On June 29, 2024, I went to watch a movie at a cinema complex (cineplex) located in the KL Sentral station building in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. I have previously visited cinemas in Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, India, and Nepal. I’ve also written about my experiences in Thailand and India/Nepal in past articles; please refer to those for more information:
GSC Cineplex on the 5th Floor of KL Sentral, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Kuala Lumpur is a big city with many cinemas. This time, I visited the GSC cineplex on the 5th floor of the KL Sentral station building, where I was staying.
One thing that surprised me about cineplexes in Southeast Asian countries is that many of them have more luxurious facilities than those in Japan. And since the prices are much cheaper than in Japan, I think they offer good value for money for Japanese travelers.
The 5th floor of KL Sentral is half occupied by a restaurant area with sushi回転寿司, KFC, and other eateries. The cinema is located past the restaurant area after taking the elevator up. Tickets are generally purchased from unmanned ticket vending machines. Payments are cashless, using cards, though some machines did accept cash.
The Film I Watched: An Indian Movie in Tamil
I didn’t have a specific film in mind; I simply planned to choose an interesting one from the current screenings. Looking at the lineup, there were Hollywood, Thai, and Indian films. Unfortunately, there were no Japanese films at the moment.
What was new to me was that two of the three Indian films were being screened simultaneously in both Hindi and Tamil versions. Malaysia is a multi-ethnic country with Malay, Chinese, and Indian residents. The Indian residents originally came from South India during the British colonial era. Since Tamil was predominantly spoken in South India, it’s likely that many Indian residents in Malaysia today are Tamil speakers.
The film I watched this time was an Indian action movie titled “KALKI 2898 AD” in its Tamil version, as indicated. Having enjoyed three Indian films in India and Nepal in March 2024, even without understanding the language, I figured an action movie would be enjoyable again. I was also curious about what a Tamil version would be like, so I chose it.
Film Review: A Three-Hour Cliffhanger
Although classified as action, it was a science fiction film. My impression was that it had a worldview similar to Star Wars. I thought I’d grasp the general storyline just from the visuals since it was an SF action film, but the setting was complex to begin with, and there was surprisingly a lot of dialogue with explanations that I couldn’t quite follow.
Indian films often have long runtimes, and this film, originally a three-hour feature with an intermission, was screened continuously for three hours without a break. Many films I’ve seen before expand their plot close to the three-hour mark, and just when you wonder how they’ll conclude it, they deliver a sudden, rapid development at the end. This time, three main characters had separate storylines, and just when I was wondering what would happen, it surprisingly ended with a “to be continued.” The movie ended just as the final boss was revived, leaving me feeling unfulfilled. I wonder if I’ll ever get to see the continuation.
