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IT is always motivating to know that Malaysians can produce artistic products of good quality as it gives us hope to believe that we Malaysians can do just as well as our foreign counterparts.
And in the latest Malaysian rom-com movie 'Mojoku Hilang', this was well-proven once more.
Although the storyline is nothing extra-ordinary but the screenplay really made up for it. We have probably seen a similar storyline before in both local and international flicks, where wealthy corporate giants try to take over the land of some poor villagers or something along those lines. And amid the chaos of protecting their rights, a love story blossoms in between.
However, I must applaud the way the story flows and the well-written script which succeeded in bringing out the 'mojo' of the movie - pun intended.
'Mojoku Hilang' which translates to 'I lost my mojo' in English depicts the tale of a famous Malaysian-bred Friesian cow named Mojo who goes viral world-wide due to its unique natural diamond-shaped pattern on its forehead.
Thanks to this novelty, the cow becomes a crowd puller of the farming company that owns the right to the farm where it was bred, indirectly increasing the sale of their dairy products. As the company's management uses their influence and wealth to purchase farms all over Malaysia, farmers in the village of Kampung Semerah Padi in the northern state of Perlis remain the only group that refuses to give up their land.
The farming company then uses Mojo the cow to entice the farmers of Semerah Padi through a 'road-show' which they bring to the village. Tasked for the mission to convince these small-time villagers is a dashing Indonesian man named Adi who has lived in Malaysia for a long while and is also the rightful owner of the farm that spawned Mojo.
Going 'undercover' using the name 'Adam', Adi meets Ayu, the strong-willed and hard-headed but strikingly beautiful daughter of one of the farmers of Semerah Padi. Ayu is adamant about keeping her family's farm and refuses to give in to the corporate thugs.
During the roadshow, Ayu's father and his farmer friends 'cow-nap' Mojo and hides the cow in their farm with hopes of getting ransom from the company and expecting them to be left alone.
The company then panics and assigns Adi to retrieve the cow and convince the farmers to sell off their lands.
However, Ayu slowly falls for 'Adam' and vice versa during the mission without knowing that Adam has a secret agenda.
Slowly, the truth begins to crack and this puts Adi in a dilemma that may cause his job and his family's legacy.
From the description above, the storyline really does sound very simple but watching the movie gives viewers many things to talk about.
Tackling comedy is never easy as some fail when they try push elements like slapstick too hard but Mojoku Hilang does it well without forcing anything unnecessarily.
The screenplay allows viewers to feel the emotions felt by the two lead characters Adi and Ayu as they fall in love and talk about their dreams and losses.
The funnly lines used in the flick also adds to the humour of the whole adventure.
To make it more interesting the film boasts a very impressive cast consisting of Adipati Dolken, the Indonesian heart throb who plays Adi, as well as Mimi Lana who gives a very convincing portrayal of Ayu and further solidified by local industry heavy-weights such as Namron, Aziz M Osman, Wan Hanafi Su, Ahmad Tarmimi Siergar and many more who bring the supporting characters to life.
As an avid follower and critic of the local entertainment industry, this writer can't help but make one obvious observation that may be slightly controversial or unpopular for some.
This writer finds that local artistic offerings usually have very different and sometimes distinct results when it is produced by Malaysians of different ethnic backgrounds. Just like music, movies tend to play out differently when it receives the touch of writers and directors who are not of the majority ethnic group in Malaysia.
In this case, Min Lim a Malaysian Chinese proved this observation as this writer believes a Malaysian Malay or Indian may give out a different look and feel to the movie. As Malaysia is a Malay majority nation, most Malay language films are written and directed by Malays of the industry, and perhaps that is why we quite often see similar patterns in these visual products.
Hence, it is very refreshing to know that the non-Malay thespians wish to engage and produce Malay-language films (and music) for the whole country.
Perhaps it is a question of cultural background (we will never really know) but Min has proven that what she gave the audience was something lovely and worth sharing with everyone regardless of their race and nationality.
I am curious if the result would be the same if the treatment was done by a Malaysian Malay or Indian, but we shall leave this topic for another article.
Though i applaud this movie for being very entertaining and engaging, the only flaw Ican find is that the duration of the movie was a tad, too-long. I think any movie (regardless local or international) need not take too much of the audience's time.
Two hours for me is very long for a movie and I honestly believe that the creators did not need so much screen time to make this movie a success as it already has a truly 'feel-good' screenplay and cast.
It is definitely worth your Malaysian Ringgit and Southeast Asian Dollars if you appreciate a good and entertaining new-age Malaysian rom-com! Kudos to the team behind 'Mojoku Hilang' for a job well done.
Mojoku Hilang is currently screening in all cinemas since July 23.