Bujang Lapok

Bujang Lapok
Directed by P. Ramlee
Produced by Run Run Shaw
Written by P. Ramlee (Original story and Dialog)
Starring P. Ramlee
S. Shamsuddin
Aziz Sattar
Music by P. Ramlee
Cinematography A.Bakar Ali
Edited by H.R. Narayanan
Distributed by Shaw Organisation
Release dates
 1957
Country Singapore
Malaysia
Language Malay

Bujang Lapok (The Three Worn-Out Bachelors) is the first comedy film directed and acted by P.Ramlee. They were later followed by:

Plot

This film is about the lives of three bachelors and best friends Ramli, Aziz and Sudin ('bujang' means 'bachelor'). The three of them share a rented room in a house owned by a wealthy and beautiful widow, Cik Normah. Unlike most other landlords, she is a kind and friendly woman who helps them out wherever and whenever she can and who also secretly harbours affection for Ramli.

Amongst the three of them, Sudin is the only one in a relationship - with their neighbour, Zaiton. She lives next door and is the daughter of a wealthy family whose mother is very prejudiced against middle class people such as Sudin. Fearing objection, Zaiton and Sudin have to always sneak around to meet each other with their main form of communication being bottles as a calling instrument. Their other less prominent hurdle is Zaiton's precocious younger sister, Ayu, who knows about Sudin and Zaiton and is always blackmailing them. The next morning, a potential love for Aziz, Sapiah, comes to the house. She is there to seek help from Cik Normah who is infuriated by the lack of responsibility by Sapiah's father who has, once again, failed to care for her. The initial sombre atmosphere is quickly uplifted with the arrival of Sudin's mother who has come for a visit. Her unexpected appearance sets off a series of hilarious turns surrounding around Ramli, who was still sleeping (without his top on) in the room but is eventually woken up with a prank by Aziz.

As they all go about their day, Ramli encounters another failed romantic pursuit whilst Zaiton's and Sudin's love affair is finally revealed, enraging Zaiton's mother into a confrontation with Sudin's mother. Whilst they all convene to discuss the best way to deal with the situation, they realise Aziz is missing. He finally appears with unpleasant news in the form of Sapiah who had encountered an assailant earlier during the evening. Aziz comes to her rescue and as he tries to get further help from Cik Normah, Sapiah's father appears at the house in a rage and hurts both Aziz and Sudin but is eventually subdued by Ramli.

Sudin's and Zaiton's situation is finally resolved with the promise of a hefty dowry from Sudin's mother. He almost gets into trouble at work when he comes in late the next morning and is contacted by Ramli who was at a cafe with a woman he had just met. Sudin teases him that Cik Normah will be hurt if she discovers him dating another woman but Ramli assures Sudin that he is not the one she is interested in. After they hang up, Ramli discovers he has been duped by the woman he had just met and was whining to himself when he spots another woman whom had scammed him at another time and place. He trails her, perhaps hoping to confront her when he was confronted by her poor living conditions. He was then saddened by the awful truth of the great lengths people in poverty have to go through for some comfort. The serious undertone is once again cheered up with a song by Zaiton in the next scene who is naturally relieved and happy that things have resolved for her and Sudin. Aziz tries to take a step further with Sapiah who mistakes his intention for a less than honourable one and upon persuasion from Cik Normah, Sapiah finally reveals all the events that had happened to her the night she was rescued by Aziz. On a closing note, her father appears seeking her forgiveness but chooses not to take him home with her as he feels Cik Normah is a better guardian for Sapiah than he is. He also asks both Aziz and Sudin to forgive him for what he had done to them and as soon as Sudin concludes with him, he is faced with his weeping mother who has failed to come up with the dowry she had promised.

When Ramli returns, he sees all of them gathering together with sombre sad looks on their faces. When he finds out what had happened, he immediately springs into action. Zaiton was persuaded to retrieve the expensive diamond ring her mother has and they exchange it for a duplicate one from the pawn shop. The money gained was then used for the dowry and wedding expenses for not just Sudin and Zaiton but for both Aziz and Sapiah too. On the wedding day, Ramli gets caught in another unfortunate romantic entanglement and is rescued by Cik Normah who finally reveals to him her true feelings for him.

Cast

Crews

Songs

Trivial

The films inspired the 2007 animation Budak Lapok.

External links