‘MAMAK MAJU’ goes viral!

The much-beloved and truly Malaysian ‘mamak’ restaurant got a special nod in Ejen Ali The Movie when the catchy Mamak Maju tune and entertaining dance moves were featured in the hit animated feature film released in cinemas on 28 November 2019.

The Mamak Maju tune has become an overnight online sensation, receiving an overwhelming nod from netizens for its entertaining melody

Netizens were amused with the hilarious and engaging Mamak Maju scene from the movie. The cheerful dance step, catchy songs lyrics, and unique music tempo went viral after the first kick-off flashmob performed by the mascots Ejen Ali, Ejen Alicia, and Primeworks Studios staff during its gala premiere.

As of 7 December 2019, the Mamak scene from the movie has captured over 1.1 million views within its release on youtube. Through its upbeat tempo, Mamak Maju tune represents the identity of a true ‘Malaysian spirit’, expressing Malaysia’s multi-culture and unique diversity. The Mamak Maju dance has garnered attention after its first live TV debut on TV3 Malaysia’s morning talk show, Malaysia Hari Ini (MHI) on 4 December 2019.

The Mamak Maju dance tutorial became a local phenomenon soon after it was uploaded on Ejen Ali official Instagram account, starting the viral hashtag #MamakMajuDanceChallenge. The top five dance covers will win free tickets to watch Ejen Ali The Movie. The contest ended on 8th December 2019.

Azri Yunus, the Lead Composer behind the movie revealed that the idea and inspiration behind the song came from the movie’s director, Usamah Zaid Yasin, who wanted to portray to the viewers an iconic moment that all Malaysians can relate to, which is the Malaysians culture of hanging out at mamak.

“We thought about people culture when making order at ‘mamak’, then we incorporated them into the song lyrics in Malay, before getting the help of our two colleagues to translate sections of the lyrics into Tamil.”

Hakim Kamal, the assistant composer cum main vocals performer of the song, added, “It was quite hard to get the pronunciation of the Tamil lyrics right, but after a month of practicing, our native speaker friends said my pronunciation was better than theirs!”

With over 1.1 million YouTube views and Twitter reviews after 3 days of its release, here are some positive response from the netizens:

The animated film has collected more than RM13 million at the box-office within a week of its theatrical release at cinemas on 28 November 2019 simultaneously in Malaysia, Singapore, and Brunei.

It follows 12-year-old Ejen Ali, who after being accidentally recruited as a spy has grown to embrace his role in secret agency Meta Advance Tactical Agency (MATA) to protect the futuristic city of Cyberaya from outside threats. Ali is surprised to discover that he is no longer the only master of the Infinity Retinal Intelligence System (IRIS) gadget, since MATA has now upgraded to IRIS Neo for all MATA agents. When the new invention leads Ali to question his place and usefulness to MATA, he is approached by a rogue figure who claims to know about a surprising personal connection to Ali.

Risking his loyalty to MATA, Ejen Ali embarks on a thrilling chase to unravel these mysterious links.