Post by idolfan on Sept 4, 2012 22:24:38 GMT 7
Kepong Gangster
The Five Tigers, Henley Hii, Billy Ng, Hero Tai, Rayz Lim and Melvin Sia
Kepong Gangster is the story of 5 childhood friends who stepped into the dark world of triads and gangsters. It tells the journey of 5 troubled schoolboys, Zhong, Hoi, Teow Chew Boy, Billy and Bing, who were constantly being bullied by gangsters and in order to protect themselves, they decided to join a gangster triad. However upon stepping into their new roles, they realized that they’ve gained more than they have bargained for. The issue of money, drugs, betrayal, power hunger, has set them on a journey of self-destruction and at the end of the day, is this the right path to take.
Director Teng Bee
This movie is the directorial debut for Teng Bee, who has been in the music industry for some time. The idea for this movie was rooted in 2008 but at that time the environment does not allow them to proceed. They started the preparations for this movie since a year ago. “For this movie, I roped in a lot of new artiste without experience and this is the toughest part for me. I myself is also a new movie director as previously I was a music producer, did a lot of music videos and direct commercials. I have been given the opportunity to do my first movie and in turn I feel that I have to give the opportunity to new artiste as well. In fact these three (referring to Hero Tai, Billy Ng and Rayz Lim) are new, first time on the big screen and they even acted in my demo trailer which I did last July to show to investors” shared Teng Bee. All in they took 23 days to shoot the whole movie and mostly were shot in Kepong and Jinjang except for the village scenes, which they need to go to Batang Kali.
Director Teng Bee with MYFM DJ/Host Gan Mei Yan
Teng Bee is also the music producer for this movie and the singer for the theme song “Black Hole” is none other than Jovi Theng ( Xiao Kang) who also acted in the movie, playing the role of Thong, who is in charge of the Five Tigers. According to director Teng Bee, the soundtrack of "Kepong Gangster" is one of the few locally produced films to fully utilise the 5.1 sound systems, where the sound quality and surround is so much better. He added “The soundtrack is composed exclusively to match the film’s visual and this is why it will give a much better effect”.
What is your box office target? The director replied "The highest grossing Chinese film so far is around RM 7.5 million, so if it hits RM 5 million I will be very happy, moreover this movie is rated 18".
"12.09.12 Latest news - Kepong Gangster has been changed to PG13 after sucessful appeal to the censorship board"
Henley Hii as Ah Zhong
Zhong (Henley Hii) is the leader of the Five Tigers, the name given to the five friends when they joined the triad. Zhong possess loyalty, responsibility and willing to sacrifice for his friends. Singer-actor, Henley Hii said he has known the director, Teng Bee, a few years ago when they worked on some music projects. Few years back, Teng Bee asked him whether he is interested to collaborate with him on his first movie. Then a year ago, the director called him to ask him again and said they are going to start shooting soon and Henley never hesitated. ‘Teng Bee is a very friendly, helpful and talented person, he started off with music, then became a music video director and now a movie director’ added Henley.
The handsome young man from Kota Kinabalu shared that when he was in secondary school, he did not have good results and ended up in the worst class. He and his friends joined something like a little triad society in school and therefore he feels like he is acting out his Form four & form five character during his school time. “Actually Zhong is a good guy and he don’t wish his buddies to be involve in the bad things and he wants to protect his friends” said Henley. The most challenging and memorable part to Henley, was the scene in the little hut with his girlfriend, Tong Tong (Tracy Cheong), on the first day of shooting. “I had to get into character, evoking different emotions of being sad, crying and then happy and everything is done in that little hut. We had to go to Kuala Selangor early in the morning at 3.30am and we had to finish the few scenes in one day and we ended up quite late at night” said Henley.
