Although there has been many controversies surrounding the production of the movie until its eventual screening, that did not stop controversial filmmaker, Namewee from grossing an unexpected RM $7 million for his directorial debut, "Nasi Lemak 2.0".
Namewee stated that, "All this while, I did hold high hopes for this movie, although I certainly did not expect such positive reception among Malaysian citizens," in a recent interview during his celebration ceremony for his movie's success at Geographer, Puchong.
"Nasi Lemak 2.0" has seen its fair share of protests due to its director, Namewee's history, and right on its opening day on 8 September 2011, a demonstration against it was held in Ipoh.
The demonstrators demanded that the movie should be banned by the Ministry due to its negative content and possibly, influence. In addition, the movie has also been widely criticised by the media. However, an equal amount of support has been given by fans, allowing the movie to survive the bad publicity.
"Nasi Lemak 2.0" is also the first local movie in Mandarin with the highest box office collection and currently sits at 8th place in the local box office listings.
"I am overjoyed that this movie is not only watched by Chinese," Namewee quipped.
"Even Malays, Indians, Ibanese, Kadazans and Eurasians from all over the country enjoy watching this movie, which is my goal as this movie is made for Malaysians," Namewee added at the end of the interview.
To celebrate the success of "Nasi Lemak 2.0", executive producer Fred Chong gave a bonus to the cast and crew that worked hard towards making the movie a success.
Further, the movie has also been chosen as an official screening entry for Taipei's Golden Horse Film Festival 2011. The movie is also nominated in Malaysia's Film Festival 24 (FFM24) held later this year.
"Nasi Lemak 2.0" is currently available on Astro First and scheduled to be released in Singapore cinemas in December.
