Tenet Explained

Who is the hero? 

The hero is a young CIA agent who is never referred to by name. Let's just call him The Protagonist since that is how he identifies himself in the final scene. During the undercover operation at the Kiev opera house at the beginning of the film, he, along with a mysterious masked soldier with a strange looking red trinket, fail to retrieve an artifact. However, the Protagonist witnesses this masked soldier inverting a bullet as if it was travelling backwards. The Protagonist is captured by Russian mercenaries who torture him, but he does not expose his team. Impressed by his loyalty, he is saved and recruited by Tenet.

What is Tenet? 

Tenet is a mysterious organisation that aims to prevent the creation of a machine that could lead to the end of the world. The Protagonist is sent to a scientist named Barbara, who is studying a strange set of weapons with "inverted" entropy, similar to the bullet The Protagonist witnessed in Kiev. This allows them to move backwards through time, such as having the ability to enter The Protagonist's grasp even before he grabs them. Barbara believes they are able to move like this because they were made in the future. The Protagonist traces the materials used to manufacture the weapons to an arms dealer in Mumbai.The Protagonist teams up with another Tenet member, Neil, to confront the dealer. It is then revealed that the dealer's wife, Priya Singh, is a senior member of Tenet. She explains that she sold her weapons to one Andrei Sator, a wealthy Russian oligarch who not only has the ability to invert time, but can communicate with the future. When she sold him the weapons, they were not yet time-inversed. 

The time inversion machine

In the distant future, a scientist has invented a time inversion machine. However, fearing that it will be used for evil, she divides its algorithm into nine components and hides them in the past. She achieves this by time-inverting herself and then re-inverting herself to align with whatever time period she is in over and over again until she manages to hide all nine components in different nuclear locations across the world where the components will be safely hidden away. Unfortunately, in present day, Sator has uncovered all nine components, including the final one which The Protagonist was out to get in Kiev. 

Sator’s evil plan

Initially, we are led to believe that Sator is working for terrorists from the future who have lost all hope in humanity and blame the present generation for all its problems such as climate change and social disparity. Since they no longer have the algorithm to create a time inversion machine, they are paying Sator in time-reversed gold bars so that he can piece together the components to ensure the machine is eventually built. Sator pieces together the algorithm and drops the components into an underground vault in his nuked hometown, where the future terrorists will find it centuries from now.

However, Sator soon learns that he has terminal pancreatic cancer, and believes if he dies, then the whole world should die with him. After the algorithm is completed, Sator  link his time inversion machine to a dead-switch activated by his fitness tracker. Kat, Sator's estranged wife, is convinced Sator will carry out his plan in the past during their holiday to Vietnam, which was the final time Sator felt genuinely happy. After that day, Sator disappeared for awhile and reemerged out of nowhere with his plan to destroy the world. 

Tenet’s plan

With Priya's time inversion machine, Tenet members are able to travel back to the 14th of the month. They then travel to Sator’s hometown to stop his evil plan. Once there, Tenet splits into two teams; red team moves forward through time as normal, while blue team is time-inverted. This tactic is what is referred to as a ‘temporal pincer movement’. This creates a distraction battle that allows a splinter cell of led by The Protagonist to get hold of the algorithm. In the underground vault, the Protagonist finds Sador's henchman burring the algorithm with the dead body of a blue team Tenet member on the ground with the same red trinket that the Protagonist saw earlier in Kiev. As the henchman prepares to kill The Protagonist, the dead Tenet member is revived as he is time inversion and takes the shot instead. Now resurrected, the time-inverted Tenet member helps The Protagonist take the algorithm.

Sator’s fate

At the same time, Kat, now re-inverted, travels back to Vietnam with Mahir. Once there, she pretends to be her younger self while being with Sator to make sure he stays distracted while Tenet deals with his men. She shoots him and pushes him off his yacht, killing him right before the explosion at Sador's hometown. This means Sator never disappeared after their holiday in Vietnam, he was actually killed by Kat. The Protagonist, Neil and the head of Tenet's armed forces split the algorithm into three pieces, and promise to hide them away. As Neil turns and walks away, The Protagonist sees the red trinket on him, revealing him to be the masked gunman in Kiev and the dead time-inversed dead body that saved his life earlier that day. 

