Blind filmmaker fights to reclaim place in creative industry after losing sight

Muhammad Iqbal Mazlan who won the first season of stage and theatre acting reality television programme ‘Pilih Kasih’ in 2009, had appeared in numerous dramas, telefilms and theatre productions, and had also worked with renowned director Erma Fatima. — Bernama pic

First Published: Saturday, 17 Oct 2026 9:34 AM MYT

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 17 — More than three years after losing his sight, actor and director Muhammad Iqbal Mazlan is still striving to rebuild his career in the creative industry, but opportunities to resume his work have proved elusive.

Iqbal, 37, who won the first season of stage and theatre acting reality television programme ‘Pilih Kasih’ in 2009, had appeared in numerous dramas, telefilms and theatre productions, and had also worked with renowned director Erma Fatima.

However, his career took a dramatic turn in March 2023 when he lost his sight due to frosted branch angiitis, a condition which he said was caused by a cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection.

“I was actually in good health and had no unusual symptoms. However, on the night before it happened, I felt extremely tired and experienced severe eye pain while working on a documentary script, so I took a short break and fell asleep.

“When I woke up, everything was pitch black. I had lost my sight,” he told Bernama.

“It was difficult to imagine what life would be like after that because the very gift I had relied on to earn a living was suddenly gone.” 

It took Iqbal more than a year to regain his footing after losing his sight. During that period, he underwent treatment for eye inflammation and experienced complications involving fluid accumulation in the lungs, which he said were a side effect of the medication prednisolone.

However, a greater challenge awaited him when he attempted to return to the film industry. As he had feared, several production companies he had previously worked with stopped responding when he offered his services as a director, host and voice-over artiste.

“Many production companies had worked with me before and praised my work, but suddenly went silent when I fell ill. What hurt most was seeing people in the industry begin to distance themselves from me. One rejection has stayed with me… they told me outright, ‘We don’t have any confidence in you.’ The others simply remained silent,” he said.

To make ends meet, he now runs a food business selling buttermilk chicken rice and gulai kawah, a traditional meat curry dish, in Shah Alam, Selangor, with a friend.

An opportunity to return to filmmaking came when production company Art Ornament Sdn Bhd entrusted him with directing a film, titled ‘Jay (Buka Langkah)’, in June 2024. The movie is expected to be released in January 2027.

Iqbal said losing his sight has not diminished his ability to visualise scenes and give detailed instructions to the cinematographer to bring his creative vision to life.

“Even though I cannot see, I must have a clear visual in my mind to bring a script to life. I imagine the scenes as though I am watching a film in a cinema. I then explain in detail to the cinematographer the visuals and shots I want to achieve.

“For instance, (I will specify) from which direction the actor should step forward, along with the accompanying sounds. Without visualisation, a director’s work would fall flat,” he said.

The film’s producer Aida Othman, who is also the co-director, said Iqbal was given the opportunity based on his abilities, with the crew providing support to handle the technical aspects of filming.

“We should not judge a person by what they lack, but by what they are capable of doing. Iqbal’s strength lies in his ability to explain clearly the characters, emotions and messages he wants to convey to the audience. We gave him the opportunity because we believed in his capabilities,” she said.

Iqbal’s experience demonstrates that visually impaired persons can continue to contribute to the creative industry with appropriate support. However, opportunities to do so remain limited.

Social Security Organisation (Perkeso) employment records for 2020 to 2026 showed that out of 716 visually impaired individuals placed in jobs across various sectors during that period, only five, or 0.7 percent, were placed in the arts, entertainment and recreation sector. 

While the figure points to a low number of placements in the creative industry, the data do not explain the factors contributing to this outcome.

According to the Social Welfare Department, as of July this year, 70,135 visually impaired persons were registered nationwide, including 37,616 aged between 16 and 60.

The struggle to secure employment in the creative field is also familiar to musician and composer Lui Chee Chau, 46, who has been visually impaired since infancy. He is still seeking a permanent position in the creative industry despite having formal qualifications in music and more than a decade of industry experience.

Lui began his career as a music composer and sound engineer at a studio in Kuala Lumpur in 2003. After the studio closed, he went on to work full-time for 14 years at a company specialising in ringtone content.

He began facing difficulties finding employment around 2016 when he applied for a sound engineer position and was invited for an interview without having disclosed his visual impairment to the prospective employer beforehand.

“The interviewer said my work was good. However, he said he would contact me if there was any work that could be done from home,” he said.

Lui said he subsequently applied for three more music-related jobs, but only one application progressed to the interview stage, and he was ultimately unsuccessful.

Although no employer explicitly cited his visual impairment as the reason for rejecting his application, Lui’s experience raised questions about the extent to which perceptions of disability influence employment opportunities for visually impaired persons.

“I believe this is one of the constraints we face when people limit our options based on their assumptions without assessing our actual abilities,” he said.

Lui now gives piano and drums lessons part-time, in addition to conducting a weekly music class at a local church. — Bernama