The movie “Syahadan”, which features Malaysian silat athlete Mohd Al Jufferi Jamari in the lead role, has recently become the latest target of film reviewer Zhafvlog‘s ruthless criticism.
Taking to his Twitter earlier on Thursday (17th February, same day as the film’s premier date), the popular movie critique had described “Syahadan” as a “Movie without dignity, and also a film of contempt.” As if the criticisms weren’t enough, he also gave a “3 out of 5” rating with a shit emoji!
However, it appears that Zhaf’s feedback didn’t sit too well with activist Yusuf Azmi. In a 40-minute video posted on the YouTube channel Bang Kuchai, Azmi claimed that the opinion issued by Zhaf is insulting to the martial arts world as well as the Malay community themselves.
Additionally, Yusuf also expressed his sadness over the fact that the people who insulted the film were from the Malay race themselves. He also stated that each critique has its own method. According to him, “Anyone is allowed to give criticism and advice. Do what you want to do, you’re free to curse or whatever. But there’s a way for you to criticise. Do not make unfounded criticism.”
In the same video, Yusuf pointed out several times that Zhaf did not actually purchase tickets to watch “Syahadan” when he released slanderous remarks about the movie on his social media. In an effort to teach the blogger a “lesson” or two on manners, he revealed his plans to meet Zhaf face-to-face.
“I want to meet this person, I want to know where he lives. I would like to pay him a visit to give some ta’aaruf session. I want to get to know him and find out why he did this. I’m not going to beat him,” he said in the video.
However, many netizens believed that Yusuf was personally attacking Zhaf for sharing his honest thoughts on the film. In this case, they felt that Zhaf was actually criticising the film’s cinematic technique, and not slamming the silat martial arts or even the Malay race, as claimed by the former.
For those who are interested, you can watch the full video featuring Yusuf here:
Sources: Twitter, Bang Kuchai.
