KUALA LUMPUR: The first ever locally made Punjabi language feature film, Mundey Kampung Dey (MKD), has been making waves in Malaysian cinemas since its debut three weeks ago.
There has been encouraging support for the comedy among local audiences since its release on Dec 15 in nine cinemas in Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Penang, Perak, Johor and Seremban.
“The film has been running successfully in cinemas for 21 days now,” MKD producer and director Mansher Singh told Bernama yesterday.
Although it is the first Punjabi language feature film from South-East Asia, he said, it is based on Malaysian culture with a multiethnic cast using multiple languages throughout the film.
MKD is a story of three childhood friends from a backwater village who move to KL in search of a better life, but their optimistic plans are cut short.
They get tangled up with the city’s underworld, with a boss lady ready to kill them for a valuable parcel they have.
The comedy features Anwaar Beg Moghal, Nipun C, Hemant Shergill, Sanjna Suri, Chamkaur Singh, Mansher Singh, Sharmini Ramesh, Malkit Kaur and Ashvinder Singh.
“Overall, it’s a decent ‘family values’ story made for everyone, by Malaysian talent. As for me, it’s my directorial debut, with a budget of only RM600,000. My inspiration was the late P. Ramlee as he also liked to showcase the true Malaysian in his movies,” Mansher said.
He added that India and Pakistan have shown an interest in releasing the film there, while some “major streaming services” are keen to distribute it on their platforms.
The film was supported by the Communications and Digital Ministry and the National Film Development Corporation Malaysia (Finas).Renowned director Ghaz Abu Bakar, who was the supervising producer for the film, said he is impressed with the whole movie.
He said MKD is of the same level as the high-grossing Polis Evo action flicks that he directed in 2015 and 2018.
While expressing gratitude to Finas for supporting not only Malay movies but those of other languages as well, Ghaz said MKD’s success also goes to show that talented filmmakers can be found in Malaysia’s multiethnic and multicultural society.
Encouraging comments on the movie also poured in over social media.
“I enjoyed MKD, great acting, I cried, I laughed, the jokes are good and there are sad parts – it is engaging overall,” Drgurmin posted.
Opdesh Kaur Cheema said: “Not a single dull moment, definitely a different level of performance, all should take time and go see the movie.”
A moviegoer by the name of Asugan also said: “Personally, I find it a good entertaining film to be watched on the big screen. Special mention to the trio of boys who carried the film well with their performances. Not to forget the cinematography by C. Kumaresan, the songs by composer Mansher Singh and Arvinder Raina and, finally, kudos to the duo Cobra and Dragon.”
