Blood Brothers: Bara Naga Ending Explained & Full Story: Is Jaki Dead?

Keeping up with their Thai and Indonesian counterparts, Malaysian action movies have stepped up their game, as is evident from director duo Syafiq Yusof and Abhilash Chandra’s latest gangland thriller, Blood Brothers: Bara Naga. Revolving around familiar themes like loyalty, brotherhood, betrayal, and violence, Blood Brothers doesn’t break new ground, but the well-choreographed fight sequences, accompanied by solid camera work and production design, make the movie an entertaining watch nevertheless. It should be mentioned that the makers have tried to add humor to balance the grimness of the narrative, which most of the time worked pretty well, but on a very few occasions stuck out as an odd contrast.

Spoilers Ahead

Blood Brothers: Ghaz and Ariff

The movie opens in 1995, as Dato’Zul, a member of the organized crime syndicate Tujuh Naga, aka the Seven Dragons, confronts one of his former blood brothers, Bakri Salleh, who has made the fatal mistake of betraying his gang. According to old laws, betrayal is punishable by death, and accordingly Dato’Zul serves justice by killing the person he once called his brother. More on this later, as the narrative shifts to 30 years later in 2025. 

Dato’Zul, ex-commando and now the leader of Tujuh Naga, is the most influential person in the country’s underworld scene; he commands immense respect from politicians and all the other Naga leaders, aka crime bosses. Dato’ Zul runs the most renowned private security agency in the country, Silent Guard, where the most proficient Naga members of his gang operate. Among them, Ghaz is the most trusted one, whom Dato’Zul had taken under his wing back when Ghaz was merely a teenager. After being abandoned by his only guardian, his mother, Ghaz’s life had taken a turn for the worse, as he was used to getting beaten up by people whom his mother had stolen from. Thanks to Dato’Zul, Ghaz was able to leave that past behind and made a name for himself as a notorious enforcer of Tujuh Naga. Thankful for the life he has given him, Ghaz considers Dato’Zul as his father figure. Dato’Zul’s daughter, Sheila, is in a relationship with Ghaz, and the crime boss has entrusted his daughter’s hand to his most loyal protégé. Fadlan handles agency and syndicate affairs and shares a great rapport with Ghaz. 

A young Ariff used to live in the same slum area asGhaz, and thanks to a good-for-nothing hot-headed father and gambler elder brother, he too had a rough childhood. Ariff was able to sympathize with Ghaz’s predicament and showed him kindness at the worst point in his life. On one occasion, to keep a secret for Ghaz, which would have helped him to pay off his mother’s debts, Ariff took a severe beating from his father. The incident surprised Ghaz and allowed him to accept Ariff as a brother he never had. Years later, Jaki’s conning tendencies still caused miseries in Ariff’s life, and Ghaz, now an established gang member, offered him a second chance in life by bringing him to Tujuh Naga. Ariff severed all ties with his own blood and accepted the life Ghaz, his blood brother, had offered him. As the movie begins, Boss Sam, one of the Nagas, is escorted by Silent Guard members as he goes to visit Miki, a drug dealer, and their convoy is ambushed by a group of hoodlums. With the help of their comrades, Ghaz and Ariff are able to neutralize the threat with ease. 

Why Was Abang Sham Killed?

Later on, as Ghaz and Ariff spend some time with their Silent Guard comrades, the eldest member and mentor figure of the group, Abang Sham, laments about the miserable nature of their lives, which remains hidden underneath all the glitz and glam of money and power. As dregs of the underworld, they can’t hope to have a normal family life, and having any sense of control over their own lives is merely an illusion; they are still lapdogs of the ones calling the shots.

Fadlan brings the news that Miki had set up the ambush on Boss Sam, and taking his words for it, Ghaz shoots Miki to death before his team disposes of his corpse. Ariff, who has been habituated to such sights, still feels a bit off and questions Ghaz about whether they can ever have a normal life. Ghaz shrugs off his concerns by reminding Ariff how far he has moved up in his life since those miserable years spent in the slum. With their marriage just around the corner, Sheila wants Ghaz to reconcile with his estranged mother. Sheila lost her mother and regrets not getting the chance to make amends with her when she was still alive. Despite what Ghaz has gone through due to his negligent mother, Sheila doesn’t want Ghaz to feel a similar regret, and eventually Ghaz agrees to promise his wife about visiting his mother. At this point, Dato’Zul summons Ghaz and reveals his diagnosis of being afflicted with stage four cancer. Knowing his days are numbered, Dato’Zul entrusts Ghaz with the leadership of Tujuh Naga and hands over all the business and political responsibilities to Fadlan. Ghaz is well respected by the members of his gang, and it makes sense for Dato’Zul to choose him as his successor. 

