[2] In 1942, not long after the Japanese occupied the Indies, Said made his directorial debut with Boenga Sembodja, a film featuring music and dance sequences.

[3][4] After this film Said began working with the Japanese, at the Eiga Haykyusha Ai in Bandung, before joining Fred Young's Bintang Surabaja Troupe.

[5] Menanti Kasih, meanwhile, followed a man named Husni Anwar who had to marry his benefactor's daughter to repay a debt of honour; featuring an early song by Bing Slamet, it starred Chatir Harro and Nila Djuwita.

[4] These included the dramas Untuk Sang Merah-Putih (1950), which followed a doctor blinded during the national revolution,[8] and Sungai Darah (1954), following a dukun's efforts to isolate his community to ensure his own power.

[9] Said also continued to direct comedies, including Dunia Gila, which followed a man who becomes his father's uncle-in-law,[10] and Guga Guli (1953), which showed a young prince switching roles with his bodyguard to escape marriage.