Tun Juhar and Toh Puan Norlidah with Datuk Seri Shabery (seated left) and Datuk Tawfiq (seated right) at Golden Screen Cinemas, Suria Sabah to watch ‘Tanda Putera’ on Wednesday night.
Some of the people attending the screening of ‘Tanda Putera’ on Wednesday night.
KOTA KINABALU: An official viewing of Suhaimi Baba’s controversial film Tanda Putera (Mark of Prince) was held at the Golden Screen Cinemas in Suria Sabah here on Wednesday evening.
It was a red carpet event with Head of State Tun Juhar Mahiruddin watching the film with his consort Toh Puan Norlidah R M Jasni, together with a number of state and federal ministers, including Communications and Multimedia Minister Datuk Seri Shabery Cheek and state Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Tawfiq Abu Bakar Titingan.
Tanda Putera, which was previously scheduled for release in September last year before it was delayed until August 29 this year, has drawn flak from opposition parties while receiving strong backing from the Barisan Nasional (BN) government for its nationalist and patriotic theme.
The fictional biographical film about the second Prime Minister of Malaysia, Tun Abdul Razak and his then deputy Tun Dr Ismail, is Shuhaimi Baba’s sequel to to his 1957: Hati Malaya released in 2007.
The movie is set around the time after the bloody 1969’s May 13 racial riots and centred on the close friendship between the prime minister and his deputy.
Both characters were portrayed as secretive about their health problems in their struggle to restore peace in their country following the riots.
Opposition lawmakers have alleged that the film portrayed the Chinese and the Democratic Action Party (DAP) in a negative light.
Further controversy was caused after the film’s official Facebook page featured a picture of opposition leader Lim Kit Siang being carried away by a group of uniformed officials with the caption alleging that Lim Kit Siang had urinated on the Selangor flag in the house of former Selangor chief minister Harun Idris.
The allegation was later denied by Lim, who said the picture featuring him in the Facebook page was actually taken in Sabah in 1984.
Director Shuhaimi Baba, who had also denied that Lim was featured in the film, defended his film saying that it was based on true historical facts and a pro-government propaganda.
He maintained that the film was mainly about the friendship between Tun Razak and Tun Dr Ismail, while the May 13 incident was merely a backdrop to the film.
Despite all the controversies that somewhat created a buzz that made its delayed release highly anticipated, the movie was said to have fallen short of expectation in ticket sales.
Tanda Putera was a hit in the first few days of its opening but was quickly reduced to being screened in halls with smaller seating capacity at cineplexes.
Opened on Thursday, just two days before the Independence Day last week, the RM4.8 million film only collected RM500,000 as of Monday, and many critics were not subtle in expressing their distaste of Shuhaimi Baba’s potrayal of the “Bapa Malaysia”.
Some influential online pages described the movie as a disservice and injustice to the legacy of the Tun Abdul Razak.
At the viewing here in Sabah however, it was all compliments and thumbs up from the audience, at least to Rusdi Ramli, who played the main character of Tun Abdul Razak, for his performance.
The popular actor was the main attraction after the viewing, as invited guests and even VIPs took turn to have their photos taken with him.
Also present at the viewing were Communications and Multimedia Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Shabery Cheek, State Community Development and Consumer Affairs Minister Datuk Jainab Ahmad, and other ministers as well as heads of government departments.