27 Oct – Chiu Keng Guan, director of the highest grossing film in Malaysia "The Journey", presents a brand new sports drama entitled "OlaBola", highlighting the glory days of Harimau Malaya from the 1970s to the 1980s. The upcoming film will also have cameos by legendary footballers, though the director declined to reveal more. "I promise that you will be surprised when you watch the movie, but I can't tell you," the director told Cinema Online during the movie's launching recently. "Even the players are surprised to see them, they even cried," he added.
Though the film took 50 days of shooting, it took a whole year of research as the information is not readily available online. The process of research includes interviewing former players and commentators of Harimau Malaya such as Santokh Singh, Ahmad Fakri Saarani, Datuk Rahim Razali and Karl-Heinz Weigang, the German football manager who coached the Malaysia national football team. Set in the 1970s, "OlaBola" follows a multicultural team of Malaysian footballers, who struggle to overcome personal and collective hardships together as a team and create the most triumphant zero to hero story. The film stars three new actors, Chee Jun Cherng, Muhd Luqman Hafidz and Saran Kumar, as well as Bront Palarae, who will play as a commentator, and includes a special cameo from Frankie Lee.
The film is expected to be released early next year.