Zombies maul Tanda Putera at box office
Acclaimed director Shuhaimi Baba's celluloid portrayal of the May 13, 1969 racial bloodletting was battered black and blue even before it opened in cinemas last week.
Acclaimed director Shuhaimi Baba's celluloid portrayal of the May 13, 1969 racial bloodletting was battered black and blue even before it opened in cinemas last week.
And now after finally being screened, 'Tanda Putera' is being mauled by zombies from Kuala Lumpur.
In the box-office list from Aug 29 to Sept 1, the controversial movie, panned by the opposition and defended by ruling politicians, clinched the sixth spot in the Top 10 list.
It appears that Malaysians are more interested in a different blood-curdling genre - the offering by budding local director Woo Ming Jin.
An adaptation from a novel, Woo's comedy, 'KL Zombi', starring Zizan Razak, took the number two spot after 'Elysium'.
'Tanda Putera' also trailed behind 'Kick Ass 2', 'The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones' and the 'Conjuring'.
The immense publicity surrounding 'Tanda Putera', which among others shows a urination scene deemed offensive by certain quarters, has helped propel the movie into the Top Ten list.
Critics have claimed that the movie portrays the Chinese Malaysian community as having sparked off the racial riots, which left scores dead and injured.
Shuhaimi has also come under fire for defending scenes in the film including one depicting a group of Chinese youths urinating on a flagpole. She said it is her right to apply creative licence.
However, detractors said she has stoked the flames of racial discord by inserting such sensitive fictitious scenes.
Actors bemused
The actors in the film have defended it as "factual" and "not racist".
"We are portraying a factual story. This film was based on various historical research, so I don't understand why some people cannot accept this," Linda Hashim was quoted as saying in Hits Mega , the entertainment section of Malay-language daily Utusan Malaysia .
Linda plays Norashikin Mohd Seth, the wife of second deputy prime minister Dr Ismail Abdul Rahman.
Lead actor Rusdi Ramli, who plays second prime minister Abdul Razak Hussein, said he is "puzzled" that the film has faced setbacks, when another film ‘The New Village’ had almost made it to screens without issue.
"It is time that society becomes more open. 'Tanda Putera' was not completed on assumptions, but through historical research which can be referenced forever," he said.
He added that his wife, who is Chinese, does not see the film as racist and even assisted in the film.
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