Writer: Yap Yew Jin

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Watch this if you liked: "Love Actually", Romance films

"Sometimes, people tend to forget the one thing that could bring happiness in life" . This message was mentioned right from the start of the movie and repeated again before the credits rolled. Why not? That's basically what the movie is about anyway, ranging from sibling love, parental love, unconditional love, forbidden love, forgotten love and the list goes on.

Boasting an all-star cast with a mix of up-and rising leads (Sharifah Amani and Fasha Sandha), highly-rated actors and actresses (Eizlan Yusoff and Rashidi Ishak) as well as veteran stars (Dato' Rahim Razali and Fatimah Abu Bakar), "Cinta" is one movie not to be missed - even if it is just to catch a glimpse of one of those stars in action. However, the movie not only has a multi-talented cast but it's also executed in a natural style with beautiful images and settings to enhance the film.

"Cinta" is about five modern-day love stories set in the busy city of Kuala Lumpur and its everyday people. While each story is independent, the characters are connected to one another, either by circumstances and coincidence. Who knows, one of those five stories could be related to yours.

The stars in the movie gave their best performance, with the veterans being the most memorable. Dato' Rahim Razali plays Elyas, an ex-school teacher who suffers from Alzheimer's and would forget what happens at the end of each day ("50 First Dates", anyone?) Not only was his acting convincing but moviegoers would actually feel pity and sympathy for him as they would for others they know who suffer from the same disease. Opposite him, Fatimah Abu Bakar (whose daughter, Sharifah Amani also acted in the movie) was equally impressive, displaying emotions that are genuine as she plays the kind-hearted storekeeper who decides to take care of Elyas under his condition.

Director Kabir Bhatia once again proved why he is one of the most sought after directors with "Cinta". Despite being his first major directional debut, Kabir's unique directional style was clearly shown with the storyline being simple and the actors being as natural as possible. Thumbs up to Alternate Studio as well for coming up with a huge improvement from their first movie, "Salon".

Forget about the fancy special effects and exaggerated storylines and go for something simple and romantic. Being a local film (and a good one too I might add), watch "Cinta" and see for yourself how far the local movie industry has gone since its early days. If every movie that comes out of our country has as much quality as this one, it won't be long before Malaysia would be recognised as one of the leading filmmakers in Asia.

Cinema Online, 23 September 2008