Nujum Pa’ Blalang (Film)

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Nujum Pa’ Blalang (now spelled as Nujum Pak Belalang ) is a Malay comedy film released on 26 December 1959 in Singapore . It was directed and starred by Tan Sri P. Ramlee . The film is a blend of epic fairy tales set in the culture of the old Malay community. The film also won “Best Comedy Film” at the 7th Asian Film Festival in Tokyo , Japan .

Plot

The beginning of an astrologer

The film begins with the introduction of the character Belalang ( Bad Latiff ), a very hardworking boy who does farm work and earns wages to support his family. He has a father called Pak Belalang ( P. Ramlee ), who is a very lazy person and his only job is to sleep day and night. When people visit the house, namely Cik Kadok ( M. Zain ) and Cik Kacong ( M. Rafiee ), there is nothing in the kitchen, not even coffee . Finally, the guests are invited to drink a drink mixed with charcoal bontot kawali .

One day, Belalang encounters two thieves, Badan ( Aziz Sattar ) and Nyawa ( S. Shamsuddin ), who steal the villagers’ goats and cattle. Belalang scares the thieves by disguising himself as a “son of a genie who wants to eat blood ” to get the cows and goats back as soon as the thieves escape. At the chief’s house, Buntal ( HM Busra ) and Jambul ( Ali Fiji ), two shepherds who have lost their cows and goats and the villagers are looking for the chief to report the matter. In the commotion, Belalang appears and says that his father is an astrologer who can know the location of the cows and goats . In disbelief, the chief and other villagers also go to Pak Belalang’s house.

Pak Belalang, who had conspired with his son, Belalang then took a “geluk jampi” filled with water and cast a spell (although he did not know what the spell was). The water was then shown to the chief and two shepherds and if they did not see it, he threatened that they were illegitimate children. Pak Belalang pretended to see a shadow in the water but did not know where the cows and goats were. Fortunately, Belalang, who knew the position of the cows and goats, was able to tell them and convince the villagers of Pak Belalang’s abilities.

Mr. Grasshopper, National Astrologer

One night, Badan dan Nyawa used the art of sorcery to put all the people of the Beringin Rendang State Palace to sleep and then stole the palace treasures including a chest of gold coins , a necklace belonging to Princess Si Bujur Sirih ( Hashimah Yon ) and the Crown belonging to Sultan Shahrul Nizam ibni Almarhum Sultan Malik Shah ( Ahmad Nisfu ). After the entire palace woke up, the Sultan was furious and then the Penghulu ( Malek Sutan Muda ) declared about Pak Belalang’s abilities as a soothsayer. Pak Belalang was brought to the palace and ordered to find where the treasure was hidden. As usual, Pak Belalang could not do anything and asked for time. In return, if Pak Belalang did not find the treasure, His Majesty the Sultan would behead Pak Belalang and imprison the Penghulu.

Pak Belalang returned home and fled and on Belalang’s suggestion hid in a cave in Bukit Tunggal. By chance, he heard Body and Soul counting the palace treasures. Pak Belalang threatened them as “cave guards” and told them to leave the treasures so they wouldn’t die. Meanwhile, Belalang was brought before the Sultan to replace Pak Belalang who was not at home. The Sultan asked about the palace treasures to Belalang. Belalang made a trick that his father had gone to “Mount Cinerama” which is located in Japan . The Sultan saw the supplies that Belalang was holding and accused Belalang of cheating, just like his father. Belalang made an excuse that the supplies were for the ‘hungry jinn’. Because the Sultan knew that everything was just a lie, the Sultan wanted to punish Belalang. Fortunately, Pak Belalang appeared and told him the location of the palace treasures that were hidden by the ‘poor jinn’ (his trick). Pak Belalang told him that to enter the cave, only four people were allowed to enter the cave, namely the Sultan, the Queen ( Sa’amah ), the Prime Minister ( Kemat Hassan ) and the Princess. They also had to crawl inside and were not allowed to stand. They were taken there and entered the cave (while following Pak Belalang’s conditions).

The Sultan was very pleased with Pak Belalang’s ‘ability and clairvoyance’ and appointed him as the National Astrologer.

