Asia-AICN

Hey all. We're back to provide you with your weekly fix of the latest Asian news including news on a new version of "Jodi No. 1 (Duo No. 1)", "Princess D", "Musa", "Recipient Unknown" and Jacky Cheung's return to HK film. We have also added a new Korean reporter to our gang who will be bringing us some exclusive on-set reports and much more cooler news. Plus we also have a picture of the newest Godzilla!! Now I'll just step back and present the latest info from Asia.

INDIA

- Rumours indicate that the Subhash Ghai-David Dhawan film is set to star Shahrukh Khan, Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai!! If this turns out to be true, then it could possibly be the biggest film of David Dhawan's career (Ghai will produce the film while Dhawan directs). I wonder if the stars are really suited to star in Dhawan's type of (mindless comedy) films or is Dhawan about to change his style for SRK, Ash and Hrithik. I hope we find out soon.

- Producers are hoping to cash in on the success of "Jodi No.1 (Duo No. 1)" by adding more footage to the film. Time Magnetics (the producers of the film) are going to released a new version of the film which includes an additional song by Hans Raj Hans. David Dhawan (the director of the film) hasn't made any comments on this topic.

- It was recently revealed that Sunil Shetty will make a special appearance in Suneel Darshan's "Ek Rishtaa - A Tale of Love (One Relationship - A Tale of Love)". The film stars Amitabh Bachchan, Akshay Kumar, and Juhi Chawla.

- Director Harry Baweja has been signed to direct "Karz - The Burden of Truth". Sunny Deol, Sunil Shetty and Shilpa Shetty have been cast in the principal roles.

- The release date of director Anil Sharma's "Gadar (Revolution)" has been changed yet again. The big-budget period flick will now release on June 1st, competing head to head with another highly-anticipated period film, "Lagaan (Tax)". The former film stars Sunny Deol, Amisha Patel and Amrish Puri while the latter film stars Aamir Khan (who also produced) and newcomer Gracey Singh.

- Director Goldie Behl's "Bas Itna Sa Khwaab Hai (Just a Little Dream)" is scheduled to release on June 15th. The film stars Abhishek Bachchan, Jackie Shroff and Sushmita Sen.

- Last week's new release was director Deepak Sareen's "Albela (One of a Kind)" with Govinda, Aishwarya Rai, Namrata Shirodkar and Jackie Shroff. The romantic film plays out like a modern day fairy tale (complete with gorgeous scenery, light comedy, and no real emotional burden). Tony (Govinda) is a tourist guide in a remote sea-side village who meets an extremely wealthy visitor from Austria, Sonia (Aishwarya Rai). Tony falls in love with her at first sight while completely ignoring the affections of his best friend, Nina (played by Namrata Shirodkar). Tony then proceeds to show Sonia all over the place and the film just drags along until a fourth character, Prem (Jackie Shroff) enters the film at the halfway point. A few problems arise, but things never get too heavy and all of the characters end up happy at the end. As you can tell, there isn't really a story much of a plot, but the film never really felt boring or tiresome at any point. The main reason for this is Aishwarya Rai, who plays her role of a modern-day princess to a T, coming of as one of the best princesses EVER. Her character is literally out of a dream and it is hard to imagine any other actress in this role. Namrata Shirodkar and Jackie Shroff also perform well in their respective parts, providing adequate support for the main pair. I am just wondering how the hell did Jackie get his role - wasn't he the ultimate badass in Mission Kashmir??? Now, as much as I like Govinda in his comedy films (see last week's column), this was the wrong role for him. With his (extremely) loud mannerisms and outrageous costumes, it seems as if Govinda's in a different movie all together. Other than that problem (which could turn off many viewers, while bringing in a whole different type of audience), I would say that the film is pretty good. Also, the songs featured in the film are really, really good (and well placed within the plot) while the cinematography is just FANTASTIC. All in all, I would have to say that if you're in the mood for a light-romantic flick without any drama or action, then check out Albela. If Govinda really annoys you then stay far away.

Here's a pic from the film with Ash and Govinda: Click Right Here

And here's another pic of Ash: Click Here

CHINA/HK

Here is the weekly column from AccSpy:

- Tony Leung Chiu-Wai and Sammi Cheng are currently shooting the urban comedy "Cohabiting Friends (lit.title)" which is due out this July.

Here's some on set pictures.

