Seniman Bujang Lapok (English: The Nitwit Movie Stars) is a 1961 SingaporeanMalay-languageblack-and-whitecomedy film directed by P. Ramlee.[1] It is the fourth instalment in the Bujang Lapok series of films, but the last to feature P. Ramlee, S. Shamsuddin and Aziz Sattar as the main trio of actors. However, it is not a direct sequel to the previous "Bujang Lapok" films, as there are no references to the events of the previous films.
The film is a self-referential spoof of the Malay film industry of the late 1950s to early 1960s. The plot revolves around the main trio attempting to become actors and break into the film business, and hence features a fictionalised look at the behind-the-scenes process of Malay film-making during that time. The line between reality and fiction is blurred as real film industry places are used, real film sets of previous Malay films are used for the film-within-the-film, and all the featured actors use their real-life names or derivatives thereof.
The "bujang lapok" trio of Ramli, Sudin and Ajis go to Malay Film Productions in Singapore in response to an open call audition. After meeting the manager, the trio enter the studio where they crashed a filming of “Yatim Tua dan Setan Angkat Dulang”. Before they were chased out, the manager intervene to explain to the director on site, Ahmad Nisfu, the trio are applying for an audition as actors. The director ordered scripts to be written for the trio and prepares an audition. During their audition, they drive the director crazy by forgetting their scripts and improvising with their own lines. However, the studio boss likes their natural comedic talent and tells the director that the trio are to be signed on for an oncoming film. The three of them are themselves taken by surprise but are nonetheless pleased at the outcome.
Most of the movie centre around their lives in a house shared with other tenants (they all each rent a room). During their first evening memorising scripts for their new movie, they encounter one disruption after another. First, it was the husband and wife dancing to loud music, then it's the neighbour with the motorcycle problems, then it's the fat drunk trumpeter who is practising his instrument a bit too loudly. After dealing with each problematic neighbour in their own unique way, they then settle down to memorise their lines.
The following day, filming begins on their new movie. Despite having learned their lines, they fumble through them and end up infuriating the director so much that he collapses. He is brought to the hospital where he is diagnosed with stress and released. The three bachelors are on hand to visit him with flowers in hand. Initially pleased with the visit, he collapses again when he sees them, the ones who made him collapse in the first place.
Back at home, they are greeted by Salmah, their next door neighbour, and the object of Ramli's affections. They banter to and fro and then Salmah runs off from the room in tears whilst trying to tell Ramli something. When they meet later that night, Salmah tells Ramli that someone has come to ask for her hand in marriage. When she reveals the person, it is Sharif Dol, a bully from a neighbouring village, who has been harassing Salmah for some time. He then appears at the scene and starts taunting Ramli and Salmah. Ramli tells Salmah to go home whilst he deals with Shariff Dol and challenges him to a fight. Back at the room, both Sudin and Ajis wait for him back at their room with food on the table. Sudin is already hungry but it is their agreement that they always eat together, the three of them. Unwilling to wait for him any more, Sudin wants to go and look for Ramli and they leave their dinner to find Ramli all bruised and passed out at his usual meeting place with Salmah. After settling him down, Sudin brings out some of the dinner that he has brought with him and the three of them enjoy them together.
The next day, Salmah and her mother receives a visit from Shariff Dol and his mother. They begin discussing the terms of the wedding and Shariff Dol gives Salmah's mother some money to tide her over until the big day. Salmah keeps silent but shows her disapproval to Shariff Dol from across the room. Later on that day, Sudin and Ajis go on their separate adventures in the evening whilst Ramli and Salmah lament their love for each other. When both of them return, they tell Ramli about their evening whilst he looks on in silence. When asked, he tells them that he wants to marry but doesn't have the money to do so. Sudin then tells him he has the answer for it and produces a 'magic stone' he had purchased earlier in the evening by a roadside seller who assures him that with a little ritual, all his deepest wishes will be fulfilled. Ramli is consoled and thanks Sudin for being a good friend.
