Filmmaker Julian Cheah has been building a name for himself in the film industry for years. As one of the few largely independent filmmakers in Malaysia, one can call his products anything but uninteresting. His last film, "Prince of the City" (2012) was probably his biggest feature film to date. Featuring a cast led by Julian Cheah himself and popular local actors Aaron Aziz and Jehan Miskin, even Hollywood actor Michael Madsen ("The Hateful Eight") was brought onboard. Sure, the stylish action film didn't make big bucks at the local cinema, but this won't stop the Penangite from making them no matter what people say or whatever the box office returns of his films are. Four years later, Cheah has his latest gamble ready for the big screen. Instead of going the flashy Hollywood-style route, "Judi-Judi King Boss" focuses on the Malaysian angle in hopes to win the Malaysian crowd. Cheah's usual modus operandi is to take on multiple roles for his films, and with "Judi-Judi King Boss" this is no exception as he serves as an actor, writer, producer and director for his first ever all-rounded Malaysian film attempt.
Cinema Online: What is your inspiration behind "Judi-Judi King Boss" and how did the idea for the film come about? Julian Cheah: I was inspired by Stephen Chow's "Kung Fu Hustle", by the comedy of the film and not the visual effects because we do not have the budget to make those kind of effects. The old black-and-white American TV series "The Three Stooges" was an inspiration too, and also the old comedy movies of Tan Sri P. Ramlee. I thought it would be great to combine all the races and languages of Malaysia. I previously wrote a synopsis of a gambling movie to a producer who did not want it, so I thought I would take the story and do it myself. What was the selection of the cast like as it seems that most of them are new to the industry? Since this is a comedy, and generally slapstick comedy does not require intense acting and emotion like dramatic films, I was confident that I can cast newcomers too because it is quite easy for anyone to make funny faces on the screen and people do not need years of acting training to do it. I searched for Gana as I had worked with him on a TV episode years ago in 2002 and I remembered how funny he was, so I searched the internet and made phone calls to find him which took about three days. The other cast members were chosen based on the languages they could speak, like Tamil, Punjabi, Hokkien and Mandarin. One cast member is a veteran stage actor who has had little exposure on film but his talent and experience as an actor is still in him. What motivates you to keep making films, as independent filmmakers in Malaysia rarely see huge box office returns? Even though an independent film, the comedy style of "Judi-Judi King Boss" still makes it potentially very commercial. I believe that there is a place for me out there and I seem to have a force behind me that pushes me to continue though I cannot understand it myself. I think that the error was for me to do English-language films in Malaysia as this is not very well accepted. So, business sense only dictates that I should come back for the attack on the local movie industry the other way round, a 180 degree turn to return with Malaysian languages with not only one or two but with six Malaysian language dialects. From a business perspective, this is also good as we are opening our market up to everyone and all races. Big companies use TV and radio ads which are very expensive, but thank God now that there are cheaper forms of marketing in social media, like Facebook advertising which gets film trailers directly to the smartphones of people, which I believe is powerful, so we stand a good chance to compete with the big boys.
What are your upcoming projects? Do you have any other Hollywood actors to bring on-board like you did with Michael Madsen in "Prince of the City"? Yes, I intend to work more with international stars but the tendency is not to bring them to Malaysia to work, but rather for me to go overseas as an actor and producer to work with them. I have a British love story synopsis completed by my friend and writer Michael Brech to be filmed in Cornwall in England. There was also a project to be shot in America that I tried to activate in 2014 which fell and it would be good to find a way to materialise it one day. Both these films will involve famous U.S. and U.K. stars. The thing standing between me and the projects is of course finance and lots of it which is near impossible to get in the film business, so I have to finance them myself and in order to do so, I have to venture into other businesses in the hope to realise future dreams for me. As a filmmaker, can you share your thoughts on the shortcomings of our local film industry and what can be done to improve it? It is hard for me to comment on local producers. These people know their market and some producers are doing very well financially. For those people who are not raking in profits, I am sure that they will find other means and ideas to do it. It is obvious that many local producers only think of the market here in Malaysia and have no desire to sell internationally, which is fine and perhaps it should be that way for them as they are on safer ground and on a market which they understand very well. I do not think that there are shortcomings here, and I am sure that the veterans as well as new filmmakers will emerge to keep the industry active and interesting in the years to come.