The Malaysian Insider :: Opinion
The Malaysian Insider :: Opinion |
| Posted: 07 Aug 2011 04:36 PM PDT 8 OGOS — Saya dan keluarga berpeluang menonton filem Tamil "Deiva Thirumagal" (Holy Child of God) baru-baru ini. Seperti diharapkan, Vikram berjaya memberikan lakonan mantap dengan membawakan watak dan perwatakan berbeza daripada filem-filemnya sebelum ini. Selain daripada watak Krisha lakonan Vikram, watak lain yang hangat diperkatakan adalah Nila lakonan "Baby Sarah", kanak-kanak berumur 5 tahun. (Gelaran "Baby" selalu diberi pada nama pelakon kanak-kanak perempuan dalam industri filem India.) Nizha Periaswamy, seorang wartawan yang berpeluang mewawancara Vikram dan Baby Sarah baru-baru ini mengakui bahawa kanak-kanak itu sangat comel, petah berkata-kata, cepat mesra dan mempunyai bakat semula jadi sebagai pelakon. Apabila menyaksikan bakat Baby Sarah dalam filem "Deiva Thirumagal" yang diarah oleh A.L. Vijay dan diterbitkan oleh Mohan Natarajan, saya terus teringat akan seorang lagi pelakon kanak-kanak yang mula menonjol sejak berumur 4 tahun.  Nizha kagum dengan bakat semula jadi Baby Sarah. Pada tahun 1990-an, saya melihat Shalini yang sudah remaja dalam filem Tamil "Kaadhal Devathai" yang sebenarnya merupakan versi alih suara daripada filem Telegu "Jagadeka Veerudu Athiloka Sundari" (1990) lakonan Sri Devi dan Chiranjeevi. Filem Telegu itu turut dialih suara ke Hindi sebagai "Aadmi Aur Apsara" dan Malayalam sebagai "Hai Sundhari". Wajar dinyatakan bahawa filem "Jagadeka Veerudu Athiloka Sundari" menggandingkan Shalini bersama adiknya, Baby Shamili yang kemudian "menggemparkan" dunia pada tahun 1990 melalui pembawaan watak kanak-kanak terencat akal dalam filem "Anjali" arahan Mani Ratnam. Shalini lahir di Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India pada tahun 1979. Pelakon keturunan Malayalam ini fasih Bahasa Tamil dan penguasaan bahasa ini amat nyata dalam filem-filem Malayalam dan Tamil lakonannya. Shalini muncul sebagai pelakon kanak-kanak dan dikreditkan sebagai "Baby Shalini" dalam 80 filem Tamil, Malayalam dan Telegu bagi tempoh 1983-1990. Bagi tempoh 1997-2001 pula, Shalini muncul sebagai pelakon wanita utama dalam 12 filem Tamil dan Malayalam — tanpa perlu mendedahkan tubuh seperti "terpaksa" dilakukan kebanyakan pelakon lain dalam industri filem di India. Filem pertama lakonannya adalah filem Malayalam arahan Fazil, "Ente Mamattikkuttiyammakku", pada tahun 1983. Filem itu kemudian dibuat semula dalam versi Tamil dengan judul "En Bommukutty Ammavuku" pada tahun 1988; sekali gus membuatkan peminat filem Tamil di Malaysia turut mengenali Baby Shalini. Shalini "menghilangkan diri" selepas filem Telegu "Jagadeka Veerudu Athiloka Sundari" (1990) dan muncul kembali sebagai pelakon wanita utama dalam filem Malayalam arahan Fazil, "Aniyathi Pravu" (1997). Kemunculan semula Shalini disedari oleh peminat filem Tamil di Malaysia apabila filem Malayalam "Aniyathi Pravu" dibuat semula dalam versi Tamil, "Kadhalakku Mariyadhai" (1997). Filem berkenaan turut dibuat dalam versi Hindi, "Doli Saja Ke Rakhna" (1998) di mana Jyothika memegang peranan pelakon wanita utama. Dalam filem "Amarkalam" (2000), Shalini turut menyanyikan lagu "Sonthakuralil Paada" menggunakan suara sendiri; sebagaimana disarankan lirik lagu itu sendiri! Shalini berganding dengan Ajith Kumar dalam filem itu. Mereka akhirnya berkahwin pada tahun 2000 dan Shalini mengumumkan akan meninggalkan dunia perfileman. Saya secara peribadi amat kecewa mendengar pengumuman itu kerana tidak ramai pelakon wanita berbakat semula jadi yang mampu mencipta nama tanpa perlu mendedahkan tubuh dalam industri filem di India. Filem "Alaipayuthey" (2000) dikatakan filem terakhir lakonan Shalini. Bagaimanapun, filem "Kannukul Nilavu" terbit selepas itu. Shalini juga masih "berhutang" dengan Kamal yang mengarah filem Malayalam "Niram" (1999) kerana mengikut perjanjian, filem berkenaan akan turut dibuat semula dalam versi Tamil. Maka, filem Tamil "Piriyadha Varam Veendum" (2001) adalah filem terakhir lakonan Shalini. Sementara itu, adiknya, Shamili yang lahir pada 1987 berjaya menyentuh emosi orang ramai menerusi penampilannya sebagai bayi terencat akal dalam filem "Anjali" (1990). Pada usia 3 tahun, Baby Shamili menerima Anugerah Filem Nasional (Pelakon Kanak-kanak Terbaik).  