Seniman Bujang Lapok

Seniman Bujang Lapok
One-sheet promotional poster.
Directed by	P. Ramlee S Sudarmaji
Written by	P.Ramlee (Original Story) H.M.Rohaizad (Screenplay)
Starring	P. Ramlee S. Shamsuddin Aziz Sattar Saloma Zaiton
Music by	P. Ramlee
Cinematography	A. Bakar Ali
Edited by	Lee Thian Yak
Production company	Malay Film Productions Ltd
Distributed by	Shaw Organisation
Release date	1961 (1961)
Running time	120 minutes
Country	Singapore
Language	Malay

Seniman Bujang Lapok (The Three Worn Out Actor Bachelors, also known in the film as The Nitwit Movie Stars) is a 1961 Malay comedy film directed by P. Ramlee. It is the fourth instalment in the "Bujang Lapok" series of films, but the last to feature P. Ramlee, S. Shamsuddin and Aziz Sattar as the main trio of actors. However, it is not a direct sequel to the previous "Bujang Lapok" films, as there are no references to the events of the previous films.

The film is a self-referential spoof of the Malay film industry of the late 1950s/early 1960s. The plot revolves around the main trio attempting to become actors and break into the film business, and hence features a fictionalised look at the behind-the-scenes process of Malay film-making during that time. The line between reality and fiction is blurred as real film industry places are used, real film sets of previous Malay films are used for the film-within-the-film, and all the featured actors use their real-life names or derivatives thereof.

The "bujang lapok" trio of Ramli, Sudin and Ajis go to Jalan Ampas Studio in Singapore in response to an open call audition. During their audition, they drive director Ahmad Nisfu crazy by forgetting their scripts and improvising with their own lines. However, the studio boss likes their natural comedic talent and tells the director that the trio are to be signed on for an oncoming film. The three of them are themselves taken by surprise but are nonetheless pleased at the outcome.

Most of the movie centre around their lives in a house shared with other tenants (they all each rent a room). During their first evening memorising scripts for their new movie, they encounter one disruption after another. First, it was the husband and wife dancing to loud music, then it's the neighbour with the motorcycle problems, then it's the drunk trumpeter who is practising his instrument a bit too loudly. After dealing with each problematic neighbour in their own unique way, they then settle down to memorise their lines.

The following day, filming begins on their new movie. Despite having learned their lines, they fumble through them and end up infiurating the director so much that he collapses. He is brought to the hospital where he is diagnosed with stress and released. The three bachelors are on hand to visit him with flowers in hand. Initially pleased with the visit, he collapses again when he sees them, the ones who made him collapse in the first place.

Back at home, they are greeted by Salmah, their next door neighbour, and the object of Ramli's affections. They banter to and fro and then Salmah runs off from the room in tears whilst trying to tell Ramli something. When they meet later that night, Salmah tells Ramli that someone has come to ask for her hand in marriage. When she reveals the person, it is Sharif Dol, a bully from a neighbouring village, who has been harassing Salmah for some time. He then appears at the scene and starts taunting Ramli and Salmah. Ramli tells Salmah to go home whilst he deals with Shariff Dol and challenges him to a fight. Back at the room, both Sudin and Ajis wait for him back at their room with food on the table. Sudin is already hungry but it is their agreement that they always eat together, the three of them. Unwilling to wait for him any more, Sudin wants to go and look for Ramli and they leave their dinner to find Ramli all bruised and passed out at his usual meeting place with Salmah. After settling him down, Sudin brings out some of the dinner that he has brought with him and the three of them enjoy them together.