The truth about Neil

Neil reveals that he is actually a Tenet member from the future, who was recruited by The Protagonist himself. Although The Protagonist has only known Neil for a few days, Neil has known him for years. This means, Neil is moving backwards while The Protagonist is moving forward in time. Neil walks back into the time inversion machine to invert himself so that he can save The Protagonist's life, which means he knows this is his end. Before doing that, he leaves his piece of the algorithm with The Protagonist before time-inverting himself.

The truth about The Protagonist

In the last scene, Priya is shown trying to assassinate Kat since it is Tenet's objective to destroy any trace of time inversion knowledge. However, The Protagonist shows up and reveals that he will be the one to set up Tenet in the future, meaning he will be the one to recruit not only Neil but Priya and himself too. He then kills Priya, but lets Kat live.

Top 5 Slytherins Who Actually Turned Out To Be Good Wizards

It seems almost like Slytherin's reputation as a Hogwarts house will forever be scared by the fact it produced the most Dark wizards when compared to the other three houses. Not to mention its founder, Salazar Slytherin desired pure blood supremacy at the school, so much so that he kept a giant serpent to kill Muggle-born students. It does not help that his direct descendant the deadliest Dark wizard to have ever lived, Tom Riddle a.k.a Voldemort, wished to uphold this perverted ideology. Despite its dark history, Slytherin has produced good wizards. For instance:

1) Merlin

Yes. Apparently, writer JK Rowling made one of the most famous wizards of all time, Merlin, a member of Slytherin. In fact, in the Potter Universe, Merlin is so revered and respected that the Ministry for Magic awards something called The Order of Merlin to deserving wizards and witches to celebrate an outstanding achievement.

2) Severus Snape

This man may have started out as a Dark wizard, but he changed for the woman he loved. While for most pure blood supremacists, nothing else matters more than lineage. But Professor Snape, despite knowing that he can never be with the one he loves, sacrifices his own life to ensure the downfall of his former master so that goodness will prevail.

3) Regulus Black

Unlike his older brother Sirius, Regulus lived up to the family's legacy by believing in pure blood supremacy and eventually became a Death Eater at just sixteen. But after witnessing how his Dark Lord tortured Kreacher in order to secure the safekeeping of one of his Hocruxes, Regulus had a change of hearts and betrayed Voldemort. While most Death Eaters think human wizards such as themselves are supreme to all other living creatures, Regulus actually cared for the loyal house-elf who served his family for years. This proves Regulus was merely conforming to his upbringing and is not actually evil. During the Battle of Hogwarts, Kreacher, rallied the other elves working at the school to fight in honour of Regulus.

4) Andromeda Tonks

Like her cousin Sirius, Andromeda defied their family's pure-blood traditions in almost every way she could. She married a Muggle-born, something that pure blood Slytherins almost never do. Unlike her sisters Bellatrix Lestrange and Narcissa Malfoy who joined Voldemort's Death Eaters, Andromeda aligned with Dumbledore's Order of the Phoenix. Leading up to the Battle of Hofwarts, Andromeda and her husband were tortured by Death Eaters for information on Harry Potter and the Order but she resisted, proving her loyalty to her loved ones.

5) Horace Slughorn

Professor Slughorn is not exactly a model citizen, but compared to other Slytherins, he is surely way better. Yes, he displayed high favouritism with his Slug Club, but its members were chosen not based on lineage but rather their own merits and talents. As Potions Master, he was a much friendlier and motivating than his predecessor and former student, Snape. Although he loved aligning himself with powerful people, he knew where to draw the line. When he first learned Voldemort was actually Tom Riddle and that he might have created Hocruxes thanks to the information he shared with him, Slughorn felt deeply embarrassed and guilty, going as far as to hide away from public and even tampering with his own memory. Also, he showed he too has high morals when he battled his former favourite student, Voldemort during the Battle of Hogwarts.

Tofu Sambal: The Ultimate Malaysian Fusion Dish

The country of origin

A lot has been said for ages of how Malaysia is the ultimate multiracial, multicultural, multilingual, multi-religious country in the region, if not the world. The fact that many people from all across the region still come here in search of greener pastures simply adds to the many ingredients in our melting pot. 

Speaking of ingredients, one thing all Malaysians irrespective of their ethnic and social background can agree on is we have the best food in the world. Part of this is because we have so many different ethnic groups living here that has resulted in a variety of fusion dishes that cannot be found anywhere else in the world. One such dish is the severely underrated Tofu Sambal. 

