When the Information, Communications and Culture Ministry announced a new ruling banning local filmmakers from showing Mat Rempit and men in women’s clothes in their productions, film producer Raja Azmi Raja Sulaiman was among those badly hit. Her currently-produced film about transsexuals, Anu Dalam Botol (literally Dick in the Bottle) has already racked a decent cost of RM100,000 (around USD28,300) before the ruling, which will go to waste if it couldn’t be shown.
Raja Azmi is known for being controversial—I can feel her spunk when she talks about censorship, the industry and her love of the limelight in today’s The Sun.
Since one of the reasons why the government imposed this draconian ruling is to fight immoral activities linked to groups of Mat Rempit and cross-dressers, Raja Azmi reasoned that:
I hate it when people say movies can encourage people to become Mat Rempit and transsexuals. Do you think movies can change people’s lives so drastically? Why do we have this mentality that if we made a movie about Mat Rempit the whole of Malaysia will become Mat Rempit. Movie-makers depict what is out there.
Frankly, I am not aware about the comparison of Malaysian films with Iran, but she raised a good point:
People ask why we don’t make movies like those by Iranian filmmakers about good people, good Muslims and innocent children. Their films have been winning awards. But do these people think there are no drug addicts in Iran, no rapists, no murderers. Of course there are no Mat Rempit because I hardly see motorbikes in Iran. But there are a lot of gays in Iran and there are a lot of “bad” men who seduce women. And Iran never made movies like that. But these things still exist in Iran. Can you can explain that?
I share her sentiments on sex, and wish more people will not only feel the same way, but are brave enough to come out with it. When accused of being a “sex maniac”, she retorted:
I believe sex maniacs are people who think about sex all the time and have many sexual partners. I am not like that. I believe that in life, you should have sex, religion and love. Your life is incomplete without these elements. You must be able to discuss these issues openly.
Sex is a creative part in a human being. There is a lot of creativity in sex. My husband and I discuss openly about sex. Every married couple should do that.
However, the best part about her is her unwillingness to kiss ass. She had this to say about our film industry:
We have too many rules.We are eager to ban this and ban that. There should be some form of censorship. (But) Too much censorship curbs our creativity.
She also claimed that the industry does not have an united front, incapable to demand more showings of local films in theatres, and furthermore:
The recent ban on movies depicting Mat Rempit and transsexuals proves that we are not united. Some film-makers do not care about the ban because they do not make this kind of movies. So they have nothing to lose and they will not speak up for producers affected by this ruling.
When asked about the reason the public do not prefer Malaysian films, she answered simply:
Our movies are of inferior quality compared to foreign films.
Way to say it, sister.
Besides producing the doomed Anu Dalam Botol, Raja Azmi is currently working on Karkuma, a novel about an epic war story between humans and demons. Awesome.
What do you think of the Malaysian film industry and government censors? Do you agree with Raja Azmi? Leave your thoughts in the comments!
Coffee Conversations 
without words….visit and smile
iam a director vidhu rajin .i have take a new film its TITIL LOVERS .if u intresed u plz produce here by vidhu rajin contact number;9952226147.tamil nadu
Hi Zuraini,
I came across ur blog page today, and may i say .. kudos to ur writings.
I find it all so interesting and well elaborated.
Then again, in matters of films & its contents, may i beg to differ.
:)
I do think that to a certain point, our film makers nowadays do carry a responsibility in educationing the ever growing society. Yes, I am not going to deny, these film makers are merely depicting on matters which are already out there. But why should we glamourize such negative values?
For example, the notorious “BOHSIA : Jangan Pilih Jalan Hitam”. Have you seen that film? It was an utter embarrasment to the Malay society as a whole,I just felt like pouncing on that young director (what ever his name is again?). Yes, these social issues do exist among us. But why place on the screen and cause further complete humiliation – when the rest of the society is fighting hard to bring back the Kegemilangan Bangsa Melayu.
No, I am not a racist. Plus I am proud to be Malaysian. And I love my fellow mates which stands of all the different races that we have here in Malaysia.
But we have only a handful amount left of Malaysians on this tiny globe. Why destroy it?
Allow me to quote Raja Azmi,
“I believe sex maniacs are people who think about sex all the time and have many sexual partners. I am not like that. I believe that in life, you should have sex, religion and love. Your life is incomplete without these elements. You must be able to discuss these issues openly.
Sex is a creative part in a human being. There is a lot of creativity in sex. My husband and I discuss openly about sex. Every married couple should do that.”
But shouldn’t the issue of intimacy and sex should be left behind closed doors? Isn’t that what is required by our religion, Islam? Then again, I am not going to deny on the importance of it between a husband and a wife.
Touching the issue of creativity,
“We have too many rules.We are eager to ban this and ban that. There should be some form of censorship. (But) Too much censorship curbs our creativity.”
What is CREATIVITY? When you come out with SOMETHING out of NOTHING, then that is what we call creativity. Yes, there are restrictions. Take it as a challange, and work around it. We should not fret over when things which are taken away from us – especially when it is for the good of the mankind. I hope you agree on me with this. We should stop pointing fingers, and improvise and what is given to us. Be it on a silver platter or not.
Let us look back to Tan Sri P Ramlee movies .. don’t we all just love him? He is so significant to this society of ours, that we have all the people from all races loving him, and mimicking him – as to guarantee a tiny giggle/a big laugh.
He delivered his touch & thoughts in a bona fide manner of a seniman should be. Hence the reason all his movies are still ‘alive’ till today.
O God, Zuraini. I think I may have been nagging way too much here.
Haha. My apologies.
And again, two thumbs up to ur impressive writings here.
;)
Thank you Mawar for your kind words. I live for people who differ. =)
In matter of films like Bohsia, I do agree with you. That was why I was in such a dilemma regarding the government ruling. On one hand, I hate censorship, but also I hate these cheap piece of crap served to the audience. We Malaysians deserve much much better.
Intimacy and sex should be kept private when it is a personal matter. Otherwise, there is a need for more exposure to sexuality amongst Malaysians. We are as a nation, very repressed, and have skewed notions towards sex. In my opinion, the lack of proper exposure and education about sex is among the main reason why we have so many sexual crimes, like rape cases.
P. Ramlee was a great man, and a cherished director, but you can also argue that his films are awesome because there was less restriction and censorship on him at that time. Watch his films, and I’m sure you can notice many elements that have been killed off and hushed these days.
I stand by my point, that more censorship will not benefit anyone. Only with an open field can creativity prosper. We have so many talents in Malaysia, we just need for them to be exposed more. I went to Urbanscapes a few months ago, and was pleasantly surprised by the quality of our independent filmmakers & artists! (restrictions do not apply to independent films)
Finally, thanks again for your comments and for dropping by Mawar, and I look forward to see you again.
Bagi aku kalu fasal sex aku setuju je…
janji ada jalan cerita…
jangan pakai muat je, zaman skg apa-apa boleh jadi….
macam-macam mereka kongsi……sampai laki bini pun ada….heheheheh
Hi Raja Azmi,
Is your movie “Dalam Botol” out in the market. Where I get then.
Thanks
Max