Things turn unexpectedly bad when Abang Sham kills one of the crooks of Boss Sam, drawing the ire of the crime boss, who arranges a meeting with all the Naga leaders to seek justice for Sham’s actions. In Sham’s defense, he killed the thug to protect a pregnant woman whom the crook was going to murder. However, Boss Sam isn’t satisfied by his justification and implores Dato’Zul to serve justice the old-fashioned way—blood for blood. Ghaz reminds Boss Sam and the rest of the Naga leaders that Dato’Zul protected all the other gangs in their time of need; to target one of his trusted associates means going to war against Tujuh Naga. However, Dato’Zul doesn’t want to disrupt the peace between Naga leaders and asks Ghaz to stick to the old ways of settling escalation. Ghaz is appalled; he finds it difficult to accept this decision and is even questioned by his comrades, all of whom share a deep emotional bond with Abang Sham. But Ghaz doesn’t want to provoke a war by going against Dato’Zul’s orders and put the lives of his brethren at peril. Sheila, who has known Abang Sham as part of the family since a young age, finds it hard to believe that Ghaz has to accept such a decision. Having seen the viciousness of this life of crime from up close, she urges Ghaz to leave all of this behind to start a new life. However, Ghaz is not going to abandon Dato’Zul, nor can he turn his back on his blood brothers. To top it all off, Ghaz turns out to be the one who has to execute Abang Sham, and he does so with a heavy heart. Ariff is disturbed after realizing the truth of Sham’s words: no matter how loyal they are or how strong their brotherhood is, at the end of the day nothing really matters, as they are mere puppets to the ones in power. 

Why Was Ariff Considered a Suspect?

It has been a while since Sheila has had a hard time coping with the kind of world she had to be a part of, and to keep her anxiety attacks in control, she secretly brings meds with Ariff’s help. Ariff in turn receives the meds with his love interest, Mira’s, help, who uses her profession as a nurse to sneak him a couple of bottles from time to time. While Ariff was able to turn his life around, his elder brother, Jaki, wasn’t as lucky. Jaki’s wife abandoned him and their son, Adi, and fled after stealing his money—prompting him to begin a shady PI gig. Viewers also meet Daniel, Sheila’s toxic ex who persistently annoys her, and he gets a good lesson from Ghaz, who duly humiliates him. A vengeful Daniel approaches Jaki to get access to private videos of her wedding night to torment her. Jaki is initially unwilling to plant a secret camera in Sheila’s bedroom, as he doesn’t accept that kind of unethical, perverted request, but as Daniel offers a large sum in exchange for his service, Jaki eventually agrees to it. 

Sheila and Ghaz get married, and on their wedding night, Ghaz sees Ariff handing over a bottle of meds to Sheila, who asks him to leave it in her bedroom. While going there, Ariff is surprised to see Jaki present in the disguise of a catering attendant, and knowing his past habit of conning people, he immediately suspects that his elder brother is up to no good. However, he doesn’t find anything with Jaki except for a calling card. 

What was supposed to be the best day of Ghaz’s life turns into the worst as he finds Sheila dead in her bedroom, and seeing the pills by her side, it initially seems that she has overdosed herself. Ghaz can’t help but blame himself for her predicament, knowing that he squandered a chance of settling for a peaceful life by taking her away from all this. However, it soon turns out that Sheila was in fact poisoned. Given Ariff was last seen in Sheila’s room in CCTV footage, and he handed over the bottle of pills to her, Ghaz almost immediately suspects him. Things turn much worse when a message from an anonymous sender mentions payment in exchange for ‘settling’ Sheila. In no time, Ghaz captures Ariff and brings him to a secluded location to force him to spill the beans. It is also revealed that on the wedding night, Boss Sam had offered Ariff thrice the amount he was making with Tujuh Naga, and Ghaz suspects he joined hands with Sam and worked under his command. Ariff swears his innocence, but Ghaz has completely lost his temper, and his emotions have gotten the better of him. He believes that Ariff killed Sheila to get back at him for killing Abang Sham, and it is clear that Ghaz is not thinking straight. 