Malay + Chinese + Indian

Just think about it. First, it is a form of Sambal, which is a Malay dish. Indonesians might claim it is theirs, but that is a debate for another day. Second, as its name suggests, its main ingredient is tofu, which is a Chinese bean curd. Third, it is predominantly prepared and consumed by Hindus in Malaysia, who are mostly of south Indian descent. It is also important to note that unlike the traditional Malay Sambal, Tofu Sambal is a vegetarian dish, which means it does not contain any shrimp paste, otherwise known as Belacan. 

Tofu

Tofu-making was first recorded almost 2,000 years ago during the Chinese Han dynasty. Along with the spread of Buddhism, tofu-making also spread to other parts of Southeast Asia as a both a vegetarian substitute for meat and fish. It grew to become an important source of protein in the vegetarian diet which is an integral part of all Dharmic religions. In recent years, vegetarianism became popular in the west and so did the use of tofu in western cooking. Indians also have their own version of tofu called Paneer. However, this is a kind of cheese while tofu is a type of bean curd. 

Sambal

Sambal was indeed developed within the Malay archipelago, but its main ingredient is not native to this part of the world. This main ingredient can either be chili pepper, Cayenne pepper and green chili pepper. These variants were all introduced to the Malay world in the 16th century by the Portuguese. This takes the fusion-ness of Tofu Sambal to a whole different level! However, Malay people have been making Sambal even prior to that using local varieties of chili. 

Ingredients

The tofu should be sliced into average-sized cube-shaped chunks. Either vegetable, sunflower or olive oil is best used since this is a vegetarian dish. Also prepare some onions, garlic and a lime or lemon. Prepare some dried chili paste beforehand too. A cup of water, a few sliced tomatoes and some salt will also be needed. If you can get your hands on some kaffir lime leaves too, that would be great. But don't sweat it if you can't find any in your area because this is only for garnishing. You can do without them too if you please. Notice how you don't need any shrimp paste because, as mentioned before, this is a vegetarian dish. 

Method

Despite its delicious taste, it is quite easy to prepare. To start with, fry the chunks of tofu in oil until they turn golden brown. On a separate pot, stir fry garlic and add dried chili paste. Stir this until the oil parts and add onions before stirring on. Then, add water, tomatoes and salt before stirring. As you allow the mixture to boil, squeeze a bit of the lemon or lime juice into the mixture before adding the fried tofu chunks.  Lastly, mix together and dish out after garnishing with some kaffir lime leaves.

The Untold Story of Isaac Brooke, a Prince of Sarawak

All Malaysians are familiar with the story of the three white Rajahs who ruled the kingdom of Sarawak for over a century. First, there was the first Rajah, Sir James Brooke, who expanded the kingdom into what it is today. Then, there was his nephew, Sir Charles Brooke. Finally, there was Sir Vyner Brooke, the last white Rajah.

It is well known that the second white Rajah, Sir Charles Brooke, had a wife named Margaret Alice Lili de Windt or Ranee Margaret Brooke. The couple was blessed with six children, three of whom died on a voyage to the United Kingdom in 1873. The surviving three were raised in Sarawak and the oldest of them, Vyner Brooke, became the third Rajah following the death Sir Charles.

Unknown to many, Sir Charles had another son with a native woman who, according to the rightful order of succession, should have been the one to inherit the throne. This was because he was the oldest of all of Sir Charles' children. He was Isaac Brooke, and he was born on August 26, 1867 in Simanggang, Sarawak. His mother was Dayang Mastiah binti Abang Aing, the sister of Abang Arif bin Abang Aing. Abang Arif was the Senior Native Officer for Fort Lubok Antu. 

Legend has it that the first Rajah, Sir James Brooke did not sire any legitimate children of his own and only had one son, Reuben George Brooke, out of wedlock, which did not entitle him to the Brooke estate. So, in 1861, Sir James formally named Captain John Brooke Johnson, his sister's eldest son, as his successor. However, James later disinherited John in favour of John's younger brother, Charles. While exploring the capital city of Kuching, the Tuan Muda Charles Brooke was introduced to Dayang Mastiah. Charles was so enamored by her beauty that he married her. However, both their marriage and the birth of their son, Isaac, was not made public.

