Two years have passed since the Thai-Korean joint venture CJ Major Entertainment released its debut project “20 Mai U-turn Wai Hua Jai Re-Turn (“Suddenly Twenty”) but now it’s back and is making its presence felt with the upcoming release of three interesting movie projects before the end of the year.

First up is the romantic comedy “Rak 2 Pee Yindee Khuen Ngern”(“Love Battle”) slated to hit screens on June 20. Set in an office and based on a South Korean script, it’s directed by Wirat Henkongdee of Tohklom Television fame, who made his directorial debut with “Super Salaryman” back in 2012.

The second film is due out on September 19, with Chookiat Sakveerakul writing and directing the romance currently dubbed “That March” that stars Sukollawat Kanarot and Yarinda Bunnag.

The highlight though is the third project “Classic Again”, which is set for release in the fourth quarter this year. It’s a highly anticipated remake of “The Classic”, one of the most successful Korean movies ever to screen in Thailand.

Choi Yeonu, managing director of CJ Major Entertainment, says the past two years have been spent on preparing these projects.

“We learnt a lot from ‘Suddenly 20’. We have studied the market and looked hard at whether audience preferences and then put the time into preparing movies that are likely to please,” she says.

“‘Suddenly 20’ was a remake of CJ’s Korean movie hit “Miss Granny” and a good example of our universal story with local creation approach. We’ve used this same focus for seven movies.”

CJ Major Entertainment is a joint venture between Major Group, the largest movie theatre in Thailand and CJ ENM, the biggest content creator in South Korea and the parent company of CJ Entertainment.

Son Ye-jin and Jo In-sung in a scene from hit South Korean movie hit “The Classic”, which is being remade in a Thai version as “Classic Again”. 

CJ Entertainment is a leading international film production and distribution company that co-produces critically acclaimed and commercially successful Hollywood, Thai, Indonesian, Vietnamese, Chinese and Turkish movies. These include “The Age of Shadow”, “A Bitter Sweet Life”, “Master” and “Veteran”. Ten years ago, they realised that their successful films were drawing global audiences because people of different races, nationalities or religion could relate to them.

“Those contents are universal because every country has one commonality – it is home to women, men, adults and children. We believe there are core values that human beings share, such as happiness, sadness, love and excitement – emotions that we all try to find in films. This belief led us to trigger global productions and to join up with Major Group in Thailand,” she says.

And just because no films have come out over the past two years doesn’t mean the company hasn’t been hard at work. They’ve collaborated with filmmakers from Major’s affiliated film companies on many projects and Choi is full of praise for Thai crews and the working system.

“When I work with writers and directors we are very open. We lay out all the stories that we have and pick the best one. A lot of the directors know about CJ Entertainment’s movies and will often propose a remake of such-and-such a title,” Choi explains.

To achieve its goals, CJ Major Entertainment focuses both on universal stories and local partners, producing content that resonates with everyone and goes beyond cultural boundaries. This highlights the company’s expertise in creating great content whether from original stories or movies in other territories outside Korea. For example, a film originally made in Korea can be recreated as a Thai film with a Thai setting, a Thai director and Thai actors.

Directed by Chookiat Sakveerakul, the romantic drama “That March” stars Sukollawat Kanarot and Yarinda Bunnag and reflects on how the love story lived by an adolescent boy completely changes his life. It arrives in cinema on September 19.

“A great story will work anywhere,” Choi stresses. “All audiences want stories that inspire and excite them. CJ Major Entertainment’s job is to develop great stories and put great effort into localising them to reach out to the Thai audience and the wider Asean region.”

The joint venture has also spent time researching everything from box office to audience behaviour. Thailand is seen as having high growth potential and a deep pool of talented creators. Last year, the total gross box office in the Asean region was nearly Bt38 billion. Meanwhile the total gross box office in South Korea was more than Bt49 billion. This indicates the viability of Thailand’s market growth once the momentum is initiated by supplying quality local content and thus developing greater audience demand.

