Ola Bola about the national football team’s qualifying for the 1980 Olympic Games is a hit among Malaysians fed up with the bad news in the country. – Ola Bola screen grab, February 6, 2016.In the first four days of its screening, football movie Ola Bola has already raked in more than RM2 million at the box office, a major feat for a locally produced film.
Twitter exploded with accolades from Malaysians, praising the film. A user, @Lucaspeebo, tweeted on January 30: “We speak different languages, but we sing the same song”.
Kahuna Nui @Duurianne tweeted: “BN ministers & politicians should watch #OlaBola. In 1980, there’s no such thing as Malay, Chinese & Indian. We were all known as Malaysians.”
Jangan Kolot @jangankolot tweeted: “This is not a football movie but a Malaysian movie. #OlaBola”.
Filmmakers like Norhayati Kaprawi, the feminist documentary filmmaker, and Amir Muhammad, the godfather of independent Malaysian films and book publishing, have also been raving about the film.
As Amir said on his Facebook, “Ola Bola is the best local movie I have seen all year!”
Judging by all the accolades on social media, Ola Bola has struck a chord among Malaysians, who are facing tough economic times as well as an increasingly harsh political landscape.
The movie, directed by Chiu Keng Guan, is based on the true story of how the national football team were able to overcome the odds and defeat South Korea in a pre-Olympic qualifying match in 1980.
The result meant Malaysia’s heroes qualified for the Moscow Olympics, but eventually they did not make the trip because of the Malaysian government's boycott of the games to protest against the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.
For football fans like Azman Shah, who has been heading the Arsenal Malaysia official supporters’ club since 2013, Ola Bola was “a truly Malaysian movie that I am impressed with”.
“Football can unite people and at one point in time, Malaysia was united by the sport. We were once hooked to the television and radio for 90 minutes every week!
“Now? Football is more commercialised. Players are more into what they get out of it. It’s more about money and business. Previously, the national football players wanted to make this country great,” he said.
For Pang Hong, a chiropractor, who saw Ola Bola with a group of friends, the film assured him that Malaysians could do great things.
Before he watched Ola Bola, he read a few reviews and they all gave high ratings.
“Being a non-football fan myself I really didn’t know what to expect anyway. But it turned out great! It touches my heart in so many ways.
“It is not a film that has no flaws… quite corny in a few scenes but those were just very minor ones. First, I liked the whole nostalgic feeling of this movie, mainly because I grew up in that era. My friends and I were like ‘OMG! I remember this, I remember that’, all the time during the movie.
“Another thing about this movie, and one that is probably the main reason I liked it so much – that perfect racial harmony.
“I think it’s near perfect – amazing cinematography, solid script, great character development, good chemistry among actors, and the heart and soul that they put in to perfectly portray that golden era.”
For teacher Susan Tam, the movie was timely in its reminder of the spirit of unity and togetherness that was lacking in many Malaysians as a result of all the negative news reports coming out of the country.
“I think the movie should be made compulsory for all schoolchildren to watch, here and overseas too,” said Tam.
“There is practically no space for people to enjoy being a Malaysian, and I felt Ola Bola captured that spirit that you and I know is waning, or worse, lost in the country,” she said.
Veshaal Menon Venugopal of IACT College said his disappointment with the current performance of Malaysian footballers led him to the movie.
“For young adults like us, we have not been fortunate enough to watch our country succeed on the international stage, excluding the AFF Suzuki Cup.
“So when Ola Bola’s trailer first came out, I had goosebumps watching it and felt It would be the best option for me to experience the glory days of the 1980s.”
Ola Bola is playing in all major cinemas nationwide. – February 6, 2016.
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