Directed by Shanjhey Perumal Best Malaysian Film 2016 (FFM28)
A Tamil boy. A broken system. A decade on, still...
This re-release into the big screen (is a must watch) this 3rd of October after remastering also included the two multiverse movie releases, namely Macai (13 November 2025) and Blues (4 December 2025).
SYNOPSIS (TGV)
Set in early 1990s, which is the critical period for Malaysian Indian, who are forsaken by the estate owners and are forced to move to the cities and survive under harsh circumstances. The story follows a mischievous 12-year-old boy named Appoy and his relationships with his father, Maniam, and his uncles, former drug-addict Bala and local gangster Dorai.
REVIEW
Prior to the re-release screening which took place in the revamped LFS cinema in the middle of the old town Petaling Jaya, I have heard so much about this cult film but havent got the chance seeing it. Until last month in one of FINAS masterclass I have met, amongst others, the auteur of Jagat himself, Mr. Shanjhey Perumal, and got an invite to finally watch the enigmatic film.
Before the screening, I've accidentally watched an old Youtube review and I was blown away by the visual treatment given to the protagonist boy named Appoy. And that has been validated during the screening. Truly, there is no other way to experience a great film other than the good old big screen. The normalisation of the streaming tech, sold in the name of 'convenience' has really made technofeudalists spell, 'you will own nothing and be happy' came true. But that's for another topic.
The poster and the title. A punchy and raw sounding adjective which also means 'jahat' in Malay language, accompanied by the side-lighted portrait of Appoy, breaking the fourth wall, with a pencil in his mouth and a rubber eraser in his hand, posing as if he is lighting up a cigarette. It is a provocative play of visuals attacking two of the film's subjects with a single bullet.
The opening shot (which is also shown in the new re-released trailer) showing a tracking shot of Appoy walking away from a temple, which is saying that he is going away from God and into the path of darkness. There are shots of Appoy in sillhoutte standing behind the steel fence speaks of his inner dilemma as an Indian boy. The DOP really knows his stuff! (and seamless soundowork by Kamal Sabran!)
As much as the synopsis said about that period being critical for the Malaysian Indian, we can entirely said that the status quo remains pretty much the same during the writing and the release of the film (2015) and even now on its re-release after 10 years.
The same silent narrative has been reflected in Tamil School Pasanga - dilapitated state of the Tamil school in the middle of a rubber plantation. Same is done in Simple Manusan and Mirugasirisham. As the tagline goes - A Tamil boy. A broken system. A decade on, still..
THE SUBJECT (AND THE SUBTEXT)
It has been done many times. For the Sabahan, Putri Purnama Sugua with Aku Mau Skola and Rumah Ndak Bertanah. In Sarawak D-Ni-OK did it with Alice. Al-Jafree with Melur vs Rajawali and Ghahim Takut Nak Azan. And Areel Abu Bakar with Walid. Yasu Tanaka with MagiK. On the global scene, we have the recent Teacher’s Lounge, the post-modernist Dead Poets Society, and classics like 400 Blows.
Ah yes. Jagat reminded me a lot of 400 Blows. It is how you intelligently copy from others. A clever way of doing 'pastiche' and and not dive deep into the 'kitsch' rabbit hole. It revolves around the same story about the same thing. Yet it is how they are being told that makes one different from the other.
Yasmin Ahmad speaks of the same subject in Talentime, Muallaf and also Mukhsin. So does P. Ramlee in Pendekar Bujang Lapok and Amanda Nell Eu with Tiger Stripes. I written this a lot before but not including Jagat into the list seems to feel like a cardinal sin to me. But now I guess I can finally redeem myself free.
Remember around 2 years ago? Our new PM who was supposed to bring hope for changes, was seen canceling out a question from a young Indian student when she was asking about possible changes in the quota system into a merit-based system. Like Zaffan in Tiger Stripes, a natural phase of change is being demonized by the same villain. In Tamil School Pasanga, the tragedy befell the family of an Indian girl, Kasthuri, which is foreshadowed in Act 1.
An education system (and a business model and environment) that demonised art, poetry and literature. The same fate befell Appoy when he started to show his inclination towards art. Reminded of the same thing happened to me when I was busy sketching during the religion class. My sketchbook was thrown away out the window. And when I write, Actor, Singer and Film Director as my ambition, my parents was called by the school and I was told to change them. , which I did, into Architect, Pilot and Engineer.
The system. Heh. It is the phantom villain in this film. We can only see the damage inflicted by, like the tagline says, a broken system. There is a scene where the radio speech about fairness by two former politicians while in the foreground showing the state of Appoy's family. (A play of non-diegetic sound expressing irony. Heh)
Recently, I bumped into a quote by Jean Luc Goddard saying, "If you want to make a documentary, you should go to the fiction. And if you want to nourish your fiction, you have to come back to reality."
So is fiction is the opposite of reality? Psychologist Jordan Peterson don't think so. He said, “You start to realise that stories are entertainment, we think that fiction is the opposite of fact. And that’s a foolish thing to think … Fiction isn’t the opposite of fact. Fiction is hyper real. And the deeper the fiction, so to speak, the deeper the distillation, the more real it is."
Jagat is another piece of Malaysian cinema which speaks of reality through the lens of fiction. The racial fragmentation in the Malaysian film industry is not a bad thing after all.
This re-release into the big screen this 3rd of October after remastering also included the two multiverse movie releases, namely Macai (13 November 2025) and Blues (4 December 2025). What does fate and destiny has in store for a boy character like Appoy?
JAGAT (RE-RELEASE) TRAILER
