Sometime afterwards he was signed by the theatre company Miss Riboet's Orion for their football team; he had been a fan of the game since his youth.

[3] In 1939 Mochtar met The Teng Chun, owner and director of Java Industrial Film (JIF), while at a barbershop.

Mochtar was signed to play opposite Hadidjah in JIF's upcoming film, Alang-Alang, as two lovers who confront bandits in a jungle.

[6] In 1941 the pair appeared in another three films: Srigala Item (Black Wolf), Si Gomar, and Singa Laoet.

[8] Mochtar became a Heiho, a native soldier for the Japanese forces, and took up roles in propaganda films such as Berdjoang (1943).

[10] At the 1979 Indonesian Film Festival he received a special award, the Pikiran Rakyat Trophy, for his lengthy career.