Acting or singing? Well Henley has this to say “I’m a big fan of boy bands back in those days and always wish to get into a boy band but no luck, nothing materialize. The last two years, I went into acting for TV dramas and also my debut in the big screen, a Singaporean Mandarin horror thriller, “23:59” helmed by Gilbert Chan which was released last December. I found that I have grown to love acting and really enjoy my work in television and movies as we all work in a team to make each project a success”. Henley’s career took off after winning the second season of Project Superstar in 2007 and for one who is not Chinese literate before the completion, he can now comprehend at least 80% of this movie script! Henley has just released his third and latest rock mini album “Love Hacker” and he wrote five out of the six songs in the album.
Melvin Sia as Ah Hoi
The other main cast is none other than Melvia Sia, a veteran actor in drama series who has won numerous awards including “Best Actor” and “Most Popular Actor” in the Malaysia’s 1st Golden Awards as well as “Best Male New Comer” in the 9th ADA Awards. He was also nominated for “Best Actor” in the 13th Asian Television Awards. Melvin plays the role of “Hoi”, one of the five tigers, who is intelligent, narrow minded, very shrewd and will do all things possible to make his way to the top. “I’m the bad guy in this movie and I had to bring out the dark side of the character into the movie. In the end I gained the top spot in the triad world but lost everything including his friends” said the good looking actor. He added “By able to bring out the dark side means that I have succeeded to get into the character and in the process, I became hot tempered and always not in a good mood. Therefore once I reached home after filming, I will try to shout out loud to release all the stress and tension”.
With his good looks and excellent acting skills, Melvin caught the attention of Taiwanese media when he began his association with Halo Music/Ocean Butterflies in 2011, where he had a role in the movie entitled “Hello, Thank You”, co-starred by Linda Liao. In conjunction with “Kepong Gangster”, Melvin released a single named “Thanks lonely” in Taiwan and he will be moving to mainland China as the first Malaysian to take up a leading role in a Chinese drama series.
Hero Tai as Teow Chew Boy
Billy Ng as Billy
Rayz Lim as Bing
The other three tigers are played by Hero Tai as “Teow Chew Boy”, Billy Ng as “Billy” and Rayz Lim as “Bing”. Teow Chew Boy’s character is a positive, pure minded person whose only wish is to become a wealthy man. Whereas Billy is the easily irritable, courageous and foolhardy person but he emphasizes a lot on faithfulness and loyalty. Bing is an orphan who was brought up by his grandmother, played by veteran actress, Aunty Lai Meng. He is excellent in studies, a timid person and always afraid of being bullied therefore he joined the gang along with his bunch of friends in order to feel secured. Playing the role of Zhong’s girl friend, Tong Tong, is Tracy Cheong who is a simple and kind hearted girl and a good friend to Cindy. Whereas Cindy, played by Agnes Lim, is a typical local Chinese girl who grew up in Kepong and works as a pub singer and gets romantically involved with Billy. Among the cast, Linda Liao is the only artist from abroad. Hailing from Taiwan, the singer, actor, music VJ, excels in rap performances, singing, dancing, sports and loves extreme challenges. She plays the wife of the boss of 360 Gang, Fo San (played by Lenny Ooi), who is powerful and capable and is in charge of his drug business. Three veteran musicians, Jovi Theng, Lenny Ooi and Wilson Tin, have been roped in to play the senior and chief of the gangster triad.
Tracy Cheong as Tong Tong
Agnes Lim as Cindy
Wilson Tin, Tracy Cheong, Agnes Lim, Lenny Ooi, Jovi Theng
“Kepong Gangster” is produced by Mahu Pictures, WG Capital & Halo Music and jointly presented by TECH TITAN and KASPERKY LAB. This is the first movie in Malaysia to challenge the taboo of non-mainstream cultural theme. While the film is aimed at entertaining its audience by maintaining the local characteristics and flavors, this film sets out to expose the taboo subject of gangsterism. It is not the intention to stigmatize Kepong but instead provoke thoughts on the current Chinese New Village and the Director’s aim is to reflect the historical evolution in these villages. While the movie shows us the dark side of the gangster society, it hopes to reveal the consequences of participating in gangster groups to the younger generation.
“Kepong Gangster” will be blazing into a cinema near you on 13 September 2012.
The RM 5 million box office kiss by the two main cast, Melvin Sia and Henley Hii! They promised that if it hits RM5 million, there will be more than two person kissing on stage!
