KUCHING, March 13: ‘Rajah’ is a movie, not a documentary.
In stating this, Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts Minister Dato Sri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah dismissed a negative comment from a cast member of the movie, Jamie Bush.
“You (referring to Jamie Bush) are ’employed’ to be a cast member, so be like one. It’s not for you to claim that the movie is a huge disappointment or that its history is wrong.
“This is a movie and not a documentary,” said Abdul Karim in a statement.
He said from what he read from the media; Bush is a cast member in the movie.
“I am unsure what made her come up with that negative comment, but as a cast member, she should be happy to be a part of the movie.
“I have to admit that I’m not very familiar with movie making, but I know that the producer and production house make the movie, and the actors and actresses plus cast members act in the film.
“What right has a cast member to question the line of the story in the movie making (process)?” Abdul Karim questioned.
Bush, who is also a writer for a Malaysian magazine and claimed to be a spokesperson for Sarawakian actors in the film, had called out the recently released ‘Rajah’ film production team as a “huge disappointment”, claiming that they had omitted many important historical facts and figures from the movie that resulted in distorting the original storyline and courting criticism from Sarawakians.
Bush said the film was supposed to depict the life of Sir James Brooke, the first White Rajah from the Brooke dynasty who ruled Sarawak from 1841 to 1868.
She claimed that local historians, politicians, well informed and patriotic Sarawakians are of the opinion that the scriptwriter and the producer of the film are utterly ignorant of the history and the sentiment of Sarawakians.
She further alleged that the controversies surrounding the film had caused many VVIPs and important guests from Sarawak to snub the premiere held at The Spring shopping mall here on March 4 and at Pavilion in Kuala Lumpur on March 7.
The Gala Premiere in Kuala Lumpur, she said, had drawn flak because the media coverage did not give credit to Sarawakian actors and the contribution by the Sarawak government. — DayakDaily