Most of the top Thai box office earners are Hollywood movies,” Choi notes. “Why is that? Because a good script, production and acting are key ingredients in the recipe for success. However there are still some barriers. That’s the first reason why CJ Major Entertainment was established. The second reason is we are always seeking hidden creators. There are so many great writers and directors in Asia including in Thailand who are waiting for their opportunity but have waited too long because the market isn’t big enough or strong enough to support them yet. There are also many great producers who want to try something different but can’t seem to find a way because the studios are unwilling to risk trying something new.”

Choi sees Thai audience as very open to different movie genres. “That’s very different from Vietnam and Indonesia. Indonesians right now love watching horror films. I think Thais like to watch something different, which makes them a harder target as tastes are so varied. But, of course, that really motivates us to make more creative content.”

Choi Yeonu, managing director of CJ Major Entertainment

Ask Thai moviegoers which studio brand they trusted when they watch a Thai movie and the answer will inevitably GDH. Choi says that merely reflects the fact that overall number of the films made per year is not that high. “If a lot of serious studios decided to make more movies, audiences would be more indifferent to the brand, basing their decisions on the genre they felt like watching.

“CJ Major’s strategy does not end at just providing more quality films but extends to circulating our stories and Thailand’s talent on the international market. We want to move ahead together and show that our Thai content and creators can also be successful in other significant markets,” she stresses.

Choi adds that the company’s strategic partnerships with local creators are key to winning domestic audiences. “Understanding the Thai sentiment and delivering messages within the Thai cultural context are very important. By collaborating with local partners, we can get closer to the audience and the market. We are very fortunate to be working hand in hand with diverse creators and partners here,” she says.

Of the three projects coming out this year, two have their origins in Korean content. Choi says that neither is a scene-by-scene remake, more of a recreation of a story similar to “Miss Granny”.

For example, Choi describes “Classic Again” as a recreation of the acclaimed romantic drama “The Classic”, which was an overwhelming success in Thailand despite being on limited release.

Directed by Tatchapong Supasri, the re-envisioned version portrays college friends Bota (Ranchrawee Uakoolwarawut) and Poppy, both of whom have a crush on Non (Thitipoom Techaapaikhun). Unaware that her friend likes the same guy, Poppy asks Bota to write a screenplay for her in which she and Non will play the main protagonists. The play draws Poppy and Non closer together and Bota starts to feel uncomfortable. While cleaning the attic, Bota finds a secret box in which her mother kept the memorabilia of her first love story. Bota discovers that the story of her mom’s first love is strikingly parallel to her own. But even as she feels a little odd about the similarities, her feelings towards Non grow and a series of events tests her true emotions.

“It’s very challenging and we’ve had to work closely with the director, as he is not there to replicate the story. We haven’t copied the original movie as the original ‘Classic’ has a totally different cast. Our aim is to make the film even better. So while the main theme of the story remains, it is essentially a brand new Thai movie with similar sentiments,” she says.

“Love Battle”, meanwhile, which more or less sticks to the Korean script, tells the story of Tan (Prama Imanothai) who comes up with a new insurance policy called Love Insurance after his girlfriend betrays him. The insurance guarantees policyholders a 100-per-cent return of their payment with 30-per-cent interest if they don’t break up for two years after signing the contract. The new policy receives lots of attention but Tan is challenged by the board to collect data proving that most of policyholders will break up before the two- year limit. Incurable romantic Jeed is assigned to work with Tan to collect the data and thus begins a battle of wills.

“That March” is the only original script and was developed by director Chookiat whose previous successes include “Rak Hang Siam” (“Love Of Siam”). The film begins when a 37-year-old Pob moves back to his hometown after the failure of his business. With his supportive wife (Yarinda), he starts to work as a teacher at his old school. Pob left both school and town behind when he furthered his own studies, grateful to escape his conservative Chinese background and strict rules, but the memories soon start flooding back.

The alliance will allow iflix to distribute JTBC’s premium content across Asia, setting the stage for further collaborations that may include coproductions in iflix markets.

