Friday, July 24, 2009

Yasmin Ahmad, brilliance manifested.

This is a somewhat personal plea from me.

Whatever faith you may embrace, whatever religious background you may come from or whatever belief of a higher power that you engage in...

Please say a prayer for the genius that our country is on the verge of losing...


Yasmin Ahmad.


If you do not know who she, why is she famous and what happened to her...

Somebody's been living under a very heavy, dark, isolated and media-disregarded rock.

Yasmin Ahmad is a famed director who has directed many racially-themed movies and a plethora of adverts that have both touched us and made us laugh.

Some of her films include, Sepet, Gubra, Mukhsin, and the latest film that was released early this year, Talentime.

Her movies might not have grossed much in the box office but it never failed to draw both accolades and criticism at the same time.

Yasmin Ahmad has never failed to ignite controversy with almost all her movies. I remember reading in the newspaper about how her sophomore film, Sepet was publicly condemned because it showed partial nudity (Hariz Iskandar in his underwear) and skin contact (Jason touches Orked's calf) between the two leads. In conservative Malaysia, that's enough to create a ruckus among the censorship committee. Their dislike for her got to the point of cinemas refusing to sell tickets to her movies or telling potential viewers that they're sold out.

We're a nation of pure, unadulterated vindication.


But it's her advertisements that have made me an admirer of her brilliance and wit.

She's employed at the coveted Leo Burnett advertising company as an executive creative director, a company notorious for the accusations of being racist towards Malays or bumiputeras.
Every year, Yasmin Ahmad and her team will create adverts for PETRONAS for every national celebration, may it be Hari Raya, Chinese New Year, Deepavaali or National Day.

These are a few of my favourite ads from her.



Funeral
(for Singapore television)
*woohoo, go interracial lovin'*





Deepavali
*I know Indians were offended... but it's pretty funny*



Chinese New Year
*Even my Chinese friends said..typical*



Merdeka
*My absolute favourite*

Breathtaking... right?

Yasmin Ahmad suffered a massive stroke and is admitted in Damansara Medical Centre after an emergency brain surgery yesterday to relieve the brain of pressure and to stop the bleeding in the brain.

Everyone please pray for her well being.

It's the least we can do for a person who has made the effort to promote racial and cultural harmony, reminding us our Malaysian identity, bringing us close together as a nation when everything else is tearing us apart.

God bless Yasmin Ahmad and I hopethat you will voyage through this trying time to once again prove to us that we are not as divided as our politics suggest. *Barack Obama :)*

7 comments:

dora (bukan nama sebenar) said...

naz! aku pun suke gila all of those commercials. especially the deepavali on. lawak gilaaa! XD

n the singapore punya tu best! sedih.

prastanta said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Nazeera Nasir said...

Fik:
DUDE.

Omg, my parents read this blog.

Please..please..PLEASE rephrase your comment.

Dora: Kan... lawak gile.
Hahahahaha. Tapi aku suke yg merdeka tu..

Itu dia potong dia bagi balik tak?

HAHAHAHA!!!

prastanta said...

haha, sorrylah. okay.

yeah...

her works are first class.
but why did she make a scene 'mcm tu'?

just don't understand.

hiba said...

she's passed away. :( inalillah.

yeh ruenn . цен. said...

Too sad she passed away ! haiz .. salute her very much !!
hope there are more these people can make sumthing great for the country ! hhahahah a......

Nazeera Nasir said...

Exactly.

Yasmin was a wonder human being, heavily misunderstood and meant no malice to anyone...

You guys know she spoke Cantonese?

Awesome XD.

Yasmin Ahmad R.I.P
You will be missed...