National Astrologer Challenge

While the Sultan and the chiefs of Beringin Rendang were discussing the problems of the government and the people, Inang ( Habsah Buang ) rushed into the reception hall in a state of sobbing and said that Princess Si Bujur Sirih ( Hashimah Yon ) had collapsed unconscious. His Majesty Sultan Shahrul Nizam ordered that Nujum Pak Belalang be called to check on the condition of the princess who had fallen ill. When Pak Belalang arrived at the princess’s competition room, he found that the princess was pretending to faint. As a trick to find out the truth from the princess, Pak Belalang said that the princess had contracted the “angau” disease and that the examination should be carried out by Pak Belalang alone with the princess in the room without anyone else.

After everyone left, Princess Si Bujur Sirih woke up and said she wanted to meet Pak Belalang in the Palace Garden at 11 pm. Since it was dangerous for Pak Belalang to do this, he found some common sense and told the Sultan that the way for the princess to be cured was to let the princess go out to the garden that night alone without being escorted by a guard. So, that was Pak Belalang’s chance to meet the princess without anyone knowing (although this was all Inang’s original plan). The next day, the princess said that she had recovered after being “cured” that night.

After being relieved by the princess’s condition, the Sultan returned to the Grand Palace to continue the discussion with the chieftain that had been interrupted the previous day. While in the discussion, they heard the sound of cannon fire . Then it was reported that the ship from Masai had arrived. The Sultan was skeptical about their arrival and said to prepare troops. If the group from Masai wanted to fight, they would be attacked by the Beringin Rendang army. If they came peacefully, their arrival would be welcomed.

Two Sultans’ Bet

They saw that the Masai Sultan ( Shariff Dol )’s entourage was for a peaceful journey, meaning that he did not bring a single army. This was because they knew they did not have the military strength to oppose Beringin Rendang, so they came there to compete in intelligence. At the palace, the two sultans met.

Sultan Masai also expressed his view that there should be a battle of wits between the two astrologers of the country and for that, he was ready to risk his country. Sultan Shahrul Nizam thought for a moment before placing his full trust in Pak Belalang who actually had no intelligence. After signing the agreement between the two countries, the astrologer Masai also asked a question:

• “There is a beautifully carved piece of wood. Which is the end and which is the base?”
• “There are two newly hatched ducklings . How do you know which one is male and which is female?”
• “There is a problem. One, a lot. Two, a little bit. Three, rarely. Four, sometimes. What is it?”
• “Where does Datuk Laksamana Hang Tuah’s strength lie ? Is it in his keris? Or is it in his energy?”

After hearing and seeing for himself the situation in the palace, Pak Belalang was horrified that the sultan was willing to risk the country because he put his full trust in him who actually knew nothing. He returned home and told Belalang to find a boat to escape while he packed his necessities. In Kuala, Belalang tried to take Sultan Masai’s boat but when he was about to push the boat away, Sultan Masai’s entourage arrived. Belalang entered the boat and hid under the seat and sailed with the entourage to return to Masai’s ship. On the way, Sultan Masai persuaded his astrologer to tell him the answer to the riddle and although he forbade all the crew who heard him from going ashore, all the answers were heard by Belalang. Belalang swam home and told his father all the answers he heard.

On the appointed day, Pak Belalang was ready with the answer that Belalang gave confidently. Here is the solution:

• “There is a beautifully carved piece of wood. Which is the end and which is the base?”

Pak Belalang took a beautifully carved piece of wood and put it in the water and saw that one end of the wood was floating and the other was sinking. Pak Belalang said that the end was floating and the base was sinking because “each end was lighter than the base”.

• There are two newly hatched ducklings . How do you know which one is male and which is female?

Mr. Grasshopper brought two newly hatched male and female ducklings and let them both swim on the surface of the water. It was found that one duck was swimming in front and the other was following behind. Mr. Grasshopper said that the one in front was the female duck and the one behind was the male duck. The reason given was “natural” because the male would follow the female.

• There is a problem. One, a lot. Two, a little bit. Three, rarely. Four, sometimes. What is it?

Pak Belalang answered “marriage” because “One, many, means, people who marry one, are many in this world. Two, few, means, people who marry two are fewer in number than people who marry one. Three, rarely, means, people who marry three are rarely heard of. Four, sometimes, means, people who marry four are sometimes heard of only once.”

• Where does Datuk Laksamana Hang Tuah’s strength lie ? Is it in his keris? Or is it in his energy?

