"Sumolah" in 52 Theatres Nationwide Next Week!

Showtimes

News

"Sumolah" in 52 Theatres Nationwide Next Week!

Writer: Pairamaporn Buranakol

Poster for "Sumolah"

4 May - Those looking forward to local film director Afdlin Shauki's "Sumolah" need not wait any longer. The film is set to be released next week, and the anticipation is high – what will be the movie-goers' response to a film which merges a Japanese sport into a Malaysian environment?

A preview screening of the upcoming film "Sumolah" was held today, attended by members of the cast, crew, the press, and invited guests. After the screening, Afdlin thanked the film crew and cast, as well as the main sponsors, local mobile telecommunications company Celcom and health equipment producer Ogawa; as well as production company Silver Omega.

A five minute movie clip, which is a prelude to "Sumolah" is also made available on mobile phones for Celcom customers. The clip is accessible via Celcom 3G mobile phones, or by accessing http://www.channelx.com.my – a new entertainment portal which was launched recently by Celcom.

Michihiro Kubota, who came up with the original idea for the film and co-wrote the screenplay, was ecstatic. "I feel relieved now! Afdlin has made my dream come true."

"Sumolah" is about Ramlee (Afdlin Shauki), who is hungry, desperate and jobless. His mother is disappointed in him, he can't seem to hold down a job, and it almost seems too good to be true when he is offered a challenge by sushi restaurant owner Honda (Patrick Teoh) to "eat all you can for free." The catch? There's a time limit, which Ramlee fails to keep to, and winds up having to pay off his debt by working in the restaurant.

Patrick Teoh gives a smile to Cinema Online

At the Boleh Sushi shop, Ramlee becomes smitten with Honda's beautiful daughter, Siti (Inthira Charoenpura), who is half-Japanese and half-Malay; and finds friends in Harith (Awie) and Andy (Radhi Khalid). His life begins to take a turn for the better as he begins to learn the meaning of having good friends and family. However, a rival for Siti's affections soon turns up in the form of her ex-boyfriend, Akira (Gurmit Singh), who ends up humiliating him during a friendly bout of sumo wrestling. Ramlee soon finds out that he was tricked into working for Boleh Sushi because Honda's team is one man short for the Malaysian Sushi Association Amateur Sumo Wrestling Championships, held by the local Japanese owners of sushi restaurants.

So how does one feel, seeing themselves on screen in the final product?

"I've seen it a million times already but it feels weird," Afdlin Shauki laughed as he spoke to Cinema Online." No, it feels good that it's finally out. I mean, a lot of people have been waiting for the movie." He added that he felt satisfied with the end result of the film.

"The whole story is fun, and the cinematography is alright," Awie said. "Although some of the scenes with my role was cut, I feel that the message came through in the end with the character.

A few scenes which were cut also involved the story behind one of the characters, Andy, played by Radhi Khalid. "The movie has got a good flow, entertaining, with funny quips – with fighting, family love, friendship and all that – a nice balance. The family background (for Andy) has been cut short, but it's alright."

The film will open in 52 theatres starting next week, pitting itself against the current favourite "Spider-Man 3", and local independent film director James Lee's "Things We Do When We Fall in Love" and "Before We Fall in Love Again", also opening on 10 May.