#SHOWBIZ: Chilling tale proves another tear-jerker from Osman Ali

New Straits Times

11-05-2025

MENTION the name Osman Ali, and viewers will get to see images of rustic Kedah, his beloved home state, plus tragic stories set in villages with picturesque rice fields.
His latest movie Telaga Suriram is no different, but while we get to shed a lot of tears, we also get to despise some monstrous people along the way.
Telaga Suriram is about a 9-year-old girl named Suriram (Puteri Rafasya) whose disappearance becomes a ghost story to her fellow villagers.
Her mother Rohaya (Maya Karin) and father Sopiyan (Indonesian actor Fauzi Baadilla) frantically search for her, and with the help of their headman's son Zakir (Farid Kamil) and the no-nonsense district police chief ASP Karmila (Scha Alyahya), they finally discover that she drowned in an isolated well.
Rohaya falls into deep depression, and suspects that her late daughter's mute babysitter Maimon (Nabila Huda Suhaimi) killed her.
Meanwhile, Maimon's mother and village midwife Khadijah (Ellie Suriaty Omar) strongly protests her daughter's innocence and tries to convince the villagers that Suriram's tragic death could have been the work of people close to her as well as those "in high places".
The film, which was produced in 2022, underwent a meticulous process from script to post-production, and the end result clearly shows.
As a prolific director, Osman crafted Telaga Suriram around the topic of missing children who often become the focus of the community.
Osman thought it would be interesting to produce a story that combines mystical elements with beliefs that have been passed down.
An adorable girl next door, Puteri Rafasya is marking her first major big screen role as the titular Suriram.
The Kelantanese-Penangite beauty is brilliant, both as the living Suriram and the dead one.
As the living Suriram she really looks like a sweet, innocent village girl and her interactions with the main stars, especially Nabila Huda and Maya Karin, are very real.
As the ghost she is very creepy, and the makeup artist did a splendid job.
Nabila Huda, as predicted, is the heart and soul of the movie, the emotional powerhouse all the way.
It is one of her most taxing movies and her character Maimon suffered a lot.
We can all sympathise and root for Maimon, as we know from the word go that she is a victim of bigotry in the village.
The same can be said of her mother, brilliantly played by Ellie who excels in long-suffering single mother roles.
Ellie's character is that of a midwife who is ostracised by the villagers for allegedly practising black magic, and while she is often physically and verbally abused by the villagers, she is a protective mother who takes the blows that are meant for her daughter.
Of the boys, Fauzi is great, and plays his character to perfection. His "distraught daddy" is also the only good man in the story.
Maya, who reunites with Osman and Farid, both of whom she worked with in Anak Halal, is believable as the distressed mother of Suriram.
Initially she appears to be innocent, but as the story gradually unfolds, viewers learn that she is not the "angel" she is made out to be, and perhaps she indirectly caused her daughter's tragic death.
Farid is playing a crooked leader for the first time, and it is a stark contrast from playing an upright one in a prominent Malaysian leader's biopic two years ago.
His character Zakir looks pretty much a narcissist, yet he is hero-worshipped by the villagers, and viewers can sense that he is not the charitable headman that he appears to be.
Scha Alyahya marks her first collaboration with Osman.
Her character Karmila is the most stoical throughout the story and is admirable for her determination to uncover the truth behind the innocent girl's death, even if it means taking the headman and Suriram's parents to jail.
While the film is a masterpiece, with lots of important messages, some minor mistakes occur though, such as the uniforms worn by the police officers including Scha's character.
The movie is set in 1985, but the pale blue police uniforms seem to be from an earlier era.
At the end of the day, it is great to have an award-winning ensemble cast, which includes prominent award-winning actors and actresses.
The movie carries important lessons about family values, true friendship, betrayal, discrimination, vengeance, bigotry and honesty.
It can serve as a cautionary tale about the never-ending evils of child abuse and abuse of power.
Syabas to Osman and his brilliant ensemble cast for yet another job well done!
TELAGA SURIRAM
DIRECTOR Osman Ali
RATING 16