Wait is over as Gecko |all set to love Pang

DIRECTOR YUTHLERT “Tom” Sippapak – who infamously abandoned his potentially controversial film “Pitupoom” (“Fatherland”) at the producer’s request – “took a break”, so to speak, by making a romantic comedy with the odd title “Tuk-kae Rak Pang Mak” (literally “Gecko Loves Pang Very Much”).
The movie from M Pictures is set for release on August 28, interest buoyed along by the wacky title and Tom venturing well beyond his customary fare. But “there’s no such thing as ‘Tom’s style of filmmaking’,” insists the genre-jumping director, who’s done everything from action to melodrama and horror to comedy, often all at the same time. “For once I just wanted to do a love story where nobody dies.”
In “Gecko”, Tom takes a nostalgic look at the love lives of young people in the 1980s, when disco was king and all the kids hung out at Siam Centre. “There was no Internet, Facebook or even mobile phones back then, but love could still be communicated,” he says.
In the title roles are Jirayu “Kow” La-ongmanee and Chontimda “Pleng” Asavahame, daughter of singer-actress Nantida Kaewbuasai.
“People don’t like geckos, but the main character in this film will change their attitude,” Tom promises the little lizards. The character’s name, however, did cost him superstar Nadech Kukimiya, who he wanted for the title role but whose mum didn’t want anyone referring to him as Gecko.
It doesn’t matter because Kow looks to be the perfect fit for the role. Tom needed a “boy next door” type, an innocent kid from upcountry who lands in big, bad Bangkok. As for the heroine, Tom handpicked Pleng, saying he wasn’t looking for eye-popping beauty.
“He saw her in Dichan magazine and was immediately impressed,” says Pleng’s mother, Nantida. “He said he didn’t care about looks but only the eyes and the emotions.” Tom says writing the script was a snag once he had Pleng’s eyes in his mind and under contract. “Pang and Pleng both have the same fighting spirit, too,” he says. “They’re not too soft and not too strong.”
Nantida says she’s darn proud of Pleng’s movie debut, but unfortunately she won’t be able to attend next Monday’s gala premiere because she’ll be busy on the set of her TV series, “Banlang Mek”. “But I’m sure going to be at the premiere with my friends,” she says. “When Pleng was young, if she played a tree or a stone in a school play, I’d always be there. And this is her first movie, so I’m really proud!” Asked whether she actually wants her daughter following in her footsteps, Nantida says she certainly didn’t expect it, “but if she does and she enjoys it, it will be okay.”
Pleng does indeed appear to be following the family tradition, Nantida says, having also just accepted a role in a TV series, but the details of that are a secret for now. Any other projects will be considered on a case-by-case basis because Pleng is still studying at university and can really only do shoots on school breaks or on weekends.
“And I think she still needs more experience, since she’s still a novice,” Mum says. Pleng is only 18, after all, but she’s also pretty lucky to have a veteran actress for a mother, ready with all the advice and encouragement she’ll ever need.