To see a pic of Tony and Sammi, click here: Click Now

Here's another pic of the couple: Click

And here's one of Tony with co-star Vikky Chow (from "Feel 100%"): Just Click Here

- After six years of absence from the silver screen, actor/singer Jacky Cheung may finally return. Jacky is in talks to star in director Ann Hui (multiple-award winning films like "Summer Snow " and "Ordinary Heroes")'s new project, a semi-biographical drama about a deaf musician. Jacky Cheung has starred in a bunch of critically-acclaimed films such as John Woo's "Bullet in the Head", Wong Kar-Wai's "Days of Being Wild" and "Ashes of Time". his last appearance was parodying Jackie Chan parody in 1995's "High Risk" opposite Jet Li. (By the way "High Risk" is being re-dubbed and renamed to "Meltdown" for a North American video and DVD release this summer.)

- Well-known martial artist and actor Yuen Biao (The upcoming "Tekken" movie) will join Candy Lo ("Time & Tide") in director Chin Kar Lok's action adventure "which starts filming in Japan this summer. Yuen Biao will play Candy's father in the movie (isn't he a little young to play Candy's father? - D25).

- Actress/director Salvia Cheung is currently directing a drama called "Princess D", starring Daniel Wu, Edison Chan, Angelina Li and Anothony Wong. Daniel Wu and Edison Chan will play brothers in the film.

- Michelle Yeoh was just given the title of Datuk (similar to Knighthood in England) in her home country, Malaysia. For more details please go to: http://www.canoe.ca/JamMovies/apr19_yeoh-ap.html

JAPAN

Here is Pigmon:

- We are sad to announce that director Hiroshi Teshigahara has passed away on April 14th.He was well known for several period films, including "Gohime".

- There are 3 Japanese films on competition at this year's Canne Film Festival:

"Desert Moon" by Shinji Aoyama

"Distance" by Hirokazu Kor-eda

"Lukewarm Water Under the Bridge" by Shohei Imamura

- Also these films will be shown there (out of competition)

"Avalon" by Mamoru Oshii

"H-Story" by Nobuhiro Suwa

"Kairo" by Kiyoshi Kurosawa

"The Man Who Walks on Snow" by Masahiro Kobayashi

- Look! Here's New Godzilla design for new film, It looks much better than the dino-style American version and now looks capable of going against King Gidorah, Mothra and Baragon. Take a look here: http://www.godzilla.co.jp/g2002site/new_g.html - "Battle Royal" will be released on both VHS and DVD on June 8th and "Brother" will be at shop on June 25th - of course this is just for Japan, but owners of all-region players should pay special attention.

KOREA

Now please welcome our newest reporter, NineLife, who will be letting us in on even more cool Korean news:

MUSA -- ON THE SET

As AICN Asia's fearless Korean correspondent 18nom reported last week, one of the upcoming Zhang Ziyi flicks is Korea's "Musa", a martial arts/warrior period epic based loosely on the experiences of Korean warriors with Ghengis Khan. Ziyi plays a Chinese princess -- check out the links below courtesy of the "Zhang Ziyi Forever" website for some pix. Uno Films/SIDUS is planning a July 20, 2001 premier, but yours truly hit the set in China during production to check out what's what.

Musa started shooting in early July of 2000 at several locations in mainland China and wrapped a couple days before Christmas. Zhang Ziyi put in six weeks of hard training before production began at top Korean action choreographer/director Jung Doo-Hong's ("Shiri", "Beat", "The Foul King") Seoul Action School in Poramae Park, Seoul. I was actually in Seoul that spring and I missed her by a couple weeks (darn it!), but I was lucky enough to see the first stages of the sword fight choreography and to have a quick lunch with the stunt team, Jung Woo-Sung ("Beat", "Phantom"), and Lee Jung-Jae ("There Is No Sun", "Asako in Ruby Shoes"). At the time, Lee Jung-Jae had been tapped to play opposite Woo-Sung and Ahn Sung-Ki ("Nowhere To Hide") but later had to drop out due to scheduling conflicts.

I hit the "Musa" set in China late last year. The location was a positively frigid place in rural northern China called Xinchun (don't quote me on the spelling), 8 hours north of Beijing. Director Kim Seung-Soo ("Beat", "Runaway") had commissioned a local builder to erect a stone recreation of an ancient Chinese castle at the edge of a cliff by a frozen sea. The surrounding countryside was very hilly with lots of low, brown vegetation -- very like Mongolian horse country. The whole effect was breathtaking -- stark and unforgiving and amazingly beautiful. It was also ASTOUNDINGLY cold! Those good ole Midwestern winters now seem positively balmy to me by comparison.