Many believe that since Tuan Muda Charles was the successor to Sir James, the Church of England opposed his marriage to a native woman. A year later, Sir James Brooke died, and Charles succeeded his uncle as the second white Rajah of Sarawak. Meanwhile, Isaac was raised by his mother among the locals in Kuching, although his father did visit him occasionally. 

As heir to the throne, Charles was expected to get married to an English lady of a respectable family to continue the legacy of the Brooke family. So, Charles married Margaret Alice Lili de Windt in Highworth, Wiltshire on October 28, 1869. She was raised to the title of Ranee of Sarawak on the same day. The young Rajah brought his new Ranee with him back to Sarawak the following year.

Sources say that Margaret learned that she was the Rajah's second wife only after she set foot in Kuching. Despite her position as queen, it is said that Margaret lived in fear that her oldest surviving son with Charles would not inherit the throne as long as Isaac was around. Even the death of her husband's first wife in 1872 did not ease her insecurities. 

As a result, arrangements were made for Isaac to be taken away from the land of his birth. He was adopted by a pastor named Reverend William Yate Daykin and his family, who were later ordered to move to Ontario, Canada. Isaac was later renamed Esca Brooke-Daykin. Esca was educated at Trinity College School, Port Hope, and was then sent to Queen’s University of Kingston. It is said that he  never spoke about his old life in Sarawak or his connections to the Brooke family. 

However, many members of the elite in Ontario were familiar with his story. In his adulthood, Isaac married a Canadian woman named Edith Webster Ottawa. Based on a book written by Cassandra Pybus entitled 'White Figure: The Dynasty Intrigue', Isaac and his family were well-received by the Canadian elite since many wealthy white families were more than happy to be associated with the Brookes, who they saw as royalty.

Meanwhile, in Sarawak, Isaac's half-brother, Vyner, succeeded their father as the third white Rajah just as Margaret had wanted. However, he suffered a great loss following the Japanese Occupation of Sarawak and was forced to hand over his family's kingdom to the British government. Hence, the once independent kingdom of Sarawak become a British colony. 

In 2009, the story of the untold Sarawakian mulatto prince was somewhat revived when the 54-year-old great-granddaughter of Esca Brooke-Daykin, Deborah Falls Lockhart and her family arrived in modern day Sarawak, now a part of the federation of Malaysia. The arrival of the Lockharts was highly publicized and was widely covered by many local newspapers  at the time.

Top 15 Tamil Films of 2019

These are the only 15 Tamil films I've managed to watch either through streaming or in the cinema. There were many other well-received films, but they were not released in Malaysian theaters or online streaming services. So here is my own personal top 15 list.

15) Raatchasi

Geetha Rani is posted to a school in a rural village in south India as the new principal. She works hard to improve the school by forcing the out-of-touch teachers to update themselves and by inspiring the students to prioritize on their education. Her changes are so drastic that she makes a few enemies along the way, including some of her own colleagues who conspire with the owner of the local private school to bring her down. However, none of them realize that Geetha Rani is not just an average school principal from the city but someone the federal government sent to the village with a specific purpose...

Source: Google Images

14) LKG

Lalgudi Karupiah Gandhi, or LGK, is a local Councillor who dreams of power, wealth and influence. He is mostly a do-gooder, but occasionally he resorts to not-so-ethical means to get what he wants. Not satisfied with his current position, LKG contests in the by-elections to become the next Member of the Legislative Assembly. He hires Sarala, a young political strategist to help him with his campaign. However, he has to go up against the powerful and respected incumbent, Ramraj Pandian. Desperate to win, LKG devises certain dirty tricks to bring down his opponent, but things take a turn for the worst when Ramraj decides to give LKG a taste of his own medicine...

Source: Google Images

13) Airaa

Yamuna is a YouTuber who is popular for her videos on paranormal investigations. In order to escape her doting parents, Yamuna hides out at her grandmother's mansion in the countryside, where she is disturbed by some strange events that threatens her life and the lives of the people around her. With the help of Mani, her childhood friend, she decides to investigate this odd occurrences. At around the same time, a young man named Amudhan is investigating a string of deaths which he believes may be connected to his fiance's recent death. Both Yamuna and Amudhan soon cross paths when it is revealed that they both are investigating the exact same case but from completely different angles. When the person behind the deaths is finally revealed, there is no going back for either one of them...

