PETALING JAYA: The antagonists in the upcoming film Polis Evo 2, dressed in typical religious Muslim men, complete with turbans, are in no way characterised as such to offend the religion or Muslims in general.
According to the film’s executive producer Datuk Khairul Anwar Salleh, he said those characters depicted only a small group of people who abused religion for their own evil means.
We believe that there are people who use Islam to mask their real identities and practise religious heresy.
“It is these people whom we are highlighting in Polis Evo 2... we hope to send a message to the community to be wary of such individuals or groups who can be a threat to the country, as well as to Islam itself,” he said when met at the film’s gala preview at MBO, Starling Mall here last night.
Khairul Anwar was commenting on the call to boycott the film by certain quarters who had claimed that some scenes revealed in the promotional trailer were deemed sensitive to the Muslim majority in this country.
He added that the production had already sought advice and counsel from religious authorities such as the Muftis of Federal Territory and Perlis, Datuk Seri Dr Zulkifli Mohamad Al-Bakri and Datuk Dr Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin respectively, regarding the issue.
“It is hoped that before anyone jumped into any conclusion, let’s wait and watch the movie in its entirety, and not base his or her judgment solely on the film trailer,” he said.
Joel Soh, who is the film’s co-director and part of its team of screenwriters, also said that he was a little confused on how some people could already pass judgement on the yet-to-be-screened film and call for its ban.
“We’re highlighting this rogue and his followers, not putting a blanket label to call all Muslims are terrorists. Like it or not, there are good Muslims and there are bad ones too, just like there are good human beings, and then there are the bad ones,” he said.
Yesterday, the Film Censorship Board of Malaysia confirmed that the film produced by Astro Shaw, with co-operation from Indonesian production house SCM and Blackflag Productions Sdn Bhd, did not contain any element that could be defined as giving any bad reputation to the country’s official religion.
Also present at the event last night were co-director Andre Chiew and the cast which included Shaheizy Sam, Zizan Razak, Raline Shah, Hasnul Rahmat, Erra Fazira, Tanta Ginting, Riz Amjn and Syafie Naswip.