Ghaz and his men return to Dato’Zul upon learning that police, led by Officer Tuan Adlin, have found a secret camera in Sheila’s bedroom. This evidence rules out Boss Sam as a suspect, as his rivalry motive doesn’t align with this kind of perverted action. However, this also means that the recording of the secret camera, which is stored remotely on Jaki’s laptop, shows the identity of the killer. Jaki finds out the truth, and knowing the value of the intel, demands more from Daniel than what he was promised. Daniel, on the other hand, steals the flash drive where the only copy of the recording exists and tries to sell it to whichever gang member pays him the most. A masked assassin locates Ariff and demands the video from him, but Ariff manages to break free, and incapacitating the assassin after a fierce fight, he escapes.

Who Killed Sheila? 

Ariff meets with Mira and questions her about a possible mix-up while supplying him with the med pills, but she denies any such possibility. Taking another look at Jaki’s PI card, Ariff becomes certain that his elder brother had something to do with the entire mess, and he decides to pay him a visit. Upon learning the entirety from Jaki, Ariff forces him to locate Daniel to get the video, which is the only way to prove his innocence. The duo encounter Ghaz’s men once again, and Ariff manages to flee with Jaki just in time before Ghaz arrives. 

It takes a long time for Daniel to unlock Jaki’s encrypted flash drive; by then, the masked assassin ambushes him in his nightclub and murders him. Just as the assassin is about to flee with the drive, Jaki and Ariff arrive at the scene. A fierce fight ensues between Jaki and the assassin, and as Jaki unmasks him, the assassin turns out to be none other than Pablo, one of the core members of Silent Guard. Pablo escapes, although Jaki has the flash drive at his disposal following the fight. Ghaz arrives at the scene by tracking down Jaki’s location through his phone and nearly kills him—which prompts Ariff to engage in a battle with Ghaz. Ariff is unwilling to fight the person whom he respects more than his own brother, but Ghaz is unwilling to listen to reason. A vengeful Ghaz almost ends up killing Ariff when Jaki plays the recording on the nightclub’s giant screen. It turns out, Pablo, accompanied by another thug, murdered Sheila by poisoning her in her bedroom and framed Ariff by spilling the med pill on her bed. 

Meanwhile, Dato’ Zul learns from Officer Tuan that the CCTV footage was altered on the night of the wedding, and one of his close Naga leaders, Ayah Mus, who paid Miki to put a hit on Boss Sam, is probably responsible for Sheila’s death. Tuan knows that Dato’Zul’s days are numbered, and he offers him a chance to give up the entire Naga syndicate as a way to make amends for sins. Dato’Zul confronts Fadlan, who was the only person aside from Ghaz who has the access passcode to the CCTV footage of that day. It is revealed that in reality, Fadlan is the son of the turncoat Bakri Salleh. After killing young Fadlan’s only guardian, his father, Dato’Zul raised up the kid as his own. Fadlan always wanted to get back at the killer of his father, and his hatred for him increased when Dato’Zul chose Ghaz as his successor to take over Tujuh Naga. Fadlan had joined hands with Ayah Mus and tried to have Ghaz killed during an assassination attempt on Boss Sam. However, back then he was unable to do so, thanks to the presence of Ariff and the rest of the Silent Guard squad. Fadlan knew that in order to turn Ghaz’s strength into his weakness and turn him against Ariff by framing the latter with another turncoat, Pablo’s help was needed. At present, as Ghaz arrives at Dato’Zul’s place, he sees Pablo, along with the rest of Fadlan’s men, kill Dato’Zul by shooting up his car. Ghaz gets injured as well, but Jaki and Ariff manage to rescue him just in time. Fadlan quickly assumes the role of Tujuh Naga’s leader, but Boss Sam reminds him that the members of the group are still loyal to Ghaz. Ayah Mus pressurizes Fadlan to get his hand on the video as soon as possible, because if it exposes their machinations, both of them will be targeted by Dato’Zul’s crew. Fadlan tortures Ghaz’s loyalists in a desperate attempt to force them to get the video and shows his psychopathic side by randomly killing them.