JTBC has built its reputation as the source of South Korea’s fresh, youth-centric content that boldly embraces new formats. With its dramas, the company has made history for tackling complex and controversial themes, as well as setting viewership records in South Korea.

As part of the deal JTBC’s most popular content will be featured on iflix for free, including popular South Korean dramas “Welcome to Waikiki 2” and “The Wind Blows”, as well as top variety shows such as “Men on a Mission” and “Chef and My Fridge”, just one month following their Korean broadcasts.

In addition to premium catchup TV, JTBC will also contribute an extensive library, exceeding 500 hours of toprated dramas, including “Sky Castle”, “Cleaning with Passion Now”, “ID: Gangnam Beauty” and “Ms Hammuribi”, to iflix, which will also be available to all iflix viewers for free.

The explosive growth of Korean dramas has propelled the genre into the mainstream even outside South Korea.

Mark Britt, iflix cofounder and group chief executive, said” “JTBC is a powerhouse in Korea, producing exciting new content that reflects the dynamic Korean entertainment industry. We are thrilled to welcome JTBC to the iflix family as investors and collaborators in our commitment to providing our viewers the most compelling free content in the region.”

Kyungmoon Jung, chief executive officer of JTBC Content Hub, commented: “iflix is a leading OTT service provider in Southeast Asia, and is providing quality content all over the region through its innovative platform. We are very glad that we could partner with iflix through this transaction. With its fast-growing economy and attractive demographics, Southeast Asia has always been one of the most important regions to JTBC. Through iflix, we hope more and more SEA people enjoy JTBC’s exciting and trendleading content”.

Learn more at https://blog.iflix.com

Airing every Tuesday at 8am, with a same day encore at 9pm, the five-part mini-series stars Jared Harris, Stellan Skarsgard and Emily Watson. The series is available in Thailand on HBO GO via AIS Play and AIS Playbox.

“Chernobyl” is written, created and executive produced by Craig Mazin and directed by Johan Renck (“Breaking Bad”).

On April 26, 1986, the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine, Soviet Union suffered a massive explosion that released radioactive material across Ukraine, Belarus and Russia, and as far as Scandinavia and western Europe.

Jared Harris portrays Valery Legasov, a leading Soviet nuclear physicist. As part of the response team, he is one of the first to grasp the scope of the unparalleled disaster that has occurred. Stellan Skarsgard plays Soviet Deputy Prime Minister Boris Shcherbina, who is assigned by the Kremlin to lead the government commission on Chernobyl in the hours immediately following the accident. Emily Watson portrays Ulana Khomyuk, a Soviet nuclear physicist committed to solving the mystery of what led to the Chernobyl disaster.

The miniseries also stars Paul Ritter as Chernobyl deputy chief engineer Anatoly Dyatlov, Jessie Buckley as Lyudmilla Ignatenko, a Pripyat resident married to a firefighter on the first response team and Adrian Rawlins (“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows”) as Chernobyl chief engineer.

Since 2016, royal observers and cinephiles have been able to view a 15-minute film capturing a few exquisite moments of King Rama VII’s coronation on the Thai Film Archive’s YouTube channel. Recorded 94 years ago, and marking the first time a coronation has ever been recorded in moving pictures, the frames were carefully preserved and restored. Now, to celebrate the upcoming coronation of His Majesty King Maha Vajiralongkorn, a further 30 minutes of footage has been unveiled and offers an even closer look at the intricate details of that royal ceremony.

Both films are silent and black-and-white with surtitles. Even so, the audiences of today will find it difficult to fully comprehend what is being shown in the frames.

During a recent screening, historian Asst Professor Dinar Boontharm from Chulalongkorn’s Faculty of Arts, and film archivist Dome Sukwong gave a talk to explain the rituals shown in the film, how it was created and discovered.

During the talk, Dinar noted the similarities and differences in the ceremonies during King Rama VII’s coronation in 1925 and that of King Rama IX in 1950 – the result of a change from an absolute monarchy to a constitutional one following the 1932 revolution and advent of World War II.

