placed Ramlee in a supporting role in his film Chinta ("Love"), in which he played a villain, and he also performed five songs as a playback singer providing vocals for the lead actor . In 1950, Ramlee played his first major role in the film directed by , Bakti ("Devotion"). In Bakti, he was the first actor to sing in his own voice instead of relying on playback singer. In the following films, such as Juwita in 1951 and Ibu ("Mother") in 1953, he became established as a major star of the Malay film industry. Between 1948 and 1955, he starred in a total of 27 films. Aside from acting, Ramlee was a prolific songwriter, and around 500 of his songs have been recorded, either by himself or by other artists. Ramlee himself recorded 359 songs for his films and records. Among his best known songs are "", "", "Engkau Laksana Bulan", "", "Tudung Periok", "" and "Azizah". The songs Ramlee wrote were featured in his films, performed by Ramlee himself or by other artists. In Hang Tuah which was directed by , Ramlee won best musical score at the Asia-Pacific Film Festival. P. Ramlee started directing feature films in 1955, the first of which was ("Trishaw Man"), which was praised as the best Malay film of the year. Ramlee wrote the screenplay for the film based on a story by Lu Xun. He also directed and starred in the Bujang Lapok comedy series. One of these, Pendekar Bujang Lapok, won the Best Comedy award at the Asia-Pacific Film Festival. He also won the Best Actor award for Anak-ku Sazali at the festival. Other significant films he directed for MFP include Antara Dua Darjat, Ibu Mertua-ku and Tiga Abdul. Ramlee's career at the Malay Film Productions between 1955 and 1964 was considered his "golden age" when he made his most critically acclaimed films and wrote his best-remembered songs. In 1964, he left Singapore for Kuala Lumpur to make films with Merdeka Film Productions, however, he was less successful there. He made 18 films with Merdeka, and his last film was Laksamana Do Re Mi. His last song was "Ayer Mata di Kuala Lumpur" ("Tears in Kuala Lumpur") intended for a film of the same name before he died in 1973. In all, Ramlee starred in 62 films and directed 33. Death and legacy Before dawn of 29 May 1973, P.