The Five Tigers, Henley Hii, Billy Ng, Hero Tai, Rayz Lim and Melvin Sia
Kepong Gangster is the story of 5 childhood friends who stepped into the dark world of triads and gangsters. It tells the journey of 5 troubled schoolboys, Zhong, Hoi, Teow Chew Boy, Billy and Bing, who were constantly being bullied by gangsters and in order to protect themselves, they decided to join a gangster triad. However upon stepping into their new roles, they realized that they’ve gained more than they have bargained for. The issue of money, drugs, betrayal, power hunger, has set them on a journey of self-destruction and at the end of the day, is this the right path to take.
Director Teng Bee
This movie is the directorial debut for Teng Bee, who has been in the music industry for some time. The idea for this movie was rooted in 2008 but at that time the environment does not allow them to proceed. They started the preparations for this movie since a year ago. “For this movie, I roped in a lot of new artiste without experience and this is the toughest part for me. I myself is also a new movie director as previously I was a music producer, did a lot of music videos and direct commercials. I have been given the opportunity to do my first movie and in turn I feel that I have to give the opportunity to new artiste as well. In fact these three (referring to Hero Tai, Billy Ng and Rayz Lim) are new, first time on the big screen and they even acted in my demo trailer which I did last July to show to investors” shared Teng Bee. All in they took 23 days to shoot the whole movie and mostly were shot in Kepong and Jinjang except for the village scenes, which they need to go to Batang Kali.
Director Teng Bee with MYFM DJ/Host Gan Mei Yan
Teng Bee is also the music producer for this movie and the singer for the theme song “Black Hole” is none other than Jovi Theng ( Xiao Kang) who also acted in the movie, playing the role of Thong, who is in charge of the Five Tigers. According to director Teng Bee, the soundtrack of "Kepong Gangster" is one of the few locally produced films to fully utilise the 5.1 sound systems, where the sound quality and surround is so much better. He added “The soundtrack is composed exclusively to match the film’s visual and this is why it will give a much better effect”.
What is your box office target? The director replied "The highest grossing Chinese film so far is around RM 7.5 million, so if it hits RM 5 million I will be very happy, moreover this movie is rated 18".
"12.09.12 Latest news - Kepong Gangster has been changed to PG13 after sucessful appeal to the censorship board"
Henley Hii as Ah Zhong
Zhong (Henley Hii) is the leader of the Five Tigers, the name given to the five friends when they joined the triad. Zhong possess loyalty, responsibility and willing to sacrifice for his friends. Singer-actor, Henley Hii said he has known the director, Teng Bee, a few years ago when they worked on some music projects. Few years back, Teng Bee asked him whether he is interested to collaborate with him on his first movie. Then a year ago, the director called him to ask him again and said they are going to start shooting soon and Henley never hesitated. ‘Teng Bee is a very friendly, helpful and talented person, he started off with music, then became a music video director and now a movie director’ added Henley.
The handsome young man from Kota Kinabalu shared that when he was in secondary school, he did not have good results and ended up in the worst class. He and his friends joined something like a little triad society in school and therefore he feels like he is acting out his Form four & form five character during his school time. “Actually Zhong is a good guy and he don’t wish his buddies to be involve in the bad things and he wants to protect his friends” said Henley. The most challenging and memorable part to Henley, was the scene in the little hut with his girlfriend, Tong Tong (Tracy Cheong), on the first day of shooting. “I had to get into character, evoking different emotions of being sad, crying and then happy and everything is done in that little hut. We had to go to Kuala Selangor early in the morning at 3.30am and we had to finish the few scenes in one day and we ended up quite late at night” said Henley.
Acting or singing? Well Henley has this to say “I’m a big fan of boy bands back in those days and always wish to get into a boy band but no luck, nothing materialize. The last two years, I went into acting for TV dramas and also my debut in the big screen, a Singaporean Mandarin horror thriller, “23:59” helmed by Gilbert Chan which was released last December. I found that I have grown to love acting and really enjoy my work in television and movies as we all work in a team to make each project a success”. Henley’s career took off after winning the second season of Project Superstar in 2007 and for one who is not Chinese literate before the completion, he can now comprehend at least 80% of this movie script! Henley has just released his third and latest rock mini album “Love Hacker” and he wrote five out of the six songs in the album.
