Writer: Wahiduzzaman

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Watch this if you liked: "Save The Last Dance", "Honey"

Are you up for a dance sensation a la Jessica Alba's "Honey"? It's called "Sayang" (originally "Sayang You Can Dance") and it looks set to pave the way for a new genre in Malaysian filmmaking. It's got a sassy poster and lots of glitz. Sayang seribu kali sayang - there are more 'eerie' points about the film than you would have ever thought!

First off, Sharifah Amani's performance carries the picture through to at least a one-star rating. It's shocking to see a credible drama actress like Amani lend her name to such to production. Not only does she outshine the entire cast, she even succeeds in doing so without doing much.

If one is expecting exhilarating performances from Indon star Samuel Rizal, Akademi Fantasia alums Dafi and Ebi Kornelis, not to mention Alam, Smyth Wong, Carmen Soo and Dominique Chiu - you can just forget it! It's just a mixture of overacting and dodgy delivery. Alam is the highlight for the dance sequences (because he's the only one who can dance) while Dafi thinks he's playing Beyonce in a strip joint. If you think that's too much, wait till you see the effeminate Dominique exploiting some sissy gag that doesn't work at all. The jokes and banter in this movie pathetically makes sense to just the "Sayang" team and obviously not to anybody else.

Nonetheless, the blame cannot fall squarely on these beautiful faces since they're only a bunch of fresh talents. Is director Bjarne Wong wearing a hat that's too big for him? It's amazing to learn that he already has two feature films under his belt and yet "Sayang" is such a D-grade disaster of a movie.

Evidently, the collective effort of Bjarne Wong and the experienced Meor Shahriman ("Apa Kata Hati and "Cicak-man 2" fame) on the script has spoiled the whole thing with the wrong formula and an outdated concept. Loose and incoherent, it is the major stumbling block to the story.

Most teen dance movies can't go wrong with the feel good factor, yet "Sayang" is more of a patience-testing pain in the behind. Moreover, the experience of watching several scenes in Cantonese without subtitles at the Malaysian press preview and gala premiere isn't funny when you learn that this movie seems targeted at the Malay audience. Hopefully they will have sorted this out before the general release.

Overall, the movie is just a combo of wasted money and effort. It may hurt the many parties involved but one Malay word that best describes the movie is ultimately sayang (what a waste).

Cinema Online, 12 March 2009