When I arrived, "Musa" was in the last couple weeks of production and they were shooting the apocalyptic scenes -- the castle burning down, showdown fight scenes between the heroes, etc. These scenes were VERY intense...I can't wait to see the finished product! No spoilers yet, but let's just say a bunch of folks don't make it. I recognized crew from other Korean films, and there seemed to be quite a few crew members from "Crouching Tiger " working with them (wearing their Crouching Tiger jackets proudly).

Yours truly was the only American on the set. I'm used to being an oddity in Asia, and I had fun getting to know the Chinese warrior actors, especially the guy who played Ghengis Khan. He was a giant of a man -- at LEAST 6'5" and 300 pounds if he weighed an ounce, and sweet as pie. He shared his smokes with me by way of welcome -- a local Chinese brand so strong I felt like I was smoking an entire burning building. Fun.

Director Kim introduced me to Ziyi, who is a lovely girl and was a little shy about speaking English. She's sweet and very playful, but she was 100% professional when the cameras rolled and I didn't hear her complain about the cold once. I saw quite a few of the playbacks -- she was positively ethereal on camera. Unfortunately I didn't get the chance to see her fight; they had filmed those segments already and we shooting her dramatic pieces for the ending as she was due to leave for LA in a couple days.

In the meantime, word had spread to the local folks that Ziyi was shooting there. Xinchun is super rural and most of the folks are farmers of one sort or another -- every day a bunch of the local folks would gather, dressed in their Sunday best, at a respectful distance from the castle. Ziyi would ask that a few be allowed in when she had some down time to take pix with her and shake her hand. Pretty gracious, I thought, considering that it was so cold all I wanted to do when the cameras weren't rolling was huddle by one of the campfires.

The fight scenes that I did see between the male leads were great -- Korean-style martial arts action is an interesting hybrid between martial arts grace and a very rough, brutal street-esque thing. I love straight kung-fu-based action too, but Korean-style action appeals to the martial artist in me. I also got a chance to see some excellent castle-on-fire scenes rigged by Jung Do-Ahn ("Libera Me") who's won Korea's version of an Oscar for his special effects work.

"Musa" is a very promising flick and could give Korea's film industry its most significant international exposure yet, especially considering how hot Ziyi is right now. Folks should also keep their eyes peeled for director Kim Seung-Soo and Jung Doo-Hong on the international front. Kim is fearless, way creative, and smart as hell. Jung's already been acknowledged as the creator of Korean film's modern action/fighting style, and he's got a serious record of commercial success in Korea. Word has it he's working on at least 4 major films in the coming months...more on that coming soon.

I had a blast on the set of Musa, and I also learned some very interesting things during all the fun. For all you martial arts film fans, here are a few things to remember if you ever find yourself on an epic action set:

NineLife's Things To Remember

1. BEWARE OF THE BLOOD CANISTERS. You know, those pressurized metal cans that look kind of like small beer kegs with a long nozzle attached. Make-up folks use them to apply the blood part of blood-and-gore. One of the nozzles sprung a leak while I was within spraying range, and voila! Instant fake hemorrhage all over my parka and boots. The good news: it looks extremely permanent, but thank god the stuff wipes right off with a little water and a paper towel.

2. YOU'RE GONNA GET DIRTY. It looks amazing, all the horses thundering up in a cloud of dust with the heroes on their back, brandishing magical swords. But all that dust is REAL, dude. Stick around only for a couple of takes and you will be transformed from reasonably hygienic to grimy-faced, dirt-streaked, and bath-deprived. Spend an entire day on-set and you will wonder if you'll ever be clean again.

3. STONE DOESN'T BURN. So the massive stone castle's going up in flames, right? Uh huh. Tires are what's going up in flames, along with other interesting flammables A tip: wear one of those white cotton surgical masks to avoid breathing in all the soot (works good for dust too).

4. THE DEFINITION OF "SOAP" AND "SHOWER" IS VERY LOOSE IN RURAL CHINA. I got really, really dirty on the "Musa" set (see #3), so of course I was dying for a shower at the end of each day. Call me crazy, but I think of a shower as a continual hot spray of water, and soap as a foaming, cleansing accessory to the shower thing. Nope. What I actually did was take several intermittent drizzles accompanied by a small, waxy bar of non-foaming cosmetic substance. What fun!

