A Fine Bromance

With the unruly state of our national politics, sometimes I think the best cure for the entire lot of unscrupulous backstabbing politicians would be a heavy dose of saccharine-sweet Yasmin Ahmad movies!

Seriously. Just tie them down into their comfy seats and screen movie after movie ( maybe with a promotional ad or two ). I think it's about time they got heavily brainwashed into accepting multiple doses of Malaysiana, that rich multicultural blend that makes us unique. Maybe then the wily politicians wouldn't be so eager to broadcast faintly racist propaganda to the teeming masses.

I'm sure Yasmin's zealous detractors would decry her sepia-toned, idealized romanticization of Malaysia - but look closely and you'll find nuggets of painful reality here and there.


Practicing for the big time!
Me, I'm a huge fan ( what's wrong with ideals? ) and eagerly await every production of hers :)

Reason enough that I dragged Charming Calvin off to Talentime the minute he stepped off the tarmac from down south. I know you're all gonna be asking what's Talentime since it's wholly underpublicized. Well from Yasmin's own words...

A music teacher, who is herself a great performer is organising an inter-school talentime. Through the days of auditions, rehearsals and preparations, running up to the big day of the contest, the characters get embroiled in a world of heightened emotions - ambition, jealousy, human comedy, romance, heartbreak - all of which culminate in a day of great music and performances.

Certainly no spoiler but with her penchant for inter-racial romance, the main storyline pairs a gregarious Malay girl, Melur - one of the contestants in the talentime - with Mahesh, a seemingly diffident Indian boy ( with hidden surprises up his sleeve! ).



Of course I found the secondary story far more interesting which brings together Hafiz, a Malay student struggling with his mother's hospitalization - and also the seemingly irrational jealousy of his Chinese classmate, Kahoe. Just a brief heated interchange between the two in the classroom - as Kahoe confronts Hafiz on his superior scholastic results - summarizes the antagonistic relationship between the two races in a nutshell. Of course their growing enmity is juxtaposed with the close friendship of their teachers - also a Chinese-Malay pairing - so intimate in fact that it has the brother headmaster blithely wondering.

A pity Hafiz and Kahoe didn't get the airtime they deserved. Far too many issues between them to have ben resolved so neatly and quickly. Maybe a sequel? :)

Enthralled by their good looks, the girls seated right in front of us giggled and thought they'd make a far finer bromance than the main leads.

I couldn't agree more. :)