Last month, president to the National Film Development Corporation, Ahmad Puad Onah, said that the association would propose that ticket prices for Hollywood-produced movies be increased to RM20!

This is supposed to help the local film producers become more competitive. However it is sad that these people really have they not learned anything from the Proton story yet. This suggestion is a really shallow idea and it will not help local films be more competitive against foreign movies. In fact, this will have an opposite effect.

So the question is, why aren’t Malaysians watching local movies? Think about it. What are the demographics that show people who actually go and watch movies? Can a middle income family with 4-5 kids afford to watch movies priced at RM8-12 per ticket?

Four kids plus mom and dad will cost the family (RM10 x 6) RM60. Add the parking ticket, and snacks and it will cost at least RM100 just for an afternoon of movie-watching. So if these people want to watch a movie, what do they do? You guessed it. Buy an illegal DVD at RM7 per disc and the whole family can watch it over and over again.

So solution No.1 is to enforce the law against illegal DVD sales. This although it would put a dent in the coffers of those authorities and VIPs who are taking bribes from this industry.

So, who then will go to the cine-plexes? I would have to say that it would be couples or young people out with their friends right?!? However these people have a limited budget as well. If they have to choose between watching ‘Spiderman’ and ‘Cicakman’ which show do you think they will watch?

So what would attract the younger generation to watch local films? Can local films ever match Hollywood in terms of visual effects, ‘star’ power or even in promotional marketing activities?

So how then can they compete against Hollywood movies? The answer is nearer than you think. Just look at our neighbors. Both Thailand and Singapore have managed to produce local-made films that are very successful, even on the international stage.

So why can’t Malaysian film producers do the same? The reason is simply because they are too afraid to offend the authorities. There is too much control, taboos, restrictions and censorship in the industry. It has come to a point where any movie that comes out from the local industry will almost sure to be ‘too safe’ meaning dull and boring.

Also, the local movies that come out aren’t controversial, provocative and have little to offer progressive Malaysians as a whole. Just take a look at our local news.

We have an exciting by-election, the Jerit issue, the Hindraf issue, the ISA Issue, the hudud laws issue, many corruption scandals, a murder of a Mongolian gal and a conspiracy involving a top man, New Year sex parties with movie stars, the list goes on! Now why would I ever pay money to watch a local film when our local news in Malaysia is a whole lot more interesting?

Do you think any of our local film producers are brave enough to turn any of the issues above into a movie? If our local film industry produced a film related to any of those issues I mentioned above, I am sure it will get a whole lot of publicity and many people will watch it.

Why? Because….all Malaysian can relate to it. It will be very provocative and this will generate curiosity and publicity among many Malaysians. And on top of this, it will not have to compete directly against any Hollywood movie (Blue Ocean strategy).

Also, when was the last time we saw a movie that appealed to Malaysian audience as a whole? Local movies are usually categorised as either Malay movies, Indian movies or Chinese movies. Where are the Malaysian movies? Let’s be honest - how many Chinese will go watch a Malay movie?

Local producers must learn to makes films that appeal to a broad spectrum of society and not segregate their movie’s potential market by race! What’s wrong with movies that have characters speaking Chinese, Malay, Tamil etc, in the same movie? We do that in our everyday life. So why not in our local films as well?

I know it is not easy to produce films that will appeal to the whole country. Thus, local film producers must be ready to face the challenges of making movies that would be very controversial politically and socially. We must no longer be afraid to makes movies that are racially or religiously sensitive.

Now, I am not asking producers to make films that insult other races or religion. Neither am I asking producers to make politically-charged propaganda films. But we can still make movies that reflect the true picture of our country and show that the human spirit can triumph over many adversities.

With regards to this, I have a list of ideas that I think will make great movies which most Malaysian will pay to watch.

• Police corruption (tales of a young police officer facing huge peer pressure to compromise his principles and succumb to taking bribes and the persecution he faced by not giving in)

I am sure a lot of people can think of many more ideas that will make great movies. I am sure many of these potential movies will make certain groups unhappy. But that is the whole point isn’t it?

A safe and nice movie that does not raise any eyebrows will not interest the Malaysian public at all (considering they get so much more entertainment from the local news).

Until local film producers are brave enough to challenge the status quo of making ‘proper’ films, and make movies that are honest and relevant to all walks of life in Malaysia besides challenging the minds of our society, they will never be able to compete with Hollywood movies.