Source: Google Images

12) Magamuni

Maga is an assassin who moonlights as a taxi driver in the city, while another young man who looks exactly like him named Muni is a tuition teacher in the countryside who practices religious celibacy. Maga struggles to work his way out of the political underworld that seeks to destroy the family life he has secretly built for himself. Meanwhile, Muni struggles to live a live of dignity and respect since he belongs to a lower-caste community. Their paths cross when one of their enemies' confuses one for another and all hell breaks lose...

Source: Google Images

11) Sathru

Kathiresan and Prabhakaran are two young men in Chennai who are complete opposites. Kathir is an honest police officer who takes his job very seriously. Meanwhile, Prabha is a career criminal who kidnaps children from wealthy families for ransom money. His gang always kidnaps a poor child too, which they will kill to frighten the wealthy family into paying up. Their paths cross when Kathir is assigned to rescue one of the children Prabha's gang has kidnapped. Kathir eventually tracks down one of Prabha's gang members who interrogates and kills. The case now becomes personal as Prabha no longer just wants the ransom money but to avenge his friend's murder...

Source: Google Images

10) NGK

Nandha Gopalan Kumaran, or NGK, is an organic farmer who lives an honest life until his entire farm is destroyed by a politically connected gang. Desperate to rid his village of the gang, NGK is forced to work for the ruthless local assemblyman, Pandiyan. In return for decommissioning the gang, NGK has to convince 500 other young men in his village to join Pandiyan's political party, which he does. Impressed by NGK's influence and abilities, the president of Pandiyan's party meets him personally. This meeting seals NGK's fate in politics and changes his in ways the once upright and patriotic young man did not expect...

Source: Google Images

9) Thadam

Loosely based on a real-life case that happened in Malaysia, this is the story about identical twins who are both prime suspects in a crime. Ezhil and Kavin are twins who have led separate lives after their parents' divorce. Despite looking alike, they are very different. Ezhil is a civil engineer whose construction business is doing well. He is also engaged to reporter, Deepika. On the other hand, Kavin is a con artist who, like his dead mother, is a compulsive gambler. After years of separation, the twins are brought together following the murder of a young man named Akash and the twins are both prime suspects. Only one of them is innocent while the other is the culprit...

Source: Google Images

8) Jiivi

Saravanan and his roommate Mani decide to rob their landlady's home and frame their neighbour. However, Saravanan starts to notice certain parallels between his life and the life of his landlady's younger brother, Kathir. He learns that Kathir and his friend was also involved in a robbery many years ago and someone else was implicated. Karma soon caught up with Kathir and things did not go well in his life following the robbery, including to members of his own family. As time passes, Saravanan notices similar events happening in his family too. Believing this to be a never ending cycle, Saravanan decides to end it by doing the right thing although things get complicated when the police gets involved...

Source: Google Images

7) Asuran

Chidambaram is the younger son of a drunkard farmer, Sivasaami. Chidambaram looks up to his fearless and charismatic older brother, Murugan who is the only person brave enough to question Narasimhan, the local landlord. Narasimhan makes life difficult for poor farmers in the village so that they will sell their land to him for an unfair price. The entire village is set aflame when Narasimhan brutally murders a villager to set an example to the other farmers, and in retaliation, someone kills him. As the thirst for blood and revenge consumes the once peaceful village, Chidambaran finally learns his father is someone that he has underestimated all his life...

Source: Google Images

6) Kaithi

An entire group of police officers are drugged by Anbu, the brother of a local crime lord who is out to reclaim his gang's captured drugs. The only officer to not be drugged, Inspector Bejoy blackmails Delhi, a former convict out on probation to transport him and the unconscious officers on a lorry to the hospital in a nearby town unknown to Anbu's men who are out for revenge. A desperate Delhi has to help so he can meet his daughter Amudha the following morning. Accompanied by Kamatchi, a local who is familiar with all the shortcuts in the area, Delhi and Bejoy have to travel through a dangerous jungle while avoiding Anbu's men. However, the jungle is a far more dangerous place for than expected and Delhi is not as innocent as he appears to be...