He also pointed out that the footage from the two coronations provides a valuable insight into the history and evolution of the ceremony and history of the Rattanakosin period.

The crew from the Film Department under of the Royal State Railways of Siam (RSR) who went on to become major figures in Thai film history. From left (in white dress), Krasian Wasuwat, Khun Patiphakphimlikhit (Pleng Tripin), Luang Karnjenjit (Phao Wasuwat). /Photo courtesy of Thai Film Archive 

“Before the 1925 film, coronation ceremonies were only summarised in written chronicles and still pictures,” he explained.

The coronation ceremony is highly influenced by Hindu precepts, with evidence suggesting the rites began taking their present form in the 13th century, during the Sukhothai Period then carried on into the Ayutthaya era. After founding the Chakri Dynasty and making Bangkok the capital in 1782, King Rama I re-examined the coronation records from the late Ayutthaya period and revised the procedures for the rites of accession, which have been used ever since.

Throughout the coronations of the Chakri Dynasty, certain procedures and details have been adopted from different influences and gradually adjusted. The coronation of Queen Victoria of England, held 13 years prior to that of King Rama IV, had a significant influence on the ceremony. For instance, while the king didn’t wear the crown as in the West, placing emphasis instead on purification and anointment, he ordered an officer of the court to purchase a large diamond from Calcutta, India, and had it placed at the top of the crown, much like that of Queen Victoria’s.

The coronation of King Rama VII was recorded on 35mm nitrate film which, while known for the beauty of its images, was also unstable and apt to deteriorate in high temperatures and humidity. The process of deterioration also gave off potentially flammable fumes. That meant the unseen footage had a mixed quality with plenty of fragmentation and the archive had its work cut out editing and choose the best frames.

The film, the oldest surviving motion picture of the coronation, was made by the Royal State Railways of Siam’s film department, which was granted access to the Grand Palace for the first time.

The Royal State Railways’ film department was like the Government Public Relations Department of today. Some of its staff travelled to Hollywood to learn about filmmaking and on return, started shooting events for newsreels. Like elsewhere, moving pictures were seen as the best media to reach the general public.

“Newspapers were popular only in big cities,” says archivist Dome.

Old films discovered in 1981 in an old building belonging to the State Railway of Thailand were mostly in poor condition./Photo courtesy of Thai Film Archive 

King Rama VII’s coronation was screened for the general public. Two versions of the film were made: a five-roll 35mm version that was screened outdoors at the Wang Phayathai (now part of Phramongkutklao Hospital), which was an hour long; and a 15-minute version that the Film Department re-edited and sold to those who wanted it as a collectible.

The coronation film inspired British archaeologist Horace Geoffrey Quaritch Wales, a state officer who was granted permission by King Rama VII to use for his thesis while serving out his posting in Siam. Wales, who went on to become a professor in archaeology and Southeast Asian history at the University of London’s School of Oriental and African Studies, published his thesis titled “Siamese State Ceremonies” in 1931. This was later translated into Thai.

However, the coronation films went unnoticed until 1966, when a copy of the 15-minute version was donated to the National Library by Prince Prem Purachatra as a gift to honour the plan to set up a movie archive department. Prince Prem Purachatra was the son of HRH Prince of Kamphaengphet, the first president of the Royal State Railways of Siam, who held the position when the coronation film was made.

Though the film archive department was not founded as planned, the movie has been preserved since then.

In 1981, Dome went in search for the first film made in Thailand – believed to have been done during King Rama VII’s reign. That led him to the offices of the State Railway of Thailand at Hua Lampong where he found 500 reels that had been left to rot. Among them was the footage of King Rama VII’s coronation.

The discovery marked the beginning of the campaign to preserve old films and eventually led to the birth of the National Film Archive in 1984, which became Thai Film Archive (Public Organisation) in 2009.

The complete 15-minute coronation movie, the 30-minute unseen footage as well as the discussion on coronation films can be seen on Thai Film Archive’s YouTube channel.

