Maharaja Sern - Baik Punya Budak!™

141st Post, 14 May 2007

   

Related Links :

Sumolah Trailer

 

Sumolah Official Website

 

Afdlin Shauki’s Blogspot

 

New Straits Times’ Review on Sumolah

      

Utusan Malaysia’s Review on Sumolah

 

            

SUMOLAH (Beware of spoiler, hehe!)
Starring : Afdlin Shauki, Inthira Charoenpura, Patrick Teoh, Awie, Radhi Khalid, Gurmit Singh, Terry Gallyot, Gavin Yap and scores of well-known Malaysian celebrities as cameo appearances!
Director : Afdlin Shauki
Running Time : 140 minutes
Date of Release : 10 May 2007

   

INTRODUCTION
I must say this Sumolah is the best masterpiece so far from Afdlin Shauki. I like his other movies; Buli, Buli Balik and Baik Punya Cilok! Just like in his previous three movies, Sumolah focused on the Malaysian lifestyle in general. This movie captured each and every things that is happening in Malaysia. The message of this movie is simple : Nokotta - Never give up, and the battle is not yet won. Sumolah teaches its viewers the meaning of humility, self-respect, humble and never gives up until u give a try.

 

Just like in Buli, Buli Balik and Baik Punya Cilok, this Sumolah takes a dig on current issues such as sugar shortages that once hit the country during the beginning of the movie and also Mat Rempit.

 

The music score are beautifully arranged by Pacai and some scenes in the movies are quite touching when the music was played in the blackground.

 

I really respect Afdlin Shauki..He really contributes alot in Malaysia’s film industry…All of the movies that he penned, directed and acted are different and worth mentioning! All of his masterpieces are very Malaysianized and cut deep into the life of Malaysian society!

 

SYNOPSIS
Sumolah is about Ramlee (Afdlin Shauki), a man who seems unable to get hold to a job much to the dismay of his mother (Kartina Aziz). One day, he was lured into taking part in a competition organized by the owner of Boleh Sushi, Honda (Patrick Teoh) as he has no money even for a meal. The competition : "All You Can Eat For Free - within a time period - Or Pay It Yourself". Honda is using this competition to find a man to represent his Boleh Sushi in the annual Sumo Tournament organized by the Sushi Restaurant Association of Kuala Lumpur after one of his men, Hassan (Terry Gallyot) crossed over to rival team, Diamond Sushi. Ramlee took the challenge and fails in the very last second within the stipulated timeframe. As a result, Ramlee has to pay the bill or ends up in jail. He choose to work in Boleh Sushi to pay off his debt. This plays beautifully in the hand of Honda who is desperate to find someone to complete his 3-men sumo team.

   

Ramlee, at first, finds life is difficult by working in a sushi shop but gradually interested in his job but still in the dark over the real intention of Honda. At the same time, he develops feeling on Honda’s beautiful daughter, Siti (Inthira Charoenpura) and make friends with the other two guys working in the shop; Haris (Awie) and Andy (Radhi Khalid). Honda is a former Japanese sumo wrestler married to a Malay woman. Thus, Siti is of Japanese-Malay parentage. As time passed on, Ramlee learned the meaning of friendship, family and sushi but not sumo, yet!

 

One day, Haris and Andy under the order of Honda, brings Ramlee for a friendly sumo bout as training for the upcoming Sumo Tournament. From there, Ramlee knows that Honda is using him to represent Boleh Sushi to participate in the tournament. During the bout, Siti’s ex-boyfriend, Akira (Gurmit Singh) humiliates Ramlee in front of many sumo aspirants. Akira is the team captain for Diamond Sushi and was joined by Hassan and Mickey (Gavin Yap). Ramlee was angry and embarassed with the defeat in the hands of Akira and leaves Boleh Sushi. After much explanations and persuasions from Honda, Siti and his mother, Ramlee has to decide to stay on in Boleh Sushi to compete in the tournament or to give it up and lose all his friends and meaning of life. Ramlee decided to stay put with Boleh Sushi and trains with Haris and Andy for the big day of his life. Through sumo, he learns the real meaning of Nokotta; never give up as the fight is not yet won. Winning or losing is not everything in sumo. He needs to understand the spirit of the 400-year old Japanese sport.

