What does Baga mean? Ariff Zulkarnain's drug drama opens on 5 November after two years with the censors

Baga means paranoid. Director Ariff Zulkarnain explained the word to The Star when he first spoke about the film: in the Terengganu dialect, baga means paranoid. The film, also titled Baga: Esok Untuk Siapa, opens in Malaysian cinemas on Thursday 5 November.

A Terengganu story about drugs

The Star describes it as a passion project rooted in Ariff's hometown. Jani, played by Amir Ahnaf, is a pil kuda addict and small-time dealer; Pok Awang, an ageing boatman played by Wan Hanafi Su, sees him as the successor to a trade that is disappearing; and Melur, played by Amirah Razak, tells Jani she is pregnant. Trying to raise money, he smokes the batch he was meant to sell and lands on the police's radar. Ariff told the paper he included the hard scenes because "they show how drugs destroy lives". The Star reported that he self-financed it and co-produced it with Syafiq Kyle and Syafiq Yusof; Kosmo names Indigo Films as the production company and calls it his first feature.

Sixteen cuts became three

The film took about two years to get past the censorship board. Kosmo and Utusan reported on 30 October that the LPF first asked for 16 scenes to be cut, because the drug-use scenes were considered too realistic; through repeated appeals that came down to eight, then six, and finally three. It was approved with a 16 classification, on condition that it carries a disclaimer that it does not glorify drug abuse. Utusan describes Ariff's approach as social realism.

For a reader, that history is the reason to know what you are booking: this is a frank film about addiction, classified 16, and 94 minutes long.

Amir Ahnaf's comeback

Amir Ahnaf told Kosmo after the premiere on 2 November that he had thought he had been erased from the industry, and that the film gave him back his sense of himself: "Disebabkan Baga: Esok Untuk Siapa, saya jumpa diri saya semula." It is his first pairing with Amirah Razak as leads.

Where to see it

This site's listings have it at 57 cinemas from Thursday, about 250 sessions a day, with GSC carrying 754 of the week's 1,500, TGV 497 and FST 190. Perak, with 173 sessions, is close behind Selangor and Kuala Lumpur. On Monday 9 November, GSC's Aurum Theatre at The Exchange TRX has a special screening at 5:15pm for RM50, with a poster, a sketch set and a 15-minute painting session with the cast.

The Baga page lists every cinema, and the showtimes page puts each cinema's Baga sessions side by side.