Malay ‘Kabali’ gives local audience new experience

Dubbed version of the Tamil film has been playing to raves at certain cinemas since Thursday.

KUALA LUMPUR: The popular movie ‘Kabali’ which is the first Tamil movie to be dubbed into the Malay language is giving non-Tamil speaking audience a new experience and is the pioneer of a new trend in Tamil movies.

The dubbed version of the film has been playing to raves at certain cinemas since Thursday.

The action-packed film starring superstar Rajinikanth, gave a new perspective of Tamil movies to staunch fan, Zainal Abidin Mohamed, 26.

Despite having twice watched Kabali in its original Tamil, Zainal Abidin was among the first to catch the Malay version.

“I was very excited to watch the movie. Overall it was a new experience even though it was a bit awkward to see Rajinikanth so fluent in the Malay language,” he told Bernama.

M. Siva, 38, felt the effort to dub Kabali in Malay should be lauded as it could attract more viewers for Tamil movies.

“However, it cannot be denied watching Kabali in the Tamil version gives more impact to me as the voice and style of speaking of a superstar such as Rajinikanth really has his own aura which could not be imitated by anybody,” he said.

Siti Nur Shahira Muhamad, 23, said she chose to watch the Malay version of the film as it helped her to understand the storyline better. “I am also more inclined to watch Kabali after finding it was available in the Malay version as the dialogue which was in my mother tongue made it easier for me to understand the story without depending on the assistance of subtitles.

“I must admit, there were funny moments in the dubbed version, from the terms and language used, but it was effective overall in presenting the film,” she said.

Kabali is the 159th movie featuring Rajinikanth. Popular local actors such as Rosyam Nor, Norman Hakim, Zack Taipan, Tony Kassim and Taiwanese actor, Winston Chao, provided voices in the dubbed version.

Local television host V. Arun Kumaran was the voice behind the leading character in the film, Shivaji Rao, a Malaysian gangster don acted by Rajinikanth.

Local actress Fathia Latiff voiced the role of Dhansika, the daugther of Shivaji, while Jalaluddin Hassan was the voice behind Shivaji’s arch enemy.