KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 29 — Local Tamil film Jagat has been the talk of the town since its cinematic release December 17, earning rave reviews locally and even beyond Malaysia’s shores.

The dramatic depiction of the local Indian community following their migration from plantations to the cities may seem a very communal theme, but appears to have resonated with viewers of diverse cultural backgrounds, judging from the feedback on social media urging Malaysians who don’t even understand Tamil to go watch the movie.

For the movie’s director Shanjhey Kumar Perumal, there can be no higher praise, particularly when local productions, let alone a local Tamil production, face strict competition from high-end Hollywood offerings.

Shanjhey believes that the silver screen to be a powerful medium that is capable of delivering a “truthful” message that transcends all self-imposed cultural barriers, if the viewer is willing to give it a chance.

And his message?

“Very simple, what I want to do through this move is, I just want to tell the truth and I don’t intend to hide anything,” the 35-year-old told Malay Mail Online in a recent interview.

“You see, these issues plaguing Indians are only discussed among Indians themselves and it’s not going to take us anywhere. We are all Malaysians and the Chinese and the Malays must know our problems and we must know the problems plaguing them,” said the winner of the 2009 BMW Shorties Award for his production Machai (The Apprentice).

‘Jagat’ director, Shanjhey Kumar Perumal speaks to Malay Mail Online during an interview in Kuala Lumpur. — Picture by Yusof Mat Isa

Malaysians, he said, have a superficial idea of unity and nationhood as well as what diversity really is.

“Once when we did a documentary asking what is 1Malaysia, people said 1Malaysia means different races enjoying kuey tiow, ketupat, nasi lemak and tosai… so that is all there is to the idea of 1Malaysia among Malaysians. Food represents 1Malaysia,” he said.

“Above that, what’s the dilemma of the Malays, Chinese and Indians? The communities’ history? What are their aspirations? That’s why I wish to share about the problems plaguing Indians with other races and Indians themselves,” he added.

With Jagat — which is a loose Tamil lingo for the Malay word “jahat” meaning “bad” — Shanjhey tells the story of the hardships faced by ethnic Indians in the 1990s, after the estates where their forefathers were shipped in from India by the colonial British to work were closed.

Told through the experience of a young boy, the movie deals with universal themes of migration, urban poverty and the resulting downward spiral into crime.

“Indians need to know this and at the same time, the Chinese and the Malays need to understand it too, and only then can we be a nation. Otherwise we can’t… what we are saying about 1Malaysia now is all a lie, the notion of diversified communities and celebrating diversity is all a lie.

“No one speaks about this community, so I lent a voice..if there are any other similar communities, I will speak for them too,” he said.

Sanjhey however, bemoaned the 18-rating given to his film by the Malaysian Censorship Board when there were no explicit violent scenes.

Such a strict threshold, he said, is a hurdle to popularising Malaysian cinematic fare which has to compete against big-ticket movies from established markets.

Because of that, Shanjhey said he will see how Jagat turns out at the local box office before planning his next cinematic venture. It is currently playing in 10 cinemas nationwide.

For now, Jagat has been submitted for film festivals in Southeast Asia and Europe, the Malaysian filmmaker said, but declined to say where.

“I can’t divulge anything now as the results will be out in about two more weeks,” he said.