Source: Google Images

5) Enai Noki Paayum Thota

Raghu, a young college student whose life is scared following the disappearance of his older brother, finally finds love in Lekha, a rising movie star. However, Lekha's controlling guardian turned manager keeps them apart to avoid any distraction that might derail her career. Years later, Lekha contacts Raghu but not alone. His long lost brother is with her and they are both in deep trouble with the police and gangsters in a city faraway from home. Raghu has to travel there to help them but something more sinister awaits him...

Source: Google Images

4) Sarvam Thaala Mayam 

Peter is a college student who enjoys doing nothing except hanging out with his friends and watching their favourite movie star's films. His parents want him to become a civil servant and not end up making musical instruments for a living like his father, Johnson. However, Peter changes after witnessing Vembhu Iyer, a renowned musician playing the traditional 'mridangam' that Johnson plays. Peter desperately wants to learn music under Vembhu's tutelage, but quickly realizes that in the world of Indian classical music, certain roles are restricted to those who are born into privilege despite their talent and dedication. Although Vembhu does not consider caste important, the people around him force Peter to do things that changes him, both for better or for worst...

Source: Google Images

3) Super Deluxe

Similar to the director's debut, this is a hyperlink film with four subplots. The first subplot is about a cheating wife, Vaembu, who unwittingly kills her lover while having sex. Her husband, Mugil, agrees to help her dispose of the body in condition they separate after the ordeal. The second subplot involves Shilpa, a transwoman who returns to home to her surprised wife and son. While taking her son to school, she gets into trouble with a corrupt police officer. The third story is about five teenage friends who bunk school to watch a soft core adult film. To their surprise, the girl in the film is the mother of one of them. The boy meets with a accident while rushing home to confront his mother,  Leela, who is part of the fourth subplot. Leela struggles to pay her son's hospital bill while her husband Dhanasekaran is more preoccupied preaching his newfound religion after surviving a tsunami. Their lives change that day as they are all brought together by their circumstances...

Source: Google Images

2) Aadai

Kamini is the host of a popular prank show. Fancying herself a strong, independent young feminist, she refuses to listen to her conservative mother. Since their media company is shifting to another building, Kamini and her friends decide to spend the night in the old TV station. While high on alcohol and drugs, Kamini accepts one of her friends' challenge to do a show naked. The following morning, she wakes up all alone in the building, her clothes gone and her phone out of credit. She slowly starts to realize she is not the shameless feminist she thought she was as she tries to avoid getting help from men out of fear of being humiliated....

Source: Google Images

1) Game Over

Swapna is a successful young game designer who is suffering from post-traumatic stress following a terrible date gone wrong. Her life changes when she learns that her tattoo has a dead cancer patient's ashes mixed in the ink. This news worsens her condition and she attempts suicide, ending up needing a wheelchair. As Swapna's maid helps her cope with the pending anniversary of the traumatic event, their house is attacked by a group of masked serial killers who mysteriously appear to behave eerily similar to characters from a video game she plays...

Source: Google Images

Mani Ratnam's Ponniyin Selvan Characterization

What started out a serial novel in a renowned Indian magazine during the 1950s quickly became what many consider to be one of the greatest works of Tamil literature even today. It is said readers back in the day would eagerly wait for each weekly installment, cut them out from the magazine and put them in plastic files to be read over and over again. The serial novel's popularity elevated the magazine's circulation to over 70 000 copies. The story revolves around the death of the king of the great Chola empire and the struggle for the throne. There has been several attempts to adapt the novel into film. Now, the time has come. Here is a run down of the many characters and the actors who will be playing them.

Karthi Sivakumar as Vandiyathevan

Many readers of the novel consider him to be the main protagonist of the story even though he is not the titular character. He is the best friend of crown prince Aditya Karikalan and is appointed as his bodyguard while they are stationed in Kanchi. He is known for his wit and bravery that eventually earns him the position as commander of the Chola empire's southern troops. Karikalan sends him to Thanjavur, the capital of the Chola empire, to meet his father, King Sundara Chola. During his journey, Vandiyadevan meets and falls in love with Princess Kundavai. 

Vikram as Aditya Karikalan

The eldest son of King Sundara Chola, crown prince of the mighty Chola kingdom, and commander of his father's northern troops. He is a decorated warrior prince; having fought his first battle at the young age of twelve. He sends his best friend, Vandiyathevan to invite his father, the king, to Kanchi to visit the golden palace he had built. He is infamous for his great temper, which led him to assassinate a powerful rival king that earns him many enemies in and out of the kingdom.

