A classic Malay treat :)

P. Ramlee will be remembered forever our hearts...

P.Ramlee is one of the most famous celebrities of Malaysia from the past. He was an all rounder, an actor, singer, director, songwriter, composer and producer. His endless talent is the main cause of his everlasting fame and name throughout the film industry in Malaysia and even outside Malaysia. Born in Penang, P.Ramlee's house has become a famous tourist spot for tourists as he is considered the icon of Malay entertainment in Malaysia.

I usually do not watch classic Malay movies. However, my very first one was none other than P.Ramlee's "Antara Dua Darjat". I really like the way the movie's storyline is directed, an enjoyable moment for me together with my other classmates as we watched the movie. 

If you have not watched the film, I will tell you how the storyline goes in this blog post. This is my first Malay film too, and I would like to watch more of P.Ramlee's movies again due to the classic touch the movies have. I hope you guys will enjoy it. :)

Tengku Zaleha (Saadiah)

Antara Dua Darjat is the story of Ghazali (P.Ramlee) who falls in love with Tengku Zaleha (Saadiah) on a rainy day when Zaleha's car gets stuck in a pile of mud. Ghazali together with his friends help to release the car. It was love at first sight when both of them saw each other. As time passed, their relationship grew stronger, transforming from friends to lovers. However, Ghazali was a musician and a piano tutor, expert in playing musical instruments such as the piano and the double bass. He was a normal person,living a simple life with his mother and cousin brother. Ghazali is a kind-hearted, down-to-earth and hardworking young man, worth to be made as a life partner. 

Tengku Zaleha is a girl from the higher class, more like the elit society of the Malay population. Her family is rich, arrogant and yet respected by the so-called "normal" or more famously known as the "orang awam". However, her mother is not of the royal blood as she was the mistress of Zaleha's dad, making Zaleha having half the blood of the common class. Tengku Zaleha does not care about her status and she treats everybody equally due to the kind heart of hers. Her dad however is the opposite of her character as he forbids Zaleha from mixing with the people lower to their class. However, it is too late for Zaleha to change her mind as she is already madly in love with a common man. Knowing her rebellious nature, Zaleha's father forbids her to leave the housing premises - she is to be at home at all times.

Dating, lah !!! ;-)

Being the rebel as she always is, Zaleha comes up with a plan....she tells her father that she wants to learn how to play the piano as she is getting extremely bored at home the whole day. Not suspecting her daughter's intentions, he introduces her to a piano tutor who turns out to be Ghazali. Love blossoms as both of them bond during the piano lessons....Much to their dismay, they get caught by Zaleha's arrogant elder brother. Violence starts as they hit Ghazali until he faints and Zaleha is brutally taken away from the scene. I felt like killing Zaleha's brother in that scene....!!! But then I realized it was only a movie...hehehe :P Audiences later finds out that Zaleha passes away, due to the harsh beatings of her father and brother.

Ghazali is shown depressed, but he still awaits his long lost love...he doesn't believe that his love is dead...he can still feel her....And this the story continues...

Love hurts...A lot... :(

After this, there is this interesting time lapse in the movie - something very interesting and rare in black and white movies. Audiences are given a shock when Zaleha returns, yes, she is not dead...In fact she was actually drugged and taken to Singapore by her cruel father. In those tough situations, she murders her brother who tries to kill her mother and in all that Zaleha's father develops shock and becomes insane.  She then acts as if she has lost her memory and does not recognize Ghazali, since she is forcefully married to Ungku Mukri.

Depressed Ghazali's hopes goes in the drain once again as he finds out Zaleha is married to Ungku Mukri, a very rich man from the elite class.However, Ungku Mukri has cruel intentions and has married Zaleha for the sake of her property. It is shown that he has a girlfriend who is pregnant, too. :/ 

At the climax,it is shown that Ungku Mukri dies (shot by Ghazali's friend) while trying to kill Ghazali. Everything gets solved and they live happily ever after.

Not a bad storyline, eh? I think we should watch more Malay movies!! They are worth to be appreciated...

P.Ramlee - A legend forever....

                                                
                                            
    

Hollywood with a dash of Bollywood

New York I Love You - an unique film filled with many stories

New York I Love You is a movie which consists of eleven short films by different directors each. The movie's release date is on the 16th of October 2009 and the film's distributor is Vivendi Entertainment. Among the languages present in the content of the film is English, Gujarati, French, Cantonese and also Yiddish. New York I Love You is an unique movie since the storyline revolves back and forth of all eleven short stories - so be very attentive when you watch the film if not you will be confuse yourself throughout the film. 

Irrfan Khan - my favorite :)

Among all the short stories, my personal favorite is the story by director Mira Nair and written by Suketu Mehta, starring Irrfan Khan and Natalie Portman. Irrfan Khan is in the list of my favourite actors since the roles that he choses in both Bollywood and Hollywood films are simply superb. In this movie, Irrfan Khan plays a Gujarati man, Mansukhbhai. He owns a diamond bussiness together with his elder sibling to support his children. I like this character is because Mansukhbhai is shown as a loving father and a very good human being. The reason why I say this is because he patiently accepts the fact that his wife has broken all bonds of the materialistic world - and goes closer to the spiritual world, leaving her family behind. I appreciate the fact that Mansukhbhai is not angry at his wife's decision, this shows how much respect he has for his own wife. Despite being lonely, Mansukhbhai doesn't plan to remarry. However, love strucks when he meets Natalie Portman (as Rifka), a Jewish woman. She is about to marry a man chose for her by her orthodox parents.