Mungkinkah Anoushka mewarisi bakat ibunya, Shalini? Shamili juga muncul sebagai pelakon remaja dalam filem Malayalam "Harikrishnans" (1998) selain tampil dalam beberapa filem Kannada pada tahun 1990-an. Dia juga memegang watak Kamala dalam filem Tamil "Kandukondain Kandukondain" (2000) sebelum muncul sebagai pelakon wanita utama menerusi filem Telegu "Oy!" (2009), sekali gus menang Anugerah CineMAA (Pelakon Baru Terbaik). Berbalik kepada Baby Sarah pula, dia mula muncul dalam iklan televisyen semasa berumur satu setengah tahun. Filem sulungnya adalah filem Hindi "404 Error Not Found" (2011), sebuah thriller psikologi. Bapanya, Raj Arjun, seorang pelakon manakala ibunya, Sanya, seorang guru tari. Baby Sarah khabarnya baru sahaja selesai penggambaran filem "Tomorrow" bersama bapanya. Baby Sarah mula berlakon filem pada usia 5 tahun, Shalini pada usia 4 tahun dan Shamili pada usia 3 tahun. Perlu diingat bahawa berlakon adalah suatu kerjaya dan industri besar di India. Maka, ramai yang dilatih dan diasuh sejak kecil untuk menjadi pelakon. Biasanya, ibu bapa yang terlibat dalam industri perfileman akan mengasuh anak-anak mereka untuk turut terlibat sejak usia muda. Hal ini dapat diperhatikan sekiranya kita mengikuti dan meneliti perkembangan industri filem India. Pasangan Ajith-Shalini dikurniakan seorang anak perempuan pada awal tahun 2008. Mungkinkah Baby Anoushka yang kini berumur 3 tahun bakal mengulangi kehebatan Baby Shalini di layar perak? Bagaimanapun, nampaknya tidak ada apa-apa berita mengenai penglibatan Baby Anoushka dalam dunia lakonan; sebagaimana tiada berita (yang saya nanti-nantikan) mengenai kemunculan semula Shalini untuk menaikkan "maruah" pelakon wanita dalam filem-filem Tamil. * The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the columnist. Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by Used Car Search. |
| Whatever happened to respecting other religions? Posted: 07 Aug 2011 04:24 PM PDT AUG 8 — A few years ago I attended a debate with a couple of English friends. Whilst waiting for it to start, we conversed, and soon enough the topic turned to Islam and Muslims. I mentally sighed in frustration. Dear reader, it was Ramadan and all I wanted was to be able to practise my beliefs in peace for that one month without discussing the way Muslims live. Now the blessed month is upon us again, and again, this year, I am sighing in frustration. What did Jais think it was doing, raiding a church? I can't work out why the raid was necessary. Was it because: a) Some Muslims had dinner with some non-Muslims during Ramadan? b) Some Muslims went to a church during Ramadan? c) Some non-Muslims used the words "Quran" and "pray" in front of Muslims? d) Some Christians were trying to convert some Muslims to Christianity? e) All of the above? If the reason or reasons really were one or more of the above, then ... what is the big deal? Muslims have dinner with non-Muslims all the time, surely. Plenty of restaurants and hotels hold buka puasa banquets during Ramadan, and I'm sure that you'll find tables of Muslims and non-Muslims eating together. Ahh, but they were in church. Well again, so what? So what if they were in a church, eating, listening to speeches? It's not a crime for Muslims to enter a church in Malaysia, surely? It's not a crime for Muslims to eat and listen to speeches in churches in Malaysia, surely? Oh, but it's Ramadan, you say, they should have been at Tarawih prayers. Hmm, yes. Well, why weren't those Jais officials then, eh? As for non-Muslims supposedly using certain words in front of Muslims, what has our world come to, that we are banned from communicating