Did Ghaz Get His Revenge?

Taking Ghaz with them, Jaki and Ariff go into hiding, and Mira helps patch up an injured Ghaz. Ariff meets Adi and gets to know about how much he has missed while remaining distant from his brother. Learning Jaki’s life has been miserable all the while he enjoyed all the amenities life has to offer, Ariff can’t help but feel a sense of guilt. Moreover, he knows with the flash drive at their disposal, Fadlan and his crooks will come after Jaki, Adi, and Mira as well. As Ghaz recovers, Ariff informs him that he wants to report everything to the police to gain immunity in exchange for cooperation. Ghaz is still hell-bent on taking revenge upon Fadlan, and he doesn’t subscribe to Ariff’s viewpoint. As the cops arrive, they find out Ghaz has already left, and Ariff somehow secures the deal by offering the drive to them. The recording of Sheila’s murder can help Officer Tuan to take down at least Ayah Mus and Fadlan, two of the strongest Naga leaders at present. 

Viewers won’t be surprised to see Ghaz reuniting with Abang Sham in his secluded hideout in the wilderness, as it is revealed that Ghaz had spared his life and faked his execution. Sham advises Ghaz to give up his pursuit of vengeance and free himself from this cycle of violence. As someone who has years of experience in this profession, Sham knows that revenge will not provide Ghaz any form of solace. However, Ghaz is determined to take down Fadlan, and he desperately seeks Sham’s help to get it. 

Ariff’s plan goes awry when Fadlan’s crooks attack the police transfer vehicle and manage to abduct Jaki. Fadlan kills Ayah Mus as well, who threatened to turn on him for making a rash move by killing cops. Fadlan tells Ariff to meet at a rendezvous point if he wishes to see his brother alive and offers Jaki’s life in exchange for the video. However, Ariff has come prepared, and sending the video to his Tujuh Naga comrades, he causes a distraction by detonating explosives before taking Jaki to safety. A fight ensues between Ariff and Fadlan’s men when Ghaz and Abang Sham crash the party just in time to save Ariff and Jaki. Ghaz takes on Fadlan and gains the upper hand in no time.

After a prolonged fight, Ariff kills Pablo, but not before the crook ends up stabbing Jaki multiple times. Ariff takes Sham’s help as they prepare to take Jaki to a hospital. Ghaz, on the other hand, gets distracted after Fadlan starts playing mind games with him by mentioning how Ghaz wasted the chance to have a peaceful life with Sheila. Fadlan is able to pin Ghaz down by using this distraction. Seeing Ghaz in trouble, an injured Jaki implores his brother to help Ghaz. Ariff and Jaki eventually fight together to have Fadlan meet a brutal, fiery end. Despite what he has gone through, Ariff still chooses to save Ghaz and brings him out of the burning building—proving how much he reveres the bond they share. 

Months later, Jaki is recuperating from his injuries, and Ariff has left his life of crime and has found peace in the presence of his family—amidst Mira, Adi, and his Jaki. Abang Sham has assumed the role of Tujuh Naga’s chief, much to Boss Sam’s dismay, but given how he helped Ghaz to expose Fadlan and Ayah Mus, Boss Sam can do nothing anyway. Ghaz too has turned his back on his past life, and to keep the promise he gave to his late beloved, he goes on a bike trip to Thailand to meet his mother. Before taking his leave, Ghaz meets with Ariff one last time and advises him to provide the kind of loving, caring childhood to Adi that they themselves never had. 

Will Ariff Turn On His Gang?

In Blood Brothers’ mid-credit scene, Officer Tuan is seen holding Ariff captive, and as he presents a photo of Tujuh Naga’s new chief, Abang Sham, in front of him, it becomes clear that the police will try to use Ariff to take down the Naga crime syndicate. 

Blood Brothers’ ending hints Ariff will not be able to escape his past after all, as he has made the mistake of playing both sides. In his desperation, he approached the cops for immunity, not being mindful about the fact that they can exploit his connections in any way they deem fit. Ariff is still not free from his shackles from crime bosses; he has merely changed his master to cops. If a sequel gets made, which is quite possible given how big of a hit this movie is in Malaysia, it remains to be seen whether Ariff goes against his old comrades in the future. It will also be interesting to see whether Ghaz returns to this life upon learning about his present situation and whether he will be able to help him out. 

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