Monday, May 29, 2006

CHAPTER 75: Remembering......Tan Sri P Ramlee (1929 - 1973)

“MASYARAKAT harus mengikuti perkembangan filem kerana pembuat filem ialah orang yang kreatif dan dapat membentuk masyarakat. Apa yang dipaparkan dalam filem akan diikuti oleh masyarakat.” - Tan Sri P Ramlee


P Ramlee was an icon in the entertainment industry in Malaysia.
Here, his popularity, fame and his works are unrivalled.I guess if we’re to compare in a way, P Ramlee was an ‘artist’ figure to Malaysia what Elvis Presley was to America.

Even though P Ramlee worked in the era of the 40s to the 60s, some of his works are ‘evergreen’. And some (if not most) of his works, most notably his films, you can always find moral values being portrayed in a way, as a way that can enable any of us to ponder about it. And the quality from his works are evident, his songs, his films are still being heard and watched today.

The thing I admire most about this man was that he was versatile in his works where by being an artist, P Ramlee was an actor, a musician, a song writer, a producer, a composer, a director.
The versatility is evident in his movies, where he portrays himself as a musician in some of his films, like Kassim Selamat in Ibu Mertuaku, in which he plays a saxophone and in Antara Dua Darjat where he taught the heroine of the film how to play the piano. Not only does P Ramlee sometimes acted as a musician in some of his films, he deploys his own music in his films too.
The versatility is also with his acting skills. P Ramlee could pull off by acting in various roles, whether him being a serious man, or comedic parts or acting in tragic situations.
For instance, the funny roles that he did in films like Anak Bapak, Labu Labi, the trilogy of the “Bujang Lapok” and “Do Re Mi” series or Madu Tiga (a film regarding a man's hassles with polygamy).

Then there are the characters that he portrayed in films such as Sergeant Hassan, Hang Tuah, Penarek Becha, Doktor Rushdi, Putus Sudah Kasih Sayang and a whole lot more.

One his finest film was Anakku Sazali. In this film, P Ramlee plays two different roles, one that is a single father who gives his everything and unknowingly and naively cared and supported his son, and the other role was of that son who from a child grew up manipulating his father for money and wealth and in turn became the biggest gangster in Singapore. P Ramlee acted these two roles in the films brilliantly, and it earned him the award of Best Male Actor in the Asian Film Festival 1957 (first Malaysian to do so).

I still am in awe when I kept seeing the scene of the film where Sazali had a heated argument with his father. That scene, P Ramlee pulled off brilaiiantly two stunts, one that of a hot tempered and ill mannered son and the other the father that was full of regret, naivety and disconsolate.


I still believe, that now (and perhaps always), P Ramlee is the best Malaysian artist. No one else, from his time or from those who are presently in the industry nowadays can really come up againts what the legend has done, and what his accomplishments are. I think currently, maybe M Nasir is the one that has versatility in a wide areas like P Ramlee, but even then it could not match up with P Ramlee's wide array of works and achievements.

For those who knows who this man is, there can be many other ways to write or describe about who P Ramlee was, as an actor, or as a singer, or even as a human being. But what is indisputable is that P Ramlee was one of the greatest Malaysian artist, and his legacy, his works & accomplishments will always be remembered.
Remembering the Legendary P. Ramlee (22.3.1929 – 29.5.1973)

22 March,1929 - 29 May,1973

'Lagenda' – Sheila Majid’s tribute to P Ramlee

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