 “Arthdal Chronicles” depicts the birth of civilisation and nations in ancient times. It is a story of mythical heroes, their struggle, unity and love of people living in a virtual land called Arth.

The storyline of “Arthdal Chronicles” is centred around the ancient city of Arthdal, established on Arth. Eunseom (Song Joong-ki) is a character who relentlessly fights to protect his own tribe. Eunseom may appear innocent- looking, but his protective instincts are quite strong that he does not hesitate to be aggressive when attacks are imminent. Korean superstar Jang Dong-gun plays Tagon, a son of Sanung who is the leader of Saenyeok Tribe. Tagon is a charismatic and talented yet overwhelmingly dangerous as he buries his feelings so deeply that no one knows when he will explode with anger and rage.

Alongside Eunseom and Tagon are Tanya and Taealha, played by Kim Ji-won from “Descendants of the Sun” and Kim Ok-bin. Tanya is the successor of Wahan Tribe clan mother, who realises her destiny to lead and protect her own people against other powerful tribes. Taealha is the most beautiful lady in Arthdal, and has the strongest desire for power.

“Arthdal Chronicles” is directed by Kim Won-seok whose previous works include “Sungkyunkwan Scandal” and “Misaeng”. “Arthdal” is written by Kim Young-hyun and Park Sang-yeon, the two award-winning screenwriters of the popular Korean historical period dramas “Deep Rooted Tree” and “Queen Seondeok”. Kim is also known for the mega-hit drama “Dae Jang Geum”.

 The new movie from Albert R Broccoli’s Eon Productions and Metro Goldwyn Mayer Studios is directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga and stars Daniel Craig, who returns for his fifth film as Ian Fleming’s 007.

The announcement took place at GoldenEye in Jamaica, once the home of Ian Fleming where he created the James Bond character in 1952. Fleming wrote 12 novels and two collections of short stories on the island. GoldenEye is owned and operated by Island Outpost, founded byChris Blackwell who formerly owned Island Records.

Metro Goldwyn Mayer will release the 25th James Bond feature film domestically through their United Artists banner on April 8 next year. Those living in the UK and Europe will get to see it a few days earlier, with the release set for April 3. The Thai release is set for April 9.

“Bond 25”, as the film is currently being called, stars Ralph Fiennes, Naomie Harris, Rory Kinnear, Lea Seydoux, Ben Whishaw and Jeffrey Wright, all of whom will reprise their roles and newcomers Ana de Armas, Dali Benssalah, David Dencik, Lashana Lynch, Billy Magnussen and Rami Malek.

Bond has left active service and is enjoying a tranquil life in Jamaica. His peace is short-lived when his old friend Felix Leiter from the CIA turns up asking for help. The mission to rescue a kidnapped scientist turns out to be far more treacherous than expected, leading Bond onto the trail of a mysterious villain armed with dangerous new technology.

The 007 production will be based at Pinewood Studios in the UK, and on location in London, Italy, Jamaica and Norway.

Wilson and Broccoli commented, “We’re thrilled to return to Jamaica with ‘Bond 25’, Daniel Craig’s fifth instalment in the 007 series, where Ian Fleming created the iconic James Bond character and ‘Dr No’ and ‘Live And Let Die’ were filmed.”

“Spectre”, the 24th James Bond film, was a global box office hit, earning $880 million. The film broke a new all-time box office record in the UK with the biggest seven-day opening of all time at $63.8 million. Skyfall, the 23rd film in the series, earned $1.1 billion worldwide.

As the first and only street venue in Thailand to be awarded a Michelin star, the queues outside Jay Fai’s shophouse are long as gourmets from around the world flock to taste her signature dishes. Since that win a little over a year ago, Supinya Junsuta, or Jay Fai as she is more commonly known, has been no stranger to the media but now she’s getting more exposure that she ever dreamt of with her inclusion in Netflix’ latest |documentary series “Street Food Asia”.

