LOCAL fans of Malay films may be well acquainted with police stories such as the squeaky clean ‘Gerak Khas’ franchise, the over-the-top bombast of ‘Polis Evo’ or even the snaky narrative of the recent ‘KL Special Force’.
But it’s not every day that a Malaysian film aims to portray a more gritty and realistic feel for a tale involving the police.
Hollywood crime thrillers that offer a take on how individuals straddle the line between doing good and bad are abundant.
Films like Training Day, Heat, Cop Land, Street Kings and The Departed, all deal with corruption in some form and how the boys in blue are not always virtuous.
Taking on the issue of corruption, theatre activist, actor, scriptwriter and director Namron has bucked the trend locally by directing a new film, which portrays the vagaries of life in the police force.
It takes a walk on the dark side by showing a world smeared by corrupt practises that includes bribery.
In One, Two, Jaga, the 49-year-old father of five, whose real name is Shahili Abdan, also explores another topic not always featured in local fare that is of immigrants.
When met during a recent interview in Balai Berita, Bangsar, Namron said that exploring seemingly taboo subjects in the local context certainly had its challenges but was something that came naturally to him.
“The subject of corruption or corrupt police is nothing new. Duit kopi and all these kinds of things have been going on for a very long time. So everybody knows about this open secret. It’s common for people to talk about their own personal experiences or of the stories of their relatives or friends on this matter,” he said.
Namron added that the inclusion of the elements relating to immigration, refugees and migrants was also something that was very current.
“It’s what people are aware and talking about now as well as can be seen in the news from around the world. These are current issues that affect people. We also wanted to highlight these issues to give them more exposure and relevance in a local context,” he said.
GREENLIT BY POLICE
On whether One, Two, Jaga was a reflection of the Malaysia Baru-era, Namron said that this second directorial effort of his, after Psiko: Pencuri Hati in 2013, was not made in anticipation of the change of government that happened on May 9.
A trailer of the film was actually shot back in 2014 and can be found on YouTube, which was one method utilised in the process of seeking out funding for the project.
“We only started the production process in 2016. The story had been inspired by certain stories from various news pieces and people,” said the director of Gadoh, Gedebe and Jalan Pintas, which were not shown in cinemas.
He added that it took a while to get the project greenlit since the script had to be approved by the Police.
The film’s producer Bront Palarae, in a separate interview, said that they had worked closely with the police in order to come up with the film.
“We visited Bukit Aman five times. The police were generally satisfied with our script, and had us remove very minor scenes. We just wanted to tell an interesting but seldom-told story,” he said.
Namron, who has acted in critically acclaimed films such as Bunohan and Redha, for which he won the Best Male Actor award at last year’s 29th Malaysia Film Festival, explained that the police didn’t want the public to have a negative perception of the institution.
“The film tells the story of courageous police officers who expose their corrupt superiors. But in the film we focus on the individuals which have nothing to do with the institution of the police as a whole,” said Namron.
He added: “These individuals choose their own actions, which eventually have consequences. We don’t paint anyone as ultimately good or bad, black or white, it’s all just shades of grey. So everyone has their own motivations and reasons for behaving the way they do. And they all walk on very fine lines.”
In the end, there were just a few minor cuts. Bront added that while One, Two, Jaga contained “bleep” sounds in the dialogue, these were not introduced to cover censored lines by certain characters.
“Yes, the police did tell us to get rid of some swear words, but we also added ‘bleeps’ just for entertainment value,” said Bront.
Namron said that they were very happy with the end result. He added: “I’m thankful to the police for their willingness to assist us in the making of this film. The subject matter may be deemed sensitive, but they’ve been open to our ideas and understood that the story wasn’t a criticism of them.”
GLOBAL CALLING
One, Two, Jaga is also known as Crossroads for the international market and has already been screen overseas before it premiered yesterday in Malaysian cinemas.
Produced by Pixel Play Entertainment and Jazzy Pictures with distribution handled by Primeworks Studios, the film had made its way to the 20th Far East Film Festival in Udine, Italy in April, as well as the 21st Shanghai International Film Festival in China and the 17th Asian Film Festival in New York, both in June.
Namron said that it was an honour to be able to bring a Malaysian film to the global stage and that people reacted positively towards it.
“It has relatable themes. Even people from the Asean region who saw the film also said that they recognised and could understand the corruption that happens in their own countries,” he said.
Actor Zahiril Adzim, who was also present during the interview with Namron, was pretty confident that the local cinema-going public would enjoy One, Two, Jaga.
“It’ll be something different than the usual local film but people will get an entertaining experience delivered by a solid cast that provides great performances. Hopefully everything will turn out well,” he said.
On whether the end product and performances would translate to wins at local awards events, the 34-year-old star of films such as Juvana, Pekak, Bunohan and Kami: The Movie said that he didn’t really think about things like that.
“I just do my job as best as I can. I’m glad and thankful to have been able to work with great people. And Namron is a very detail-oriented director, everything has to have a purpose and story behind it. He comes from a theatre background so it was great to have that kind of process, where there’s a lot of thought put into things,” he said.
The actor added: “We did rehearsals that usually are done in theatre just to prepare for the role. We also had a former police officer with us during rehearsals to provide guidance and serve as a reference point.”
In the film, Zahiril plays a young and idealistic junior cop who is partnered with an older and weathered officer played by Rosdeen Suboh. Tension escalates between the two police officers with opposing views when they are tasked with handling immigrant problems in the city.
The film also stars Amerul Affendi, Kin Wah Chew, Iedil Putra, Vanida Imran, Filipino actor Timothy Castillo and Indonesian actors Ario Bayu and Asmara Abigail.
KEEPING IT TIGHT
Namron added that One, Two, Jaga, which got its name from the old children’s game of “cops and robbers”, was an action crime drama.
So expect some action scenes done in the same edgy vein to complement the gritty storyline.
“We wanted to portray a realistic world with real fight scenes. This meant that the fights had to look and feel real, not like other more over-the-top action films that feature very flashy and gravity-defying sequences,” he said.
According to Namron, there will be certain violent scenes as well but all done in an indirect manner which hints at the vile action off-screen.
“Sometimes what you don’t see outright but is implied can actually make the whole scene more effective,” he said.
The action sequences were added at specific points along the way to liven up the drama and keep the flow of the film’s story at an even keel.
“When we had initially put the film together after shooting, we realised that it was a little slow and lumbering. We wanted the pace to be tight and punchy instead so we had to re-edit it several times over before I felt that we had the best flow of it,” he said.
As a producer of the film, Bront expressed hope that One, Two, Jaga will be able to continue and add to the current winning streak of local films that have been raking in big collections at the box office recently.
“I believe in this film. And seeing how Hantu Kak Limah and now Munafik 2 have performed, it signifies that the public has put its trust in local Malay films once more by watching them in the cinemas. I really hope that people will give this film a chance next,” he said.
One, Two, Jaga is currently playing in cinemas