Natalie Portman as Rifka

 I totally understand Mansukhbhai's feelings for Rifka, as one cannot control one's feelings. However, one can control one's actions towards these feelings that have arise. It is shown that Mansukhbhai kisses Rifka's forehead and blesses her using a Jain mantra used to give blessings to a soon-to-be bride. He utters Lord Mahavir's sacred mantra - which purifies their intimate feelings towards each other. This shows how much respect Mansukhbhai has towards women, as he did not have selfish intentions to steal Rifka from her fiancee.... 
Another reason why I have respect and like Irrfan Khan's character in this film is because there are many men of the same situation living in India that I know. I understand this situation quite well as this culture is present in my very own Gujarati culture. The acts of women moving away from the materialistic world is called as the process of taking "diksha" in Jainism, which is a part of the Gujarati culture. Let me explain a little bit about what diksha actually is....

For Jains, the ideal condition for spiritual progress is to be completely detached from the world, which is archived more easily as a monk / nun / medicant. They vow not just to give up material things, but also to give up emotions and attachment of the physical body. This is the reason why women who wish to take up diksha are required to shave off the hairs on their head since long hair symbolizes femininity and arises emotion on the human mind. Usually, a ceremony is organized in which certain rituals are being conducted. This process is called the Diksha Ceremony. This event is usually a sad one, since the person will bid his/her last goodbye to all their loved ones - they will not be able to see them forever. It is also the last day for the person dress up in beautiful clothings since after taking up the diksha he/she will have to dress in white forever. Here is a perfect example of a Diksha Ceremony and how Lord Mahavir looks like:

Lord Mahavir - the Jain God

I know a few people in India whose wives have taken diksha, and they are all remarried since they are unable to bear the loneliness. This is the main reason why I deeply appreciate Mansukhbhai's character in this film since he manages to control his emotions and takes good care of his children while his wife is away. Very few men has the ability to do that. Even though Mansukhbhai falls in love, however it is shown that he has managed to control himself for so many years before he met Rifka - which is not an easy thing to do. 

This short film segment in the film New York I Love You is a lesson for all Gujarati Jain men, who are facing the same situation. I think that the character of Mansukhbhai will give them something to relate to in their life. People should also look up to Irrfan Khan's character since it teaches us important elements of how to handle situations in our life. Mansukhbhai should be a character for everyone to look up to. 

 

 

Music - The Soul of Life

Music means a lot to me

According to Oxford Dictionary, music is defined as "vocal or instrumental sounds (or both) in such a way as to produce beauty of form, harmony, and expression of emotion". 

My definition of music is the art which involves the pouring of emotions; and the beautiful outcome is the devotional and expressive music which is pleasant for the ears. I personally appreciate music very much, and I love it when I hear people playing different kinds of musical instruments, omitting beautiful tunes. 

Om - the Hindu symbol 

Goddess Saraswati holding a veena

The importance of music and musical instruments is very immense in my culture, Hinduism. Some of our Gods play musical instruments, such as my favorite and most respected Goddess Saraswati. She is the Goddess of knowledge, music, arts and science.In the Thai religion, Goddess Saraswati is known as "Suraswadee". She is associated with the colour white, which symbolizes knowledge and purity. She holds a musical instrument called a "Veena" or a "Sitar" in her hands. Belief says that she plays music of love and life residing in the strings of the Veena. People who wish to succeed in their musical careers often worship Goddess Saraswati. He who has Saraswati's blessings will constantly succeed in their musical talents as She appreciates people who appreciate music - like Her. 

Thus, I have deep respect for all music loves as my culture teaches we to do so as even my God has the love of music and respects it.

Sorn played by Anuchit Sapanpong

Linking my beliefs with the Thai movie "The Overture", I like the character Sorn in the movie very much. He is determined to play an instrument called the "Ranad" in the movie. I respect Sorn as he possesses the passion for music - similar to the Gods of the Hindu culture. 

Sorn's passion for playing the ranad is shown in a few scenes. 

The first scene is when Sorn is shown competing with another competitor, Khun In, in the palace of His Royal Highness of Thailand. The scene portrays Sorn competing on a tough scale as Khun In brings in tough competiton to Sorn. Despite facing difficulties with a broken ranad, he is given another chance to play. Sorn proves himself well and wins the ranad playing competiton against Khun In. He manages to impress The Royal Highness due to his immense musical talent and manages to get a standing ovation from the crowd. This scene always impresses me too, and everytime I watch this scene, I build-up more respect towards Sorn as he has actually learnt how to play the ranand just for the sake of the movie.

Sorn playing the Ranad

Other than that, it is shown in the movie that Sorn craves to play the ranad during his childhood despite being restricted by his father. Sorn's father has actually restricted Sorn to play the ranad as his elder son, had passed away due to the intense rivalry and jealousy of the competitors of ranad playing competition. This phobia Sorn's dream to become a successful ranad player. However, Sorn defies his father and often sneaks off to practice playing the ranad in the jungles together with one of his good friends. He eventually gets caught but his father realizes that he has become a fantactic ranad player and releases his restrictions upon the advice of a monk. This shows how Sorn's passion for music has over-powered his fathers restrictions.   

Another scene which portrays Sorn's great love towards music is in the ending. It is shown that Sorn dies after his last play on the ranad. This scene portrays that Sorn's whole life is linked with music, and he even dies on the ranad. I can imagine how strong Sorn's love for music is. This scene always gets me emotionally choked, as it portrays the importance of music in the character's life. It makes me think - what is my passion in life? Having some form of passion is one's life is very important as it gives us a reason to live. This is the main reason why I adore this scene and I am also very much pleased with the character as he possesses a very high passion for music.

Sorn dies while playing the Ranad

Therefore, I have great respect for the character Sorn in the movie The Overture and I would love to watch the movie again during my free time.  This movie is a must watch for all music lovers and appreciators as everything in this movie is linked with music - the soul of life. :)

The Ranad....