Malay version of 'Kabali' to hit local cinemas on July 22
Published on: Thursday, June 23, 2016
Kuala Lumpur: The days of Malays watching Tamil movies with Malay subtitles will be over with a breakthrough in Malaysian film industry as a Tamil blockbuster movie 'Kabali' will be released in a Malay-dubbed version for Malaysian viewers. Kabali, a blockbuster featuring 'Kollywood' Superstar Rajinikanth was dubbed in Malay by the film's distributor in Malaysia, Malik Streams, and expected to hit cinemas throughout the country on July 22.The joint producer of Kabali, Datuk Abdul Malik Dashtigeer, said the film which had already set numerous records even before it was dubbed from Tamil to Malay, will become a trend-setter and a historic event in the Malaysian movie industry.
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The teaser of Kabali which was dubbed in Malay and released to the Malaysian public last week, was an instant hit, not only among the Malays but the Indian community as well."Last Saturday the film's teaser was released in Malay and it was a hit among fans in the social media as it went viral immediately. Kabali is the first Tamil film to be dubbed in Malay," said Abdul Malik.He said marketing the movie in Malaysia had cost him RM2 million and the film was expected to rake in about RM50 million when released in 480 cinemas throughout the country."Local celebrity Arun Kumar is the 'voice' of Rajinikanth in the Malay version and Fathia Latiff is the voice for the role of Rajinikanth's daughter Dhanshikaa in the movie.
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"The entire team involved in the dubbing, including Datuk Jalaluddin Hassan who is the 'leader' of a notorious gang in the movie (voice), was flown to Chennai, India for seven days to do the recording."Two songs (Ulagam and Nerupuda) are in the process of being dubbed in Malay and music will use the minus one scale," he told Bernama.
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He said apart from Malaysia, the Malay version of Kabali would also be released at 250 cinemas in Indonesia on July 29.The original Kabali movie produced by India's Pa.Ranjith was expected to be released on July 1 but had been delayed for some reason and Abdul Malik expects the Tamil version to be released by mid-July.Kabali first drew the attention of Malaysians, especially Malay movie fans when prominent local actors like Datuk Rosyam Nor, Norman Hakim, Zack Taipan and Tony Kassim were offered to play a part in the movie.Abdul Malik who owns Malik Streams said in total about 800 Malaysians played a role, including as extras, in the movie that features the legendary Rajinikanth as a don of the underworld.Though a large part of the movie was shot in India, Malaysia also played a significant role in the production of the movie since the entire cast spent about 60 days for filming the movie in several parts of the country.Rajinikanth, the highest paid actor in Asia just like Jackie Chan, has a huge fan following in the country, and the whole of Malaysia came to a standstill when the actor camped here for the shooting of the film based on the life of Chennai don, Kabaleeswaran. The film, Rajinikanth's 159th movie, also has Radhika Apte, John Vijay, Kalai Arasan Attakathi Dinesh and Dhanshikaa in leading roles.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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