Pak Belalang replied “the strength of Datuk Laksamana Hang Tuah is not in his keris or in his energy but in the letter Ta because the letter Ta strengthens the name Tuah, Ta – Wau – Alif – Ha  : Tuah, توﺍﻩ.” If the Ta is changed to Ba , the sound will be ‘Buah’, ‘بواه’.

Good luck Mr. Grasshopper

With the Beringin Rendang country winning, Sultan Masai was not satisfied because he suspected that his astrologer ( Udo Omar ) was conspiring with the Beringin Rendang party to overthrow him. His Majesty then asked another question. Pak Belalang did not agree but Sultan Shahrul Nizam persuaded him to accept Masai’s challenge. Sultan Masai took something out of the bag into his hand and asked Pak Belalang to guess what it was. Pak Belalang knew that he could not answer it and groaned and complained while calling the name “Belalang” and blaming his son for being stubborn to fight. Sultan Masai who heard it sat down. Sultan Shahrul Nizam asked the reason and his Majesty replied that Pak Belalang’s answer was correct because what he was holding was a grasshopper . So, with that, Beringin Rendang won an absolute victory and the Masai country fell into the hands of Beringin Rendang.

Because there was no country, Sultan Masai lived on his ship. One day, Badan and Nyawa came to the Sultan (supposedly they were the Sultan’s brothers-in-law) and proposed to regain his country. The two of them would kidnap Princess Si Bujur Sirih and hide her. Then it was proposed that when the Sultan announced that he would grant any request to anyone who returned the princess, Sultan Masai would appear and return the princess and ask to be returned to the country and marry the princess.

They then hid in the Bukit Tunggal Cave while Badan and Nyawa kidnapped the princess. After that, as expected, Sultan Shahrul Nizam announced that his Majesty would grant any request to anyone who returned the princess. Fortunately, the Prime Minister had time to remind the Sultan that they already had a National Astrologer. Then, Pak Belalang was called before the Sultan and forced to ‘divinize’ until he found where the princess was hidden or he would be beheaded. A bowl of water was provided and as usual, Pak Belalang did not know what to do and acted as if he was casting a spell. Suddenly, miraculously, the shadow of the princess appeared from the water, tied up by Sultan Masai, the kidnapper of Badan and Nyawa and his followers. When the Sultan asked about the hiding place, Pak Belalang had disappeared.

They all headed to the Bukit Tunggal Cave and defeated the group. The kidnappers were sentenced to beheading while the Sultan of Masai and his followers were sentenced to life imprisonment. Pak Belalang, who was hugging Princess Si Bujur Sirih, was seen by the Sultan and he ‘punished’ them to marry. Before it ended, Belalang appeared and said he would sleep there because he complained that his father did not want to expand the house and he had no place to sleep (knowing that he would get a ‘new mother’).

Cast

Main actor

• P. Ramlee as Pak Belalang / Astrologer of Beringin Rendang State
• Hashimah Yon as Princess Si Bujur Sireh
• Bad Latiff as Grasshopper

Supporting actor

• Ahmad Nisfu as Sultan Shahrul Nizam ibn Almarhum Sultan Malik Shah
• Sa’amah as Queen
• Kemat Hassan as Prime Minister of Beringin Rendang State
• Aziz Sattar as Body
• S. Shamsuddin as Nyawa
• Shariff Dol as the Sultan of Masai State
• Udo Omar as Masai State Astrologer
• M. Babjan as Prime Minister of Masai State
• Malek Sutan Muda as the Chief
• Habsah Buang as Host
• M. Rafiee as Kacong
• M. Zain as Kadok
• HM Busra as Buntal
• Ali Fiji as Jambul

Special appearance

• Rahmah Rahmat as the lead dancer of the song “Ketipang Payung”

Additional actors

• Mahmud Hitam as a villager who gives sugarcane wages to Belalang.
• A. Galak as a villager

Track

• “Nujum Pa’ Blalang” sung by P. Ramlee

• “We Are Bandits” sung by Aziz Sattar & S. Shamsuddin

• “Ketipang Payung” sung by Rahmah Rahmat

• “If Glass Becomes Diamond” sung by P. Ramlee & Hashimah Yon

Watch The Movie

Ketipang Payung Covers

• Dayang Nurfaizah

• Tan Sri. P. Ramlee & Rahmah Rahmat

• Bunga Sirait Feat Bembeng Khan

• Kajol ft Orkes Melayu Rojer

• Ketipang Payung – Instrumental

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