Muallaf


Muallaf is a 2008 Malaysian Malay-language drama film directed by Yasmin Ahmad. It tells a tale of three souls finding solace in religion. This is Yasmin Ahmad's fifth film after Rabun, Sepet, Gubra and Mukhsin.

Cast

Footnote:
  • ''Brian Yap's character was initially planned to be named Robert Ng.''

Production

The film was financed by an elderly Chinese businessman who was impressed by her previous film and invested in Muallaf to encourage her to continue to produce films.
Michael Wong was the original casting choice for Brian Goh but Wong was unable to commit to the film schedule in Malaysia due to him being required to stay in Taiwan.

Release

As Yasmin's previous films, Muallaf opened with the usual Islamic verse Bismillahirahmanirrahim. What set Muallaf apart from her previous works was that the verse was displayed in Chinese in this movie, i.e. "奉大仁大慈真主的尊名". It was understood that the verse would be displayed in Tamil in her next film, Talentime.
As Yasmin's second feature film, Sepet, Muallaf was first screened in Singapore instead of Malaysia, where it was shot. The film ran for 4 weeks in Singapore from 27 November to 24 December 2008, recording turnouts more than that of Sepet. Muallaf was first denied screening in Malaysian cinemas due to the Malaysian censorship authorities request of key scenes to be cut, thus rendering the story meaningless. However, one year later, Muallaf finally opened in Malaysia nationwide on 24/12/09 with a few dialogues muted.

Accolades

Awards won

Official selection