Trisha as Kundhavai 

The Chola king's middle child and only daughter. Unlike other princesses, she vows to remain in her land of birth to unite the entire region as part of her kingdom. She is well-known for her kindness, like when she takes care of the orphaned princess, Vanathi. She is respected and loved by her people. She trains her younger brother, Arulmozhi Varman to become a great leader to achieve her ambitions. She also sends her guard, Vandiyathevan to Sri Lanka to escort Arulmozhi home to guard their elder brother, Karikalan from an eminent threat. 

Jayam Ravi as Arulmozhi Varman

The youngest child of King Sundara Chola. He is raised in Pazhayarai by Periya Piratti and Ilaya Piratti. Legend has it that he was saved by the mystical Mother Kaveri herself from drowning in her holy river when he was five. Since then, he is referred to as "Ponniyin Selvan" or "Son of Kaveri". He is educated by his elder sister, Kundavai, who then sends him to Sri Lanka when he is nineteen to widen their empire. Despite being a conqueror, he is loved by most of the people in Sri Lanka for his religious tolerance, kindness and good looks.

Aishwarya Rai as Nandini 

The ward of a priestly family in Madurai who grew up alongside the royal children. However, her true origins remain a mystery throughout the novel. She and Karikalan were childhood lovers but the royal family does not approve of their relationship. She conspires with the Chola kingdom's rivals to destroy the Chola dynasty. By marrying the powerful Periya Pazhuvettaraiyar, she manipulates him and many other men to overthrow the royal family. Vandiyathevan is the only man who is unfazed by her beauty. 

Sarathkumar as Periya Pazhuvettarayar

The chancellor and treasurer of the Chola empire. He is so highly respected throughout the kingdom that he is considered the second most powerful man in the empire next to the king himself. The 64 scars from his many battles are a testament of his love for his king and country. He marries a much younger Nandini after he is seduced by her great beauty. His young wife easily uses him as her puppet to make his relative, Uttama Chola the next king. The once loyal nobleman eventually becomes one of the leader of the conspirators who goes against the royal family. 

Parthiban as Chinna Pazhuvettarayar

The chief of the Thanjavur fort. He is the younger brother of Periya Pazhuvettaraiyar who he loves and respects for protecting their family. He is the father-in-law of Uttama Chola, one of the few people who is likely to ascend the throne. Despite Nandini's attempt to help his own son-in-law ascend the throne, he is weary of his brother's relationship with her. 

Kishore as Ravidasan 

Bodyguard of the late Veera Pandiyan, a rival king of the Chola kingdom. He plays a big role in the conspiracy to assassinate all the members of the Chola royal family as revenge for the death of his king. He was once a minister in the Chola court.

Aishwarya Lekshmi as Poonguzhali

She is the fearless daughter of a boatman from Kodikkarai who rows with Vandiyadevan to Sri Lanka to meet Arulmozhi. On their way back to the mainland, she rescues them from drowning in the Indian Ocean after their ship meets with a storm. Despite initially disliking men, she falls in love with Arulmozhi but is married off to someone else.

Riyaz Khan as Soman Sambavan

A former bodyguard of the late King Veera Pandiyan who conspires to wipe out the Chola dynasty. He becomes the guard at Kadambur palace.

Jayaram as Azhwarkadiyan Nambi

He is a spy who works for the prime minister. Apart from being a foster brother of Nandhini's, he is also a close friend of Vandiyathevan.

Prakash Raj as King Sundara Chola

He is the renowned king of the Chola empire. Aditya Karikalan, Kundhavai and Arulmozhi Varman are his three children. His death sparks the succession crisis that leads to the major conflict of the story. 

47-year search for dad ends in heartbreak

In 2018, the movie Pulang by Primeworks Studios about the true story of a Malay sailor who left his family and lived the rest of his family in Liverpool, UK was released. It caught the attention of Salmi, who then wrote to me asking for help. Her husband's father, like the hero of the movie, left his family in Malaysia and went to the UK back in the 70s and was never heard of again. 