Musa Pix:

1. Ziyi & Jung Woo-Sung: Click Here

2. (L to R) Chu Jin-Mo, Ahn Sung-Ki, Ziyi, Jung Woo-Sung: Just Click

3. Ziyi during production: Go Here

4. Ziyi & Jung Woo-Sung #2: Click

BITS & PIECES

* According to Agence France Presse, Chow Yun Fat has plans to sell his HK digs. Purchased in 1995 for $5.1 million, the Keeper of Green Destiny is asking $6.4 million.

* Rush Hour 2 isn't even in the can yet, and already rumors are flying that Africa is being considered as a location for Rush Hour 3. New Line spokesmen aren't committing, calling the speculation premature, but the multiple Africa references in Rush Hour 2 are lending credence to the rumor mill...

See ya around next time, y'all.

NineLife

Now here is 18nom's weekly report:

Cannes 2001 and Korean films. Well, there will be no Korean film representing the land of morning calm at the Cannes 2001. All three contenders, 'Recipient Unknown', 'Flower Island', 'Waikiki Brothers', have been rejected to be included in the main competition. Koreans are also no show in two non-competitive sections, Certain Regard and Critics Week. You ask why we Kimchi-eating, Kalbi-barbequeing Koreans are so obssessed with Cannes? I will give you my personal explanation. First of all, we wake up in the middle of nights if we hear 'awards' or 'competitions'. We take pride in separating our entertainers in to two groups and making them fight for a little prize or two. If you add an International flavor to an award where Koreans compete with Japanese, you've got yourself a Cannes Film Festival. As for the generic and film industry-friendly explanation, the mere chance to compete in the prestigious Cannes will help sell the Korean film domestically and market Internationally.

Recipient Unknown (SooCheeIn BoolMyung). Heard a few things about the latest film directed by Kim Kiduk of 'Isle' fame. Apparently, it is another grisly-told tale of outsiders in Korea however involves a dog seller. (This little job description takes an entirely different meaning in Korea where dogs are consumed for rumored and unproven virility. A dog seller in Korea steals dogs (i.e. collects stray dogs) and sells them to restaurants. Please visit http://www.koreananimals.org should you have any further questions or comments.) Though the movie has a disclaimer in the beginning of a film that states that no dog was harmed during the filming, the people who have seen the movie think otherwise. I am told that there a few scenes that involve the beating of a dog that is hung from the tree branch. Also a female critic was heard saying that she won't recommend a film to women due to degrading, sexist tone of the movie. BTW, the story centers around the US army stationed in the Korea and the people who live near the camp. I will follow up on this film and its controversy as it nears its domestic premiere.

Lee Myungse. The director of 'Nowhere to Hide' has been approached by Ridley Scott (Overrated Gladiator and Blade Runner) to first direct a CF(commercial film) for Scott's advertising company then a feature length film. Since coming to US since May of 2000, Lee has been learning English and writing a script titled, 'Miriam'. It is still unknown as to when he will direct his first English-lingo feature for Scott. For those of AICN readers who haven't seen the 'Nowhere to Hide' yet, I highly recommend this flick for its visual prowess and imaginations. First ten minutes of this fim is well worth the price of a rental fee. Think of the remaining 100 odd minutes as an extra bonus. Last fight scene? Priceless extra vignette.

Grand Bell Film Ceremony. Korea's Oscar-equivalent film ceremony began last Friday and will end on Wednesday. As I mentioned before, the Grand Bell Film Ceremony has a tarnished reputation due to an infamous bribery scandal that happened a few years ago. I have been repeatedly told by Koreans and Non-Koreans alike that the bribery is an accepted form of business practice in Korea. Wanna win a best film of the year? Pay up! Wanna win a best actress of the year? You know what to do. I have digressed and I apologize. Grand Bell Film Ceremony, since the bribery incident, has reshaped itself as the film event of the year, if you don't count PIFF(Pusan International Film Festival). I will come back next week with a list of winners and losers who either paid little money or no money. Just kidding.

Annyung till next week, then.

18nom

P.S. To a ricequeen who thought my id handle had a different if not vulgar meaning, get out of Korea now!

Darius 25 back to say goodbye. Remember, if you have information regarding any film industry in Asia, please contact our Asia-AICN offices at atshrivas@home.com. See you all next week.

Darius25