BULI BALIK Collection first four days RM 728 000. GILA SIOT! Gua macam tak percaya. Thanks to you guys.

UMI AIDA sent me this text message today.
Ada orang berpesan, " Mereka yang menang tidak berhenti dan mereka yang berhenti tidak akan menang!" So continue to strive.
What an amazing woman she is and she makes a great Neurosurgeon as well in BULI BALIK.

You know , i thank you all for all your comments and acknowledge all your comments as being valid responses to the film BULI BALIK that you experienced.
Why did i say "the movie that you experienced!" some of you might ask, "Are there many other versions?... How will i know if i am watching a different version from what afdlin made?".
The answer is no, there is only one version of buli balik except for BULI BALIK DVD DIRECTOR'S CUT SPECIAL EDITION which has an additional half an hour of footage. But your experiences may vary because of level of awareness or paradigm. Here i am talking about story and not the technicality of movie making (as i am still a student of that and i guess will forever be). One thing i do know are what the elements needed in the making of a good story, the use of subtext in a film and how to play with the three act structure of storytelling.
I know many people who did not like BAIK PUNYA CILOK and loved BULI BALIK and vice-versa. I am a big fan of the Lord of the rings trilogy but i know many people who thought it was boring and a waste of time. In P. Ramlee days after he did bujang lapuk everybody wanted him to do the same kind of movies but the legend did not just pursue those kind of movies because as a filmmaker you want to feed your soul with stories which touch you and these stories most certainly do not all come in the same genres. BAIK PUNYA CILOK and BULI BALIK are two different Movies with two differing intentions and goals. For Baik Punya Cilok i wanted to have fun and to prove that there is adifferent way to do cinematic comedy in malaysia. In the buli series (BULI & BULI BALIK) i wanted people to feel. FEEL how it feels like when the illness of our society is mirrored back at us. When the daily lives of a certain group of people is exposed to us so that we can emphatise and work towards correcting our wrongs, if any. BULI is an attempt at showing us how life can turn out if we made the same choices as our protagonist (HERO) or antagonist (Villain). BULI BALIK is Life as i see it. Like it or not, it is my paradigm. You are viewing life from my eyes.
Why is a fat person a hero in BULI & BULI BALIK? Because in my life i am the hero.... heehee. It's true, i know my kids and people i love, look up to me and i have to be there for them when they need me, just like a HERO. Besides that, i want to show that anybody can be a hero and you do not have to look like BRAD PITT to save the day ( BRAD PITT FC retaliation expected). WE ARE ALL POTENTIAL HEROES! if we choose to be it.
In BULI BALIK i want to show that even HEROes can make mistakes and go too far sometimes just like in real life. SO for those of you ready to peel away the comedy of BULI BALIK, you will see these layers which i had tried to encorporate but for those of you just looking for a laugh, the jokes are there but not like in BAIK PUNYA CILOK, but definitely a lot more thoughtful.
BUT don't just layan my ramblings, go and see for yourself and let yourself feel. I need you to cancel BAIK PUNYA CILOK from your minds for a little while and come into the movie having BULI in mind. You are going to go on a journey with NORDIN and have a peak into his life.
My personal feeling about BULI BALIK is that it is a very special movie to me. I love a good laugh but i also welcome a good cry once in a while. I guess it makes me feel human. BB is as close a commentary about our lives as a people that i can envisage thus far. A braver attempt would be 'SUMO-lah!' which is about Urban Malays looking for a cultural identity in this day and age.
At the end of the day, eventhough i am a businessman, i remember that i am an artist with a social conscience FIRST. Kalau gua nak kaya, semua filem gua buat macam BAIK PUNYA CILOK la and that style would probably last about two to three more films before i am branded a formulaic director with no passion for anything but making money.BULI BALIK is done because I am interested in telling stories and that is why i am a film director. Peace.

Power to the People

Afdlin Shauki

PS. SELAMAT MENYAMBUT AWAL MUHARRAM MY FRIENDS, may this year allah shines a bright light upon us all and open our hearts to the gift of knowledge and peace. To all my Chinese friends GONG XI FA CHAI and may you achieve what you set your hearts to.