 

The Boleh Sushi geng went to Fukuoka for rigourous training and rubbed shoulders with Japanese sumo wrestlers. When the big day comes, they compete in the tournament in high spirits and determined to put a stop to the 3-year dominance of Diamond Sushi. However, they end up losing again to Akira-led Diamond Sushi after the dirty tactic employed by Hassan on Andy. Akira discovered the truth and decided to return back the trophy and prize money to the competition organizers and challenges Boleh Sushi for the next year’s tournament and Boleh Sushi accepted the challenge. Akira and Ramlee become good friends while Diamond and Boleh Sushis’ rivalry ends as well. Ramlee and Siti become a couple….

      

CASTINGS AND CHARACTERS
Afdlin Shauki as Ramlee -
Afdlin pulls off a wonderful performance here. Just like in his three previous directed and acted movies, his big size become the subject of joke for his rival and in this Sumolah, it’s Akira. Acting-wise, he never fails to win our hearts. He is certainly versatile with talents in acting, singing, directing and script-writing. He sang the themesong for this movie. He has the singing talent and the lyrics are wonderful.
Ramlee is the character resembles Mat Rempit in the beginning of the movie. Later, Ramlee becomes the subject of adoration for his never-say-die attitude and willing to take the challenge to prove himself.

   

Inthira Charoenpura as Siti -
Inthira puts up a so-so performance here compared to her previous effort; the horror flick, Nang Nak. She doesn’t look that beautiful in kimono eventhough the movie tries to show she is very beautiful. However, she looks great in informal wears of shirt and jeans. She has a sweet smile and lovely.
Siti is the character of the Japanese-Malay parentage. So it is acceptable if her Malay is not up to the par although the fact is that Inthira is a Thai. Siti’s Japanese Language command is not that good but not that bad either. She is the love interest of Ramlee.

 

Patrick Teoh as Honda -
Patrick forever be a part of Afdlin’s movies due to the fact that both of them are good friends in real life. He plays his Honda character well and deserved a pat on the back. But the way he speaks Japanese is quite unnatural. What makes me agitated is that Patrick’s characters in all Afdlin’s movies are unable to speak fluent Malay and English although in real life, he can speak fluently in both languages.
Honda is the former Japanese sumo wrestler that migrated to Malaysia after he married to Siti’s mother of Malaysian citizen. Honda always keep in touch with sumo competition in Japan. He is a man of principle and willing to sacrifice himself for friends and family.

   

Awie as Haris -
Awie also featured prominently in Afdlin’s project such as Baik Punya Cilok. Awie never really impressed me in any of Yusof Haslam’s movies because Yusof Haslam too deeply immersed with police-themed movies. By working with Afdlin, Awie brings the best out of himself in acting. But sometimes, his hairstyle quite annoying as he is a rocker for the group Wings.
Haris stands up for his friends and is the team captain for Boleh Sushi. Haris can be serious and also can be funny too. He defeated Hassan during the final match.

    

Gurmit Singh as Akira -
Gurmit is not as funny as he was in Phua Chu Kang. But, his comedy skills were still there in certain scenes. It’s quite rare to see Gurmit abandoned his trademark yellow boots in PCK and it’s also rare to see Gurmit speaks in Malay as we only watch him speaking Singlish! But he is very dashing and handsome in this Sumolah. He is Afdlin Shauki’s good friend due to the fact that they worked together on PCK. He speaks good Japanese and plays the Akira character convincingly. No more "Dun pray-pray" from him in this movie. His chemistry with Afdlin in the movie is believable and perfect.
Akira is the ex-boyfriend of Siti and is a very rich guy. He holds the record of the only unbeaten sumo wrestler in any competition and he keeps the record intact after he defeated Ramlee in the final bout. Akira is annoying and irritating for always belittling Ramlee and pursues Siti but he is a man of honour as he wants to win fair and square and not resorting to dirty tactics.