Salmi's father-in-law is Lance Corporal Mohd Said Mohd Amin, who like most soldiers after being discharged from military service, decided to migrate to the United Kingdom. In 1972, the 33-year-old father of four, with one more on the way, left his heavily pregnant wife, Ramlah, then 26, with their three children, in Serkam, Melaka, with plans to bring them over to the UK once he had sorted out their accommodation and schooling. Salmi's husband, Hariss, then nine, was the eldest and was tasked with writing to his father in London once or twice a month.

Soon enough, the day the family was waiting for finally arrived. Said wrote to say he would be returning to Malaysia to get his family. However, the initial euphoria of being reunited slowly turned into disappointment as the familiar airmail, which was sometimes accompanied by money, stopped coming.The father whom they remembered as a soft-spoken man who would never raise his voice suddenly disappeared from their lives with not so much as a clue to point to his whereabouts.

Life for the young family changed drastically after that, with Ramlah having to sell nasi lemak in their village to support the family. The children were separated as family members rallied to take care of each child in their respective homes. They, too, had to work while still in school to help support the family.

“In the 1990s, we wrote to the British High Commission here, which confirmed that our letter to our father was delivered but they could not reveal his address as it was confidential. It was heartbreaking to hear that he had received the letter but there was no reply. I wouldn’t say I was doing it for myself, It was for my mother, who never stopped waiting. I guess she wanted an answer.” Hariss admitted.

The search for Said even took the siblings to the studios of TV3’s programme Jejak Kasih. However, people began ringing them to say their father was still alive and living in Kuala Lumpur or was last sighted in Chow Kit — the family was led on a wild goose chase with payment demanded in return. Friends travelling and working in the UK were also roped in to help in the search but to no avail.

This started off a chain of positive developments from London to Liverpool to Aberdeen and later, to an oil rig in Scotland. I asked friends who had served in the British Army before but that led to nothing. I gave Salmi the number for a contact in Liverpool, Jantan Lisot, who is a member of the Malay seafarers’ community there. It was through his efforts that Said was finally located. Jantan said he engaged the services of an agency to track down Said.

“The agency said they found him in Wales but would not give me the address until I made further payments. I was then given an email address to write to him through this agency,” said Jantan when I met him in Liverpool recently. The email via the agency was sent on May 23 to Said, who was in Moray, Portgordon, a small village in Scotland, almost 100km away from Aberdeen. The initial information about Wales was to mislead us so that we did not contact him personally.

However, any hope of a happy ending was soon shattered. Jantan received word that Said had died, a mere three days after receiving the email seeking to re-connect with him. Said apparently sustained a fall and died alone in his house. He was 79. Financial constraints meant that none of the family members could travel to Portgordon. But the close network of Malaysians abroad rallied to help salvage the situation in what appeared to be dire circumstances.

Arrangements were made to collect funds for the burial, which was £4,000 (approximately RM 20,500) and for the body to be taken to the Elgin Muslim cemetery. Among the Muslim community at the Elgin mosque was a Scotsman — the only person who knew Said, the man, known to neighbours in Moray and his friends at the Baxter Food factory, where he worked until five years ago, as Eddie.

Only wishing to be known as a close neighbour who missed Eddie greatly, he said Said had always lived alone. “Eddie” never spoke about his background. People only knew him to be from the army and that he used to work in London and then Liverpool. He was the best neighbour anyone could wish for, he said, with his sentiments echoed by friends, former colleagues and neighbours in his Facebook status. Lance Corporal Mohd Said Mohd Amin is buried at the Elgin Muslim cemetery in Scotland.

“I was the only non-Muslim person at the mosque and I spoke on behalf of the local community to thank the Muslim community for coming together to give Eddie a proper funeral. I also spoke briefly about how good a person and neighbour he was. He will be missed,” said the neighbour, who was also asked to identify the body at the mortuary.

The revelation by the neighbour about Said would perhaps go some way towards providing an insight into the man Hariss and his siblings had been searching for, the man who was their father. Hariss and his siblings are ready to accept it as fate that they were never to meet again. As for the whys that have plagued their minds for the past 47 years, they are resigned to the fact that perhaps something had happened to him to make him stay away.

The story of Said may not end here — diaries and journals he had written were among the possessions he left behind. These could perhaps reveal the answers the children are searching for. And for that, they will have to make the journey to Moray. One day.

Adapted from: Postcard from Zaharah: 47-year search for dad ends in heartbreak by Zaharah Othman for the New Straits Times