Netflix worked with the creators of Chef’s Table on the series, which explores the rich culture of street food in Thailand, Japan, India, Indonesia, Taiwan, South Korea, Vietnam, Singapore, and the Philippines, and goes beyond the famous dishes to the sweat and tears that has made the eateries so iconic.

Thailand opens the series and takes viewers behind the scenes to listen to the lady herself.

“I feel sorry for myself,” says Jay Fai after a long pause when asked how she feels after watching herself in the series. “It makes me look back on my life and how I’ve struggled yet I am very honoured and proud to get the Michelin star.”

Each episode of “Street Food Asia” presents three well-known street food eateries and highlights one of them, telling the story of how cooking street food began as a necessity and how through generations of refining and honouring family traditions, it became a life-long passion. In addition to Jay-Fai who taught herself to cook, we meet 100-year old Mbah Lindu in Indonesia who hasn’t changed her recipes since she started.

Jay Fai’s most famous dish Crab Meat Omlette./Netflix Photo

Jay Fai – the “Jay” is a familiar Chinese term for older sister and “Fai” a reference to the mole on her face – was the middle child of nine kids born to a poor family. She describes the rented house in which she grew up and “little more than a slum”, and speaks proudly of her business acumen, which started at the age of eight. A classmate whose father owned a printing company would give her pal free cartoons and the enterprising Pia, as Jay Fai is known to friends, talked that friend into a starting comic book rental business. She charged 25 satangs per book and continued her little enterprises for seven months before her teacher banned her.

“She told me that you came to school to study not to do business,” she recalls.

But that admonishment didn’t stop her looking for other jobs. She went on to help a noodle vendor in her school’s canteen, became a nanny for her teacher and helped another teacher sell curry puffs in the morning. “I just wanted to lessen my mother’s burden,” says the woman who turns 74 in June.

Pia left school when she finished Prathom 4 (Grade 4) – Thailand’s minimum compulsory education at the time – her mother giving her no choice as unless she left, her younger siblings couldn’t study. “I love studying and wanted to study more but I couldn’t,” she says.

She then took a seamstress course and started work while her mother sold chicken noodles and rice porridge on the street helped by her sisters. Her father, she says in the documentary, was an opium addict and abandoned the family when she was very young.

Her life changed again when she was in her 20s and her rented home caught fire. Losing her sewing equipment to the flames, she started looking for something else to do. In the meantime, she watched her mother and sisters cook and was so frustrated at their lack of speed, that she told them she wanted to cook. “They told me ‘no you couldn’t do it’.

“Okay, you don’t think I can do it,” she replied and that night grabbed the wok and started stir-frying noodles. She practised every night and ate what she made.

One night she poured oil into a wok and forgot about it. When she saw the wok was overheating, she panicked, “So I dumped it all out. I got so mad that I just threw noodles into the pan and stirred them furiously. The heat alone browned them nicely and they had such a wonderful taste and aroma.”

The next day she asked her mother to be allowed to work and thus began a whole new career.

She has always maintained that she has a passion for every dish she cooks. “I love every dish. You have to love them, to cook them properly down to every little detail.

Selling street food is not complicated, she says, adding that the downside is that it means working well into the night. By the time she made it into her 30s, she was responsible for all the chicken noodles and often cooked until 4 or 5am and went to bed at dawn. But while she had plenty of customers, there were also disadvantages. Sometimes she couldn’t sell on the sidewalk because it was raining or was stopped by the authorities from putting out her tables.

So she borrowed some money and bought some quality prawns, topping her rad naa (stir-fried noodles topped with gravy) that usually cost Bt20, with a giant-sized portion of seafood and selling the dish for Bt120. “I told my customers that these prawns were totally different. One customer ate them once and kept coming back. He never ordered chicken again. I knew the dish was a success,” she says.

That led Jay Fai to prepare her dishes with expensive seafood, raising the standard of her meals way above regular street food and charging higher prices. It was also the beginning of her signature dish crabmeat omelette, into which she puts almost 500 grams of crab and sells it for Bt1,000.

