Gangster power for Namewee

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Gangster power for Namewee

By Noorsila Abd Majid

Malaysia's (arguably) controversy king, Namewee has found himself in the wrong side of the law again. But it's all for a good reason. The noteworthy rapper-turned-filmmaker is tackling gangsterism in notorious Klang in his new movie, aptly titled Hantu Gangster.

"I've always wanted to do a gangster movie," Namewee tells The Daily Chilli on his movie set in Taman Pengkalan Batu Klang. "But I don't want to do just any gangster movie. It has to have elements of comedy and horror."

[left] Ah Bao, Diana Danielle, Namewee, Farid Kamil, producer Fred Chong, Wah Gor, Datuk David Arumugam and Dennis Lau strike a pose on their flm set

Well, that is so Namewee. Those who have seen his runaway hit, Nasi Lemak 2.0 will agree that the socially-conscious actor/director from Muar has a peculiar way of making his social commentaries - be it in his movies or music.

"I've got friends who are gangsters," he reveals. "I know how the triads work."

But why Klang, you ask? "Klang gives me a chaotic feel," Namewee opines. "The crime rate here is high. It's also the best place to make a movie 'coz people hardly make movies here."

Joking that the real gangsters in Malaysia will support him, he adds, "My movie is a patriotic film. It's nothing controversial. The message is positive. We even got the police to help us."

Don't play play. Namewee has friends in the underworld

Upholding the spirit of 1Malaysia, Hantu Gangster brings together Namewee and a multi-racial, A-list Malaysian cast, comprising Diana Danielle, Farid Kamil, Noh Hujan, Mizz Nina, Dennis Lau, Reshmonu, Datuk David Arumugam, Datuk Jalaluddin Hassan, Nadine Ann Thomas, Wah Gor and Fa Chai Bao.

The action-comedy casts both Namewee and Farid in the lead roles. While the former is a born-loser thief, Tu Sai, the latter is Iman, a dashing Malay gangster with a lot of inner turmoil.

"Farid's character is complicated," explains Namewee. "He's seemingly nice, but he's actually evil. But it's hard for you to hate him."

Funnily enough, Namewee did not know that Diana, who plays a school teacher and his love interest in the movie, and Farid are real-life couple until he hired them.

"That's why Diana and I accepted his offer," teases Farid, best remembered for his heroic roles in box office hits like Kongsi and Revolusi KL Drift. "He did not try to exploit our romance in his movie. Our character attachment is not cliched. It's totally a different kind of relationships that each of us has got to deal with in the movie."

Produced by Fred Chong and ProdiGee Media, Hantu Gangster is slated for a National Day release on August 31 next year.

Photos by SS Kanesan
Published Dec 19 2011