Cops and robber

 A victim of financial troubles and political conflict as well as a myriad of other problems, “Khun Pan”, a chronicle of the life of crime-buster Khun Phantharak Rajjadej in the deep South during the 1930s, is finally coming to cinemas.

Directed by Kongkiat Komesiri and starring Ananda Everingham and Krisada Sukosol Clapp, the film should have hit the big screen in 2014 but was put on indefinite hold, with producer Somsak “Sia Jiang” Techaratanaprasert only giving Kongkiat the green light to take up where he left off late last year. 

The director admits he almost gave up on the project several times and even thought of withdrawing his name from the movie. The problems, he tells XP, ranged from a shrinking budget to the uncertainties of Thailand’s political situation and the coup. 

The financial issues, he explains, arose from Sahamongol’s loss of more than Bt100 million on “Tom Yum Goong 2”, a film head honcho Somsak was sure would be a success. “That affected lots of other films including ‘Khun Pan’,” he says. “Fortunately, we had finished the project but the studio still decided to shelf it. 

“I remember telling my team that we would need to be superhuman to overcome all the obstacles, so it is amazing that we finally came up with the finished product.”

“Khun Pan” is an adaptation of the career of Pol Maj-General Khun Phanthrak Rajadej during the 1930s and ’40, who was best known for using his “supernatural” powers to take down notorious criminals in the south of Thailand and the central region.

He died in 2006 but his name once again turned up on everyone’s lips during the craze for the Jatukam Ramathep talismans in 2007. Khun Pan was a maker of the amulets. 

Kongkiat says his film has nothing to do with the Jatukam amulets, pointing out that Khun Pan’s real life was much more interesting than the short-lived Jatukam phenomenon.

Set in 1938, the film focuses on the period in the crime buster’s life when he was promoted and sent to the South of Thailand, which was home to several notorious criminals. In real life, Khun Pan and his fellow cops brought down Awesado Talae who robbed and killed people in Narathiwat’s Budo mountain range. A disturbingly cruel man, Awesado was said to have magical powers that protected him, his guns and other weapons.

In the film, however, Khun Pan (Ananda) is a young cop who has earned a reputation for busting criminals and is sent to a remote area where the lives of the residents are being threatened by crooks and corrupt bureaucrats. His mission is to catch the notorious criminal Al-hawi Yalu (Krisada).

Shooting had already started based on Khun Pan’s real history when Somsak told Kongkiat to change the character’s name to avoid conflict. “He was worried because Awesado was not just a robber but also part of the early separatist movement,” the director says.

“The film isn’t a biography. It’s important that moviegoers understand that before criticising the film for not being true to history. In fact, ‘Khun Pan’ is an entertaining action movie portraying a cop who catches a criminal. 

Kongkiat became interested in the project a few years back when he was working as assistant director on Thanit Chitnukul’s “Khun Phaen”. He even wrote the script for a scene. Only later did he hear that Somsak had been in contact with Khun Pan’s family and had shortlisted several directors, of which he was one. 

“He wanted me to make a Thai action hero film, something like “007” but using Khun Pan’s story,” he says.

That meant finding the right stars for the project and Kongkiat immediately thought of Ananda and Krisada. However, because both actors are of mixed parentage – Krisada is Thai-American and Ananda is Lao-Australian – much work was needed in instructing them in the background to the story and the context of the cop’s supernatural powers. 

“I always believed I could take them right into the characters. Once when you see them in the film, you will forget they are Ananda and Krisada,” says the director.

He also adopted different approaches to working with each actor. As Kongkiat and Ananda shared similar notions of movies they had watched, Kongkiat chose to refer the actor to characters in these other films. “For example, I told him that that I wanted him to work with Krisada like Robert De Niro and Al Pacino in “Heat” but to make it like Batman is fighting with the Joker,” he says.

He took another approach with Krisada, Having worked with the actor on “Antapal”, Kongkiat was aware that Krisada needed a deep understanding of the character’s own story to allow him to create the character’s personality.

Portraying Al-hawi was however more complicated. The robber, says the director, suffered greatly as a child and this affected his sanity. His madness escalated when he became obsessed by black magic. The director explained to the actor the meanings of the criminal’s tattoos and how his mind was manipulated by the magic.

“It’s been so much fun working with them and seeing how they portray the characters,” he says.

And even though some of the magic involves becoming bulletproof, the director insists that “Khun Pan” is not a fantasy film.

“I call it a ‘magical realist’ story as the supernatural power in this film is believable,” he says.

And with the studio wanting to create a local action hero, filmgoers can expect to see the crime buster returning to the screen for another of his real life missions.

  MAGIC IN THEIR MOVES

  “Khun Pan” will be in theatres on July 14.