“I like to cook crab omelette but with that dish I wanted to make something different too. So I taught myself how to make Japanese omelette, rolling several layers of egg around a lot of crab. When I took my first bite, oh! It was so beautiful. I had done it. Now I had something special to sell,” she says.

That dish won her both praise and a lot of orders. She continued to build a whole new menu based on common dishes like tom yum, drunken noodles, and dry rice porridge but with extravagant ingredients. Today her best-selling dish is still the crabmeat omelette, while the most expensive is rad naa made with Mexican abalone that can go as high as Bt10,000 a pop. The cheapest items on the menu are guay tiew kua gai (wok-fried noodles with chicken) and pork rad naa, which start at Bt400.

Jay Fai and her daughter Yuwadee who now helps her to run the shop./Nation photo

Her non-stop creativity helped her save up the money to move into a permanent shophouse and has attracted people from around the world. Famous guests have included Martha Stewart and she appeared in the food travel programme like “Somebody Feed Phil” before earning a Michelin star in the first edition of Thailand’s “little red book”.

And she is known not just for her dishes but also for her appearance – she wears giant goggles when she cooks.

“I started by borrowing my husband’s motorbike goggles after I had eye surgery. I used them to protect my eyes after the surgery and liked them so much that I continued. Someone has even contacted me to buy the copyright too,” she says with a smile.

The fame has changed her life and she asked her youngest daughter Yuwadee to leave her writing and translating job to help her manage the shop. Meanwhile, Jay Fai stays in the kitchen, doing exactly what she has done for the last 40 years.

“I still cook with a charcoal brazier and am the only cook,” she says.

“I have faith in charcoal fires and iron woks. They taught me to be clever and brave. So for as long as I still have the strength, I will continue cooking.”

Asked whether she has any plans to pass her legacy to her daughter, Jay Fai says that it’s not easy.

“I’m old, but I always remind them that while they may be younger, I am stronger. It’s hard work handling the wok for hours every day and then you have to deal with your staff and your customers,” she says.

Her daughter who is now busy managing the queues at the restaurant agrees and knows that she can’t be the next Jay Fai though she is interested in continuing the family’s restaurant in her own way.

“I am a different generation and I can’t be her. If I do, I will find my own way. I want to be strong like her but at the same time, like anyone else at my age, there has to be a work-life balance too,” says Yuwadee, adding that to avoid disappointment, customers are advised to make a reservation is via email at jayfaibangkok@gmail.com. They will get a confirmation email in return.

Smith plays Henry Brogan, a veteran assassin, who is suddenly targeted and pursued by a mysterious young operative who can seemingly predict his every move.

“This story is not one that could have been told with cinema as we know it,” says Lee, whose work with CG on his previous film “Life of Pi” won him plenty of critical acclaim.

“However, thanks to incredible new digital technology, not only can we finally see both younger and older Will Smith embodied together on screen, but we can also experience the story in a deeply immersive way.

“It is my great fortune to be able to experiment and test the limits of what new digital cinema has to offer us. No less so to be able to work with two Will Smiths – one beautifully sophisticated, the other exuberantly honest. In my opinion, this is Will at his very best, and when the two come together, it is something truly magical. The immense effort and technical skill of the crew in creating a new aesthetic, between the cinematography, art department, visual effects and technical team, was both inspiring and heartwarming. I truly hope that this movie delivers a completely new theatrical cinematic experience to audiences across the world,” Lee adds.

“The emotional and physical challenges of making this film have been the most demanding of my career. Ang is pushing the limits to give people an experience in the movie theatre that you can’t get anywhere else. This is not only an action film, but an exploration of what one’s younger self can ultimately teach one’s older self. I’m 50-years-old now, and the irony of becoming 23-year-old Junior in this film is that 23-year-old me wouldn’t have been ready for this experience or to take on this role. Our hope is that this story provides something for everyone – never before seen cinematic wizardry, nuanced, relatable characters and nextlevel action,” adds the actor.