Tan Sri P. Ramlee a.k.a Teuku Zakaria bin Teuku Nyak Puteh was born on 22 March 1929. He first made his debut in the film Cinta (Love) playing the role of a villain constantly menacing the virtue of heroine Siput Sarawak. However, his talents in composing music and singing gave him an edge over many of his contemporaries. He was also very versatile as a leading actor, comic, dramatic artiste, scripwriter and film director.
Ramlee¡¯s star began to shine brighter when Director Datuk L. Krishnan gave him the chance to play the leading role in Takdir Ilahi (Destiny) alongside popular favourites Kasma Booty and Siput Sarawak.
Thenceforth, there was no turning back for P. Ramlee. He took to films like ducks to water. When not busy upsetting the metabolism of heroines onscreen he did almost everything else - being clapper boy, handling continuity, assisting the cameraman, standing-in, etc. He loved films and film-making.
In 1950 alone, he acted in three films and in 1952, five. His beautiful curly hair, daring sideburns, dashing moustache and dangling handkerchief in the back pocket projected a macho appearance that became the rage. And much imitated by young men.
Ramlee¡¯s career took another upward swing when he was at last given the chance to direct in 1955. With ¡®Penarik Beca¡¯, he achieved a full circle in his career as an artiste of the celluloid world. It was one to be envied for the film was a smashing success.
As a dedicated actor and director who would grasp any chance for self-improvement in order to enhance future achievements, Ramlee took serious note of the work of others.
He was immensely drawn to and influenced by the films of foreign directors, like Satyajit Ray of India and Akira Kurosawa of Japan which he particularly doted on and used as springboards for his own imagination and creativity.
Long before Malaysia adopted the Look East Policy, Ramlee had already been won by the ¡®Empire of the Rising Sun¡¯. As far back as the 50s, he had been bowled over by the Japanese.
If we study Semerah Padi (1956) and Sumpah Orang Minyak (1958) with a fine eye, it is obvious that Ramlee had been attracted to the directing techniques much loved by Kurosawa such as the lavish tracking shots, baroque angles and fast editing tempo.
Hamzah Hussein, a confidante of the late artiste loves to recall how he used to watch movies with Ramlee. The actor would ceaselessly jot down notes on camera angles, dialogue delivery, and others that he would use, with modifications of course, in his future films.
Ramlee¡¯s crowning achievements as an actor of total consummation and projection was attained when he won the Best Actor Award at the Asian Film Festival in 1957 for dual roles in Anakku Sazali a powerhouse drama if ever there was one.
The late 1950s and early 1960s were Ramlee¡¯s heydays. Every film he did seemed tailor-made for him. The heavy dramas such as Ibu Mertuaku, Antara Dua Darjat, Sumpah Orang Minyak are perennial classics. Even when viewed for the umpteenth time over television, they still exude a charge.
His comedies are timeless. With films like Musang Berjanggut, Nujum Pa Belalang, Madu Tiga and especially the ¡®Bujang Lapok¡¯ quartet, he has assured them eternal placings in the movies¡¯ Hall of Fame. For these were not only vehicles to laugh at or laugh with. Between the dialogue, comedy pacing and apparently silly goings-on are stinging barbs on social patterns.
His innuendoes and comments on society¡¯s shortcomings and failings that he subtly injected into his comedies are still relevant even in today¡¯s society. Ramlee never lost sight of the fact that an artiste, like politicians, teachers, theologians and the like, also had a social function to fulfil. He did it through his films.
Indeed, Ramlee perpetrated several innovations on social habits and patterns as well as living concepts in his films which later became very much the way of life for most Malaysians.
Before we learn to accept Rukun Negara as our guiding ideology and confront the harsh realities attendant to a plural society, Ramlee had dissected these issues in his films Sesudah Subuh and Gerimis, which were released in 1966 and 1968 respectively.
However, his plea for social tolerance in these two films has been made a mockery by present-day polarisation in our midst. Yet Ramlee pursued this theme in the hope that it would become like second skin to Malaysians.
P. Ramlee passed away on 29 May 1973. Every year, on that date without fail, the Malaysian mass media laments his passing. They heap a profusion of eulogies on him that, at times, seems to border on mania.
Small wonder it is, for the man has left an indelible mark on show business in this country. He died a legend. It is generally agreed that his voice was his forte. It had the kind of caressing quality that could project maidens into dreamland. He sang, wrote the lyrics and music for about 200 songs that appeared in a total of 63 films. His popularity with his fans, young and old, had reached its zenith long before his demise.
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