Later on during the night, they each encounter some more of their neighbours' antics, one involving a policeman and another involving a dispute between an Indian husband and wife and a soiled baby diaper. They finally settle in for the night and when they wake up the next morning and make their way for their morning rituals, Ramli peeps into Salmah's room only to be scared off by her emergence from the room. The next few scenes show their lives in the village as they go about getting themselves ready to go to the film studio in their quest to fulfill Ramli's wish to be married. Sudin fails in his attempts to acquire the financial resources Ramli needs for his intended wedding and in fury, Sudin throws the magic stone into the stream. The next scene is of Salmah and her adamant refusal to marry Shariff Dol. She then reveals to her mother that he has been the one harassing her for so long and she has no wish to marry him. Salmah's mother is similarly furious and returns him the money he had given to her. Shariff Dol takes the news in stride but promises revenge for the humiliation he has endured.
Later on in the evening, Salmah informs Ramli that she has turned Shariff Dol's marriage proposal down once and for all. Ramli is pleased but Salmah wants to proceed with their marriage as they had intended to but Ramli admits to her that he has no finances to support their marriage and wedding. Salmah suggests using her savings instead and they gleefully leave for home together. When they arrive home, they find their house in flames and their neighbours running around in horror. Whilst Ramli is resigned to the fate that they will be homeless, Salmah is convinced that it is Shariff Dol's doing. She tells the same to Sudin and Ajis who round up the rest of their neighbours to find Shariff Dol and bring him to the police station. In the meantime, Ramli finds a wallet at the scene of the crime, proving that it was indeed Shariff Dol who perpetrated the crime. Ramli pursues Shariff Dol and they fight again when Ramli tells him he found his wallet at the scene of the fire. Shariff Dol eventually admits defeat when it is apparent he would not win the fight. About the same time, Salmah arrives with the rest of the angry tenants demanding justice for their burnt house. Ramli emerges from the house with Shariff Dol tied up and persuades them to surrender him to the police instead. The evening ends well for all three bachelors when all their romantic halves join them and they walk into the moonlight together.
Songs
Menchecheh Bujang Lapok
Gelora
Senandung Kasih
Embun Menitik (by late Ahmad Patek)
The songs were sung by Saloma, P. Ramlee, S.Shamsuddin, Aziz Sattar, and Pancha Sitara band.
Tan Sri Datuk Amar Teuku Zakaria bin Teuku Nyak Puteh, better known by his stage name P. Ramlee, was a Malaysian actor, filmmaker, musician, and composer famous in modern-day Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia and Southern Thailand. Born in Penang, Malaya, he is regarded as a prominent icon in their shared region.
Jalan Ampas is a street near Balestier Road in Singapore where the movie studios Malay Film Productions and Shaw Brothers were located.
Ibu Mertuaku is a 1962 Singaporean Malay-language black-and-white melodrama film directed by and starring silver-screen legend P. Ramlee. The film's story revolves around the tragic love affair between Kassim Selamat, a poor musician, and Sabariah, the only daughter of a wealthy woman.
Labu dan Labi is a 1962 Singaporean Malay-language black-and-white buddy comedy film directed by and starring P. Ramlee. The movie was filmed in Singapore and it revolves around the antics of Labu and Labi, two servants with wild imaginations who work in the house of a wealthy but miserly man, Haji Bakhil bin Haji Kedekut. The movie is filmed in the style of a stage pantomime, with over-the-top comedy and featuring the characters occasionally talking directly to the audience. The film's sequel is Nasib Si Labu Labi.
Ali Baba Bujang Lapok is a 1961 Singaporean Malay-language black-and-white comedy film directed by, written by and starring Malaysian silver-screen legend P. Ramlee and produced in Singapore by Malay Film Productions Ltd. Based loosely on the story of Ali Baba from 1001 Arabian Nights, the film is occasionally self-referential and contains elements of anarchic comedy, burlesque comedy, satire and farce. The title includes the suffix Bujang Lapok because it is the third instalment in the Bujang Lapok series of comedy films that star the trio of P. Ramlee, S. Shamsuddin and Aziz Sattar. This film marked the feature film debut of Sarimah, who would go on to a long movie career, and is also notable as one of the few P. Ramlee films where he plays the villain.
