By The Malketeer
Malaysia’s advertising and film worlds love to brag about “local stories with global appeal.”
But few stories actually carry the horsepower to deliver.
One that does belongs to rallying professional Karamjit Singh — the “Flying Sikh” — whose name still makes motorsport fans sit up.
Astro Shaw and Woohoo Pictures are putting that story into gear with Terbang, a big-screen production directed by Chiu Keng Guan, the man behind The Journey and Ola Bola.
From Rally Tracks to Cinematic Lanes
Karamjit Singh isn’t just another sports hero.
In the early 2000s he became the first Malaysian — and the first Asian — to clinch a world rally title, from the Asia Pacific Rally Championship (APRC) in 2001 to the FIA Production Car World Championship in 2002.
Those wins briefly made rallying part of Malaysia’s mainstream sporting imagination.
Yet beyond the trophies lay a far tougher road.
By 2005, Karamjit was struggling to find sponsors.
His team couldn’t afford enough mechanics or maintain the car for all eight rounds of the APRC.
He had to sit out half the season, was fined €10,000 by the FIA for non-participation, and even lacked the RM57,000 needed to ship his vehicle home from New Zealand.
Newspapers reported that he was contemplating selling his apartment to cover costs.
Karamjeet’s refusal to accept public or government handouts — saying he would rather find corporate sponsors or even race for another country than burden Malaysians — turned his predicament into a national talking point.
The then-Prime Minister, the late Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi famously asked why support had not been accorded to a driver who had brought such honour to Malaysia.
Then Sports Minister Azalina Othman Said said she would look into why private-sector sponsors hadn’t stepped up and whether Karamjit had the right management to present his cause persuasively.
More Than Racing: A National Brand Story
Terbang draws on this mix of glory and grit.
Much like Ola Bola, it blends fact with drama, using Irfan Zaini’s character “Ajeet” as a stand-in for Karamjit.
Actor Jack Tan plays co-driver “Lee Wai Kitt”, with Zizan Razak as “Imran” injecting humour into the otherwise high-adrenaline story.
Astro Shaw’s executive producer Raja Jastina Raja Arshad calls the film “an opportunity to deliver not only adrenaline-pumping rally action but also to inspire pride and confidence in the belief that Malaysian films can stand tall as globally compelling stories, while staying true to their local soul.”
For marketers, that’s the crux: the story is being framed not just as nostalgia but as an exportable narrative of Malaysian resilience.
It echoes a wider industry push to package local heroes as global-quality IP — the same logic behind why Ola Bola became a merchandising and licensing phenomenon.
Casting Strategy as Cultural Marketing
Look at the cast list and you see a deliberate blend of local star power and regional reach.
Jack Tan has a strong following in Taiwan and Hong Kong.
Zizan Razak is a household name who brings comedy and mass appeal.
Shweta Sekhon (Shwetajeet Kaur Sekhon), Nam Ron, Diana Danielle, Aeril Zafrel and others round out a roster designed to speak to multiple audience segments at once — the cinematic equivalent of a 360-degree campaign.
Even the production locations are strategic: Perlis for local authenticity, New Zealand for world-class rally terrain and cinematic spectacle.
It signals a Malaysian film that can hold its own against international sports dramas.
Lessons for Brands
The Road to Merdeka 2026
Timed for a Merdeka 2026 release, Terbang has an in-built marketing calendar.
If managed well, the film could rally a new generation of Malaysians around motorsport and around Malaysian cinema.
It’s also a reminder to brand custodians: local stories told with craft, ambition and the right partners can travel far beyond their home market.
As Karamjit Singh once showed on the rally stage, speed matters but so does control.
Terbang is shaping up to be a case study in how to handle both — and a timely opportunity for brands to associate themselves with a story of endurance, humility and national pride.
Source: The Malay Mail
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