Pooh starts over with "Stop", but it's a scary comeback
Anchalee "Pooh" Chongkhadikig, who had a string of hits in the 1980s as both a singer and an actress, has made a "hell" of a comeback at age 59 that's likely to garner her a new generation of fans.
Pooh sings the theme tune of “The Couple”, the new horror movie from Talent 1 Studio, and offered a live rendition at Monday’s press conference promoting the film. She still looks and sounds great.
Set for release the night before Halloween, “The Couple” stars Pichaya “Golf” Nithipaisarnkul and Sucha “Orm” Manaying as newlyweds whose wedding night takes a nasty turn when his dead sister shows up. The ghost, evidently wishing to deliver a message of some sort, gradually begins to possess the bride.
A chilling tale like this needs suitably ghoulish music playing in the background, so they got Pooh to sing the Groove Riders’ “Yood” (Stop”). That’s right, the bouncy, upbeat track that’s so popular among marrying couples it’s