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“Ombak rindu was superb!”

“I ran out of tissue while watching Ombak Rindu! It was awesome!”

“Ombak Rindu. Best. Movie. EVER.”

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The statuses above were what I kept seeing in my Facebook news feed for a certain period of time. Okay, maybe I exaggerated on that last one but hey, I was merely reading between the lines.

The hype about this 2 hour and 6 minute long movie definitely piqued my interest and, like most people, I succumbed to my curiosity and watched the movie. My expectations for the movie were significantly high considering the rave reviews it got from viewers. Everyone knows what happens when you have high expectations… you fall into the hole of disappointment.

Before I go on with the review, for the benefit of those who has not watched it yet (or ever will), here’s a brief summary:

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Ombak Rindu is based on Izzah (Maya Karin), a simple kampung teacher who is sold to a brothel by her uncle. Her first customer is a rich playboy Harriz (Aaron Aziz) whom she begs to marry her and save her from her predicament.

Surprisingly, he agrees to her request and takes her to his house. As a matter of fact, this is the only good deed he has done in a long time.

Eventually, he falls in love with Izzah and decides to break off his engagement to his childhood friend Mila (Lisa Surhani).

But due to family pressure, he is forced to marry Mila. Thus begins a triangular love affair which entangles three lives in a myriad of emotions. – Taken from: TheSunDaily

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So here’s my take:

The main highlight of this movie is obviously the love story between Izzah and Harriz. Despite the over-melodramatic scenes that I will get to in a bit, there are also strong messages that it sent out.  For example: To not judge a person by their situation. They might not be there out of their own will but rather they were thrown into that position by circumstances that they could not have avoided. This message hits home with the concept of Husnu Zhon which is always too easily forgotten.

Before anyone starts getting defensive and going “Not me!”, please remember the times that you heard something about someone and that automatic mental image that comes to mind about him/ her. More often than not, we assume its bad.

Another message that this film sent out is of empowering women. The main actress in this movie was depicted as a weak, meek, helpless and defenseless woman who is emotionally dependant on a man. If this depiction does not insult the feminist in all you ladies reading this, being on the topic of Husnu Zhon, I shall just assume you turned off your brains while watching.

Women should watch it and not just see her despair and agony; we should be waving our fists in the air screaming at our screens asking why on earth is she so helpless? See, there was even an article about it in Berita Harian written by Haryani Ismail on how she shared the same views about why women are always portrayed as passive in Malay films.

Aaron Aziz in “Ombak Rindu”

Speaking about being weak, meek and defenceless, Ombak Rindu was one emotionally difficult movie to watch. The level of melodrama is just amazing. People were saying they could not stop crying while watching, well, that is true. This movie has to be watched with a box of Kleenex beside you. A full one, of course. It was so dramatic to the point of it being depressing. There was not one single humorous moment to lighten up the mood. It is definitely not a movie for those people who are all rainbows and butterflies.

Since there was the element of prostitution and mistresses in it, there were scenes that were quite distasteful. The bedroom scenes could have been done in a more tasteful manner that would be appropriate for it to be watched by the target audience; Malays, whose majority are Muslims.

Finally, the soundtrack of this movie was quite… confusing. It was as if there was a mixture between messages for one’s lover and prayers to the Almighty to have their lover returned to them. Honestly, asking Allah, our Creator, the sole reason for our existence, for something or someone that will eventually die or disappear, is like a thirsty man asking for a drop of water when the whole river is being offered to him!

I know, I know, it’s sad. You love the melody but the lyrics are just not your thing. Well, fret not, because some creative souls actually put together a cool, totally appropriate, Islamized version of the soundtrack here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFA9ON5_Y6Q

What Kept Me Watching

So, before I get hate mail from fans of the show, I have to say what actually kept me watching the whole movie were:

It was actually the acting, particularly from Aaron Aziz and Maya Karin. Their acting was pretty awesome. Its like they really delved into their roles and that really brought raw emotion to the screen. That is a difficult thing to do, and I commend them for their great effort.

Another thing I really liked from this movie was also the cinematography. The scenes shot were so pretty and paired with good acting, it was enough to get me to endure the whole film.

Therefore, if I was the official reviewer of Ombak Rindu, I would give it 3 popcorns out of 5. It was not all bad but there is definitely room for improvement.

My advice?

Wait for the DVD release.

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Radhiatul Mardhiyah Mustaffa
Mardhiyah graduated from Temasek Polytechnic with a Diploma in Applied Food Science and Nutrition. She’s an aspiring writer trying to find peace and serenity that comes solely from feeling Allah’s love.