Tan Sri Datuk Amar Teuku Zakaria bin Teuku Nyak Puteh (later Ramlee bin Puteh) (22 March 1929 – 29 May 1973), better known by his stage name P. Ramlee (Puteh Ramlee), was a Malaysian actor, filmmaker, musician, and composer famous in modern-day Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Southern Thailand. Born in Penang, Malaya, he is regarded as a prominent icon of Malay language entertainment.
His contributions to the film and music industry began when he made his acting debut in Singapore for Malay Film Productions in 1948. He reached the height of his career there throughout the 1950s before declining in the 1960s when he moved to Kuala Lumpur to work for Merdeka Film Productions. Although acclaimed for his career in Singapore, Ramlee was denounced in Malaysia during his life, with his career only facing retrospective resurgence there decades after his death.
Early life
Ramlee was born on 22 March 1929 to Teuku Nyak Puteh Bin Teuku Karim (1902–1955) and Che Mah Binti Hussein (1904–1967). His father, Teuku Nyak Puteh, who was a descendant of a wealthy family in Aceh, migrated from Lhokseumawe in Aceh, Indonesia, to settle in Penang, where he married Ramlee’s mother, who hailed from Kubang Buaya, Butterworth, North Seberang Perai and were domiciled at the Sungai Pinang suburb of the capital, Georgetown (where his birthplace museum still stands today).
Ramlee received his education from the Sekolah Melayu Kampung Jawa (Kampung Jawa Malay School), Francis Light English School and then to Penang Free School; in all he was registered as "Ramlee" by his father, because his name Teuku Zakaria was not suitable with other children at that time. Reportedly a reluctant and naughty student, Ramlee was nevertheless talented and interested in music and football. His studies at the Penang Free School were interrupted by the Japanese occupation from 1942 to 1945, during which he enrolled in the Japanese navy school (Kaigun Gakko). He also learnt the basics of music and to sing Japanese songs during this period with his teacher, Hirahe-san. When the war ended, he took music lessons that enabled him to read musical notations.
Name
He abbreviated his name to P. Ramlee (Puteh Ramlee), taking inspiration from the Tamil patronymic naming conventions, where the initial stood for his father's name (Puteh) and was followed by his given name (Ramlee).
Career
By 1948, the 19 year-old Ramlee had already won a number of singing competitions, and was writing his own songs and playing the violin in a kroncong band. That year, B. S. Rajhans, a film director for the Malay Film Productions (MFP) came across P. Ramlee at a singing competition hosted by Radio Malaya in Bukit Mertajam, Penang. Rajhans placed Ramlee in a supporting role in his film Chinta ("Love"), in which he played a villain, and he also performed five songs as a playback singer providing vocals for the lead actor .
In 1950, Ramlee played his first major role in the film directed by , Bakti ("Devotion"). In Bakti, he was the first actor to sing in his own voice instead of relying on playback singer. In the following films, such as Juwita in 1951 and Ibu ("Mother") in 1953, he became established as a major star of the Malay film industry. Between 1948 and 1955, he starred in a total of 27 films.
Aside from acting, Ramlee was a prolific songwriter, and around 500 of his songs have been recorded, either by himself or by other artists. Ramlee himself recorded 359 songs for his films and records. Among his best known songs are "", "", "Engkau Laksana Bulan", "", "Tudung Periok", "" and "Azizah". The songs Ramlee wrote were featured in his films, performed by Ramlee himself or by other artists. In Hang Tuah which was directed by , Ramlee won best musical score at the Asia-Pacific Film Festival.
P. Ramlee started directing feature films in 1955, the first of which was ("Trishaw Man"), which was praised as the best Malay film of the year. Ramlee wrote the screenplay for the film based on a story by Lu Xun. He also directed and starred in the Bujang Lapok comedy series. One of these, Pendekar Bujang Lapok, won the Best Comedy award at the Asia-Pacific Film Festival. He also won the Best Actor award for Anak-ku Sazali at the festival. Other significant films he directed for MFP include Antara Dua Darjat, Ibu Mertua-ku and Tiga Abdul.
Ramlee's career at the Malay Film Productions in Singapore between 1955 and 1964 was considered his "golden age" when he made his most critically acclaimed films and wrote his best-remembered songs. In 1964, he left Singapore for Kuala Lumpur to make films with Merdeka Film Productions, however, he was less successful there and faced constant sabotage from other Malaysian artists.