 

Radhi Khalid as Andy -
Radhi always involved in comedy dramas but not movies. But he is a seasoned actor and never disappoints us with a fair performance. I dun understand why he is chosen to be a sumo wrestler as he dun have the size. But his sumo movements are believable and looks like a pro. Still, his size proved to be the unbelievable factor.
Andy has a son, Kodok. He is a doting father and will never let anyone to bully and insult his son. He lost his match to Mickey as he was assaulted by Hassan before the match.

 

Terry Gallyot as Hassan -
First time seeing him acting. Nothing much can be said about him.
As Hassan, he is cocky and always thinks he is the best. He is formerly worked for Honda but later switched camp to Diamond Sushi as they have differences.

   

Gavin Yap as Mickey -
He overacts! That’s what i can say about him. What’s wrong with his Trojan hair?!!
As Mickey, he is more irritating than Akira and more skinnier than Andy! He always thinks he is the best but in the comedic way compared to Hassan.

    

TRIVIA AND FACTS

1. Sumolah is supposed to be released in cinemas nationwide on 22nd February 2007 but didn’t make it due to undisclosed reasons.

2. When Siti told Ramlee that she is going to "main koto (a Japanese musical instrument), Ramlee misinterpreted it as "main kotoR".

3. Ramlee makes a mockery on Honda and Siti by joining their names and called it as Honda Siti (Honda City).

4. Din Beramboi as the guest actor again for Afdlin’s movies and this time he plays the character of a sumo referee alongside with Chew Kin Wah.

5. Celcom and Ogawa are the main sponsors for this movie and their products featured prominently in the movie much to the annoyance of viewers.

6. This is by far one of the longest Malay movies in the country with 140 minutes run.

7. The original movie before editing is almost 4 hours long but was edited into 140 minutes for commercial purposes.

8. Mickey (Gavin Yap) made a parody of Mike Tyson infamous biting off Evander Holyfield’s ears when he tries to bite off his opponent’s ear in a sumo match.

9. Many celebrities make a cameo appearance in this movie such as Natasha Hudson, Samantha Schubert, Lil Kev and many more if u pay attention to the movie.

10. Full with jokes in Malaysian way on latest issues such as sugar shortages, organ transplants and Mat Rempit.

11. Many believe Sumolah will never register a high box-office collection compared to Buli Balik and Baik Punya Cilok although the movie is good. This is because Sumolah was badly disadvantaged with the release of Spiderman 3 and Pirates of the Caribbean 3 in the same month.

12. Malaysia’s No.1 sports commentator, Hasbullah Awang lends his voice in giving commentary for the sumo tournament. As always, Hasbullah never fails to annoy and also entertain us with his over-the-top commentary and jokes.

13. Sumolah is set to be released internationally to Japan and countries in the Asia Pacific regions.

14. The name Kodok, Andy’s son is taken from Afdlin Shauki’s nicknames - Cip Kodok and Chief Kodok.

15. Afdlin’s next directed movie is Los dan Faun. Starring Hans Isaac (Afdlin’s best friend also) and Erra Fazira.

16. Most memorable quote, "Pokemon Punya Dragon Ball"

17. The budget for this movie is RM3.8 million with RM1 million alone from it were spent for filming in Japan.

 

MY EXPERIENCE
I watched this movie on 12th May. This is the first Afdlin Shauki’s movie that i watched in cinema. For his previous movies, sitcoms and sketches, i watched it all on television. I have no regret to watch Sumolah in cinema because the movie was brilliant and suitable for Malaysian viewers! Read - MALAYSIAN VIEWERS! Not confined to only Malay people. AND i saw Afdlin Shauki and Patrick Teoh on Saturday evening at TGV, Kinta City once i’ve finished watching the movie. Both of them were here to promote their movie! First time ever seeing Afdlin and Patrick from close range! Trust me, this is a movie that Malaysians should watch. Dun care the fact that this is a Malay movie and u will enjoy it!

 

Last but not least,
Nokotta! Nokotta!

 

14 days away from Year 3 studies