In the middle of August 2009, the rising star, Jeeja Yanin Vismitananda returned once again in "Duae Suay Du", an action martial arts film directed by Rachain Limtrakul. Her last film "Chocolate" was very well received by audiences who love martial art films, and she became one of the favorite action stars in Thailand. Her latest film was released in Thailand on 12 August 2009 (the birthday of Her Majesty Queen Sirikit). "Duae Suay Du" was another movie from Sahamonkol Film International, the same company that produced Tom Yam Goong and Ong Bak which modified and mixed the presentation of Muay Thai with other martial arts as well as gymnastics.
The plot of this exciting film emphasizes the love that pushes a man to teach martial arts to a girl named "Duae". The actor is Cazoo, the French-Vietnamese action star who is a champion of WKA (Martial Arts trickz) and the grand prix international de Paris of Martial Art trickz (2002). He is a sad-eyed stranger who helps a girl who was harassed by a gangster. He teaches her about the world of fighting and the meaning of true friendship. Duae has to fight a muscle woman who is very good at Judo. The practice is not only a gamble with her life, but Duae also comes to understand the meaning of honest and real love.
The atmosphere of the premiere day at Paragon Cineplex, Bangkok was very lively. The crowd included film directors, actors, actresses and staffs from Sahamonkol Film as well as the press.
Here are some interesting excerpts from an interview with Jeeja Yanin about the production of this film.
Q: What is the story of "Duae Suay Du" about?
Jeeja: This is a story of a girl named "Duae". She is like a normal teenager who wants to find out what she wants, yearns and searches for friendship. She needs love and understanding from others but she doesn't know what true love is, until she meets Sanim (Cazoo), a man who teaches her about the world, friendship, and, of course, the art of fighting. And he is also an inspiration for her to learn about true love.
Q: It sounds like "Duae Suay Du" might be a romantic action film. Especially the expression of feelings and emotions from the character you played. How about the action scenes for women in your second project? Were there many changes from your last film?
Jeeja: For my second film, apart from the drama part, the action part is one of the major changes with unusual and newly designed action sequences. Added to that, the production time for the second film was shorter becauseI had some essential basic training for two years after the making of "Chocolate". But the overall preparation and production time of my second film was about six months including action design. For unusual action sequences, a woman used dancing and ice skating skills to mix with martial arts. And I played with Cazoo, a French-Vietnamese actor who combines dancing, martial arts and "Merai Yuth" which is martial arts positioned in a fake drunken state (the same concept of drunken fist). Not only did I have more unusual fight scenes with b-boy dancing techniques, but Cazoo also used martial trickz which is his special and personal technique (the mix of Capoeira, Taekwondo, Karate, Gymnastics, b-boy dancing and free running). The fighting is quite varied. There was also Hong Ni, a Korean taekwondo master and Rungtawan Jinda Singh, an Asia-Pacific female body-building champion. She is a very tough woman and a scary "enemy" for me as well. In addition, three of my companions were champions in b-boy dancing.
Q: How about the director Rachain Limtrakul
Jeeja: Rachain is very skilled in his work. He already had a detailed plan in his head such as camera settings and acting scenes. He is very considerate in all things including costumes. He often gsve me the opportunity to explore my feelings as the charcter Duae. He listened to my comments.
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