Talentime

Talentime
Directed by	Yasmin Ahmad
Starring	Mahesh Jugal Kishor Mohd Syafie Naswip Howard Hon Ka Hoe Jaclyn Victor Harith Iskander Azean Irdawaty Mislina Mustaffa Tan Mei Ling Adibah Noor Zahim al-Bakri Noor Khiriah
Release dates	26 March 2009 April 2009
Country	Malaysia
Languages	English, Malay, Cantonese, Mandarin, Tamil

Talentime is a film directed by Yasmin Ahmad that is scheduled to be released on 26 March 2009 in Malaysia and possibly April in Singapore. Yasmin, in her blog, has described it as a story full of joy and pain, hope and despair, a host of beautifully-written songs, and rich, rich characters. A Hindu open cremation and a scene indicating the Kampung Medan incident were said to be included in the film.

Plot

The following is a rough story given by Yasmin in her October 15, 2007 entry on her blog:

"A music teacher, who is herself a great performer is organising an inter-school talentime. Through the days of auditions, rehearsals and preparations, running up to the big day of the contest, the characters get embroiled in a world of heightened emotions - ambition, jealousy, human comedy, romance, heartbreak - all of which culminate in a day of great music and performances."

Yasmin also mentioned that the idea behind Talentime: That as humans, we have to go through a lot of pain and some measure of suffering before we can reach greater heights.

Cast

The cast that has been confirmed to star in Talentime are as follow:

Actor/Actress	Character	Notes
Mahesh Jugal Kishor	Mahesh
Mohd Syafie Naswip	Hafiz	The boy who plays the guiar
Pamela Chong	Melur
Jaclyn Victor	Bhavani	Mahesh’s elder sister
Howard Hon Ka Hoe	Kahoe	The boy who plays the erhu
Harith Iskander		Melur’s father
Harith Iskander's mother		Touted by Yasmin as an English lady in her 80s possessing of a deadly deadpan wry sense of humour
Azean Irdawaty		Hafiz’s cancer-stricken mother
Tan Mei Ling
Adibah Noor		Teacher in charge of organizing the talentime
Mislina Mustaffa
Zahim al-Bakri
Noor Khiriah

Sharifah Amani was supposed to be cast as Melur in the film. However, due to clash of schedules, she was replaced by Pamela Chong. She did, however, play a role as the 3rd Assistant Director for the film. This would probably mark the first time that Sharifah Amani has played a behind-the-scene role in Yasmin Ahmad's films.

Songs to be featured

In Yasmin's blog, it was mentioned that several songs will be featured in Talentime, including:

• O Re Piya, sung by Rahat Fateh Ali Khan
• I Go, written and sung by Pete Teo, a Malaysian independent singer-songwriter
• Just Hold On, written by Azhar, a Malaysian in Melbourne who has been winning awards in Australia for his music
• Kasih Tak Kembali, by Yasmin's own father, Ahmad Hashim
• Claire de Lune (Moonlight), by Claude Debussy

Screening

As in all of Yasmin's previous works, Talentime shall open with the Islamic verse Bismillahirahmanirrahim (In the name of God, the most Gracious and most Merciful). Like Muallaf, the verse is to be displayed in a script different from Arabic in Talentime, i.e. in Tamil - பிஸ்மில்லாஹிர்ரஹ்மானிர்ரஹீம்

Template:Actors in Yasmin Ahmad films