forget Cahyo. These two last stories flow in parallel.

There’s one thing that either Cahyo or Diana can’t forget. They are truly bound not by faith, but by love. Oka talks Diana’s mother through while Cahyo’s mother finally gives blessings to her son and tries to make his husband understand.