P. RAMLEE returned to Malaysia in 1967 after making his mark as an actor, director, singer and songwriter via the Malay Film Production operating from the Jalan Ampas studio in Singapore.

Not too long after his departure, the Jalan Ampas studio shut down for good.

But when he came back, the Malay music scene was bitten by the "Pop Yeh Yeh" bug.

P. Ramlee's compositions were regarded as out of date and denied airtime over radio on both sides of the Causeway.

Still at least one song was recorded by a top "Pop Yeh Yeh" artist, albeit the three electric guitars, drums and organ (keyboards as we call them now) version. It shot up the charts.

I remember reading P. Ramlee's displeasure that his permission was not sought prior to the recording. He was chided by all quarters for voicing his rights.

As for Malay films, well, P. Ramlee had big dreams. He wanted to do great epics at the Merdeka Film Studio in Ulu Klang on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur.

To do that he needed a decent budget. Reasonably big for the late 60s early 70s era.

Sadly, he never had that. With limited funds, P. Ramlee's creativity was hampered. He had to make do with shooting within the studio compound and its vicinity.

He was even not allowed to produce a movie in colour. Hence Malay movies in the 70s were still in black and white while films from the world over were already in colour.

Talk to his old friend Jins Shamsudin and he will tell you how he and P. Ramlee went looking for financiers without success.

He can recall without difficulty the many times P. Ramlee went from one bank to another asking for loans only to be turned down.

P. Ramlee wanted badly to set up his own film company.

His son Nasir, in his book Bapa ku P. Ramlee, wrote about a letterhead found by his tuition teacher Cikgu Mat Nor while packing P. Ramlee's belongings.

The letterhead proudly displayed the words Perusahaan Filem P. Ramlee. Yes, he had wanted to form the P. Ramlee Film Industry in Kuala Lumpur. That dream was never realised.

Still despite limited budgets, with little or no assistance and lots of determination, P. Ramlee made his movies, some quite well received by audiences, some not.

Partnering Jins, he diversified his activities by bringing in box-office films from Indonesia with the aim of generating income to launch his own film industry plans.

But he faced another problem - he did not have the theatres to screen the movies.

The established theatres run by the famous Shaw Brothers were charging a bomb.

Somehow P. Ramlee and Jins convinced the Government to allow them to screen the movies at the Mara auditorium in Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman, Dewan Hamzah in Klang and several multipurpose halls nationwide.

That marked the formation of the first bumiputra film company in Malaysia. It was called Perfima (Perusahaan Filem Malaysia) or Malaysian Film Industry.

Finally, Perfima managed to set up a theatre of its own, if it can be called that.

It was more of a movie hall situated off Jalan Tuanku Rahman, named Pawagam P. Ramlee. (Pawagam means panggung wayang gambar).

But the theatre was actually a rundown piece of construction. More of a shack than anything else and definitely not befitting its name.

Whilst Pawagam P. Ramlle screened movies imported by Perfima from Indonesia, it never screened films made by Ramlee.

Nasir wrote about Zaman kekecewaan bapa (Father's disappointing years) in his book. It must have pained him terribly when he penned the paragraphs detailing the sadness felt by his father a few years before his death.

Many among us who were in a position to help then did not. Many of us deserted him. Now its 35 years since Ramlee left us. And we can't stop showering him with honours, praises and accolades.

In 1959 when he directed the famous comedy Pendekar Bujang Lapok, P. Ramlee had a scene where zombies rose from their graves and danced.

Twenty-four years later, in 1983, Michael Jackson came up with his phenomenal video Thriller which had zombies rising from their graves and breaking into a dance routine.

I'm not accusing anybody of anything here except to say that P. Ramlee was a genius, a man who was ahead of his time.

A friend of mine said P. Ramlee should have been born in Hollywood. He would have bagged Oscars and become a billionaire along the way. True, perhaps.

But to me, had we given him assistance when he cried out for it, P. Ramlee would have conjured up many more magical moments.

May Allah bless his soul. Al Fatihah.

Mohsin Abdullah is Editor-in-Chief, News and Current Affairs, ntv7 & 8TV.