Melvin Sia as Ah Hoi
The other main cast is none other than Melvia Sia, a veteran actor in drama series who has won numerous awards including “Best Actor” and “Most Popular Actor” in the Malaysia’s 1st Golden Awards as well as “Best Male New Comer” in the 9th ADA Awards. He was also nominated for “Best Actor” in the 13th Asian Television Awards. Melvin plays the role of “Hoi”, one of the five tigers, who is intelligent, narrow minded, very shrewd and will do all things possible to make his way to the top. “I’m the bad guy in this movie and I had to bring out the dark side of the character into the movie. In the end I gained the top spot in the triad world but lost everything including his friends” said the good looking actor. He added “By able to bring out the dark side means that I have succeeded to get into the character and in the process, I became hot tempered and always not in a good mood. Therefore once I reached home after filming, I will try to shout out loud to release all the stress and tension”.
With his good looks and excellent acting skills, Melvin caught the attention of Taiwanese media when he began his association with Halo Music/Ocean Butterflies in 2011, where he had a role in the movie entitled “Hello, Thank You”, co-starred by Linda Liao. In conjunction with “Kepong Gangster”, Melvin released a single named “Thanks lonely” in Taiwan and he will be moving to mainland China as the first Malaysian to take up a leading role in a Chinese drama series.
Hero Tai as Teow Chew Boy
Billy Ng as Billy
Rayz Lim as Bing
The other three tigers are played by Hero Tai as “Teow Chew Boy”, Billy Ng as “Billy” and Rayz Lim as “Bing”. Teow Chew Boy’s character is a positive, pure minded person whose only wish is to become a wealthy man. Whereas Billy is the easily irritable, courageous and foolhardy person but he emphasizes a lot on faithfulness and loyalty. Bing is an orphan who was brought up by his grandmother, played by veteran actress, Aunty Lai Meng. He is excellent in studies, a timid person and always afraid of being bullied therefore he joined the gang along with his bunch of friends in order to feel secured. Playing the role of Zhong’s girl friend, Tong Tong, is Tracy Cheong who is a simple and kind hearted girl and a good friend to Cindy. Whereas Cindy, played by Agnes Lim, is a typical local Chinese girl who grew up in Kepong and works as a pub singer and gets romantically involved with Billy. Among the cast, Linda Liao is the only artist from abroad. Hailing from Taiwan, the singer, actor, music VJ, excels in rap performances, singing, dancing, sports and loves extreme challenges. She plays the wife of the boss of 360 Gang, Fo San (played by Lenny Ooi), who is powerful and capable and is in charge of his drug business. Three veteran musicians, Jovi Theng, Lenny Ooi and Wilson Tin, have been roped in to play the senior and chief of the gangster triad.
Tracy Cheong as Tong Tong
Agnes Lim as Cindy
Wilson Tin, Tracy Cheong, Agnes Lim, Lenny Ooi, Jovi Theng
“Kepong Gangster” is produced by Mahu Pictures, WG Capital & Halo Music and jointly presented by TECH TITAN and KASPERKY LAB. This is the first movie in Malaysia to challenge the taboo of non-mainstream cultural theme. While the film is aimed at entertaining its audience by maintaining the local characteristics and flavors, this film sets out to expose the taboo subject of gangsterism. It is not the intention to stigmatize Kepong but instead provoke thoughts on the current Chinese New Village and the Director’s aim is to reflect the historical evolution in these villages. While the movie shows us the dark side of the gangster society, it hopes to reveal the consequences of participating in gangster groups to the younger generation.
“Kepong Gangster” will be blazing into a cinema near you on 13 September 2012.
The RM 5 million box office kiss by the two main cast, Melvin Sia and Henley Hii! They promised that if it hits RM5 million, there will be more than two person kissing on stage!