with each other? Are the words "Quran" and "pray" for the exclusive use of Muslims then? Is there a law that bans non-Muslims from uttering those words when Muslims are present? Anyway that was just me speculating. If the raid was so necessary, then why hasn't Jais come out and explained why it was necessary? I know a gag order has been imposed and I see that a report will be submitted soon. Well, that's all fine and good, but presumably Jais didn't just decide to conduct the raid out of the blue, and that there were solid reasons why it had to be done. Given the fairly serious accusations flying around about Christian proselytising, why can't we know what those reasons are? Whatever the charge against those in that church, I don't think a raid was justified. A place of worship should always be respected, and if wrongdoing is suspected, then those charged with its investigation should proceed with the utmost sensitivity and caution. We regularly denounce the West for sending troops into mosques, yet we have no compunction about doing the same to those of another religion. A case of one rule for us and another rule for others. Is this what Islam is about? Our prime minister went to Vatican City recently to meet the Pope and cement the ties between our countries. Curious then, the silence that has emanated from him. In the paranoid world of the Internet, I have read reports (well actually, just the one report recycled everywhere) about a Christian "scheme" to lure pious Malay-Muslim girls into Christianity. Is it true? I don't know. Maybe there are Christians out there who want to convert Muslims. In our topsy-turvy country, such things are not allowed. Once a Muslim, always a Muslim. Never mind if your faith wavers, or if you change your mind. Yet, there are plenty of Muslims who want to convert Christians (and others) to Islam. Our Malay papers are full of heartwarming stories about converts to Islam being welcomed into the fold, and how even their non-Muslim families have accepted their new way of life. What a pity such generosity is not reciprocated when the opposite happens. There are many who would say that allowing Muslims to leave their faith would tear the fabric of our country. Maybe, maybe not. Personally, I don't see much point in forcing people to believe what they no longer wish to believe. I don't see that the state has the right to dictate how people should live their lives. If someone has been coerced into leaving their religion then obviously that's wrong. But if someone, out of their own free will, decided to change their religion, well, that should be wholly their decision, don't you think? Then there are our Malay newspapers. Why do they persist in peddling fear amongst their readers? Christians this, Christians that. Christian NGOs giving money to poor Muslim women. For crying out loud! If no one else wants to help the poor in our country then for god's sake why can't a Christian charity do so? Do we want our poor to die of hunger before accepting help from someone who doesn't share their beliefs? If these papers really want to help Muslims then believe me, there are plenty of issues that they can focus on. Forget a church hosting a dinner in Malaysia, how about the bigger sin of Muslims killing other Muslims in Syria? Sure, it's not happening in our country, but are they not part of the ummah too? If we are so incensed when the Americans bomb Muslim countries, then why aren't we angry when our fellow Muslims are killed and oppressed by other Muslims? Lest it be forgotten, Islam places great importance on other religions and we Muslims are exhorted to respect other religions, their adherents and their places of worship. Ramadan should be a time for peace, prayer and reflection. What a pity this has been forgotten by some overzealous officials and our Malay newspapers. * The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the columnist. 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