Nasib Si Labu Labi, or known as What Happened to Labu and Labi is a 1963 Singaporean Malay-language black-and-white buddy comedy film directed by and starring P. Ramlee. The film is a sequel to Labu dan Labi and features a number of returning cast members.
Pendekar Bujang Lapok is a 1959 Singaporean Malay-language black-and-white comedy film directed by P. Ramlee. It is the second in the Bujang Lapok series of films, and stars the trio of P. Ramlee, S. Shamsuddin and Aziz Sattar, all of which was filmed on site at Jalan Ampas, Singapore.
Antara Dua Darjat (English: Between Two Classes) is a 1960 Singaporean Malay-language black-and-white romantic melodrama film directed by and starring Malaysian silver-screen legend P. Ramlee and Saadiah. This film revolves around the obstacle of romance for a couple of lovers due to family holdings that adhere to the ladder of rank and descent which cannot unite those of high rank and low rank thus triggering bloody conflict, mental stress, family feuds up to hypocracy and soul murder.
Nujum Pak Belalang is a 1959 Singaporean Malay-language black-and-white comedy film directed by and starring P. Ramlee. The film is styled as a fairytale and is loosely based on a Malay folk tale.
Datuk Abdul Aziz bin Sattar was a Malaysian actor, singer, comedian, and director who is mostly known for his roles in the black and white Malay films of the 1950s and 1960s.
Budak Lapok is a 2007 Malaysian animated film. Based on the P. Ramlee film Bujang Lapok, the film premiered on 13 October 2007 and was directed by Anwardi Jamil. It became the first Malaysian animated movie released in six years since Putih in 2001.
Abu Hassan Penchuri is a 1955 Singaporean Malay-language black-and-white romantic fantasy film directed by B. N. Rao starring P. Ramlee, Mariam Baharum and Nordin Ahmad.
Salmah binti Ismail, better known by her stage name Saloma, was a Singaporean-Malaysian singer, film actress, trendsetter and a fashion icon of Banjar and Bawean descent who became well known in the late 1950s.
Bujang Lapok is a 1957 Singaporean Malay-language black-and-white comedy film directed and performed by P. Ramlee. This is the first installment of the Bujang Lapok series of films.
Shamsuddin bin Dali, known professionally as S. Shamsuddin, was a Singaporean actor and comedian who appeared in Malayan films during the 1950s and 1960s.
Bujang Lapok Kembali Daa, or The Return of the Three Bachelors is a 1985 Malaysia Malay-language comedy film directed, written and acted in by Aziz Sattar. In this film, P. Ramlee's son, Nasir P. Ramlee (1953–2008) took over his late father's place in the trio. This would be the fifth and last installment of Bujang Lapok film series.
Sarjan Hassan is 1958 Singaporean Malay-language black-and-white war drama film starring P. Ramlee. The film is set during the Japanese invasion of Malaya during the Second World War. Initially, the film was supposed to be directed by Lamberto Avellana; however, he was unable to fully complete the film. The directing task was later taken over by P. Ramlee.
The Bujang Lapok film series consists of five comedy films:
Bujang Lapok (1957)
Pendekar Bujang Lapok (1959)
Ali Baba Bujang Lapok (1960)
Seniman Bujang Lapok (1961)
Bujang Lapok Kembali Daa (1985)
Do Re Mi is a 1966 Malaysian Malay-language black-and-white satirical comedy film directed by and starring P. Ramlee. The concept was partly based on the idea of The Three Stooges with Ramlee playing the character Do. Its success led to two sequels, Nasib Do Re Mi and Laksamana Do Re Mi (1972), Ramlee's last film before his death.
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