‘Chelot’ Malay movie – how did the censors allow scenes portraying a Hindu temple as the centre of criminal activities?

KUALA LUMPUR: The recently released Malay film ‘Chelot’, screened nationwide as a special Merdeka release, has drawn sharp criticism from some Hindu fans for depicting a Hindu temple as a hub for illegal arms trafficking.

The film, which focuses on law enforcement officers infiltrating smuggling syndicates and highlights the sacrifices made by police, has been playing to full houses across the country. However, a particular scene has sparked outrage among some moviegoers and members of the Hindu community, who view it as a major flaw in an otherwise patriotic release.

Chelot is directed by Adrian Teh and has received accolades for its realistic stunt scenes and gunfight sequences, which are on par with those in Indian and Hollywood movies.

The controversial scene involves an Indian gang smuggling illegal firearms and explosives from abroad, specifically Thailand, to sell to local criminal elements.

In that scene, when questioned about the drop-off location, syndicate members identify a specific “Indian temple.” The subsequent scene explicitly shows a newly built, modern Hindu temple located in an urban area, where a crate containing smuggled weapons and explosives is exchanged between two rival groups inside the empty temple premises. The scene escalates into a standoff, with gang members aiming firearms at one another within the temple compound.

Another controversial depiction is that an Indian woman is portrayed as one of the gang leaders of the criminal groups present in the temple, and her dress is not befitting for a woman in a Hindu temple.

Viewers noted that the location was not portrayed as an abandoned or isolated structure, but as a fully functioning, contemporary Hindu place of worship, clearly filmed on-site at an actual temple.

While the director and the screenplay writers should be condemned for portraying a Hindu temple as a centre for illegal weapons sales and exchanges, such a depiction has raised concerns about how the scene passed the Film Censorship Board of Malaysia (Lembaga Penapis Filem – LPF). Critics argue that presenting a place of worship as a conduit for criminal activities and gunfights hurts the religious sentiments of the Hindu community, particularly during Merdeka celebrations, which are intended to promote racial and religious harmony.

Several moviegoers voiced their dismay to Malaysian Indian Today.com, questioning how censorship authorities approved a sequence explicitly naming and showcasing a Hindu temple in an illegal context and as a centre of criminal activities. In that scene, no other Hindu devotees are shown in the temple, suggesting that the temple is used for criminal activity after it closes.

The moviegoers also reiterated that, for that matter, no place of worship, whichever religion it belongs to, should be portrayed as a centre for criminal or illegal activities in a movie.

The moviegoers urged major Hindu organisations, including the Malaysia Hindu Sangam, Hindu Dharma Mamanram, and Hindu Youth Council, to send representatives to watch the movie and to issue formal representations and objections regarding the scene to the respective authorities and the movie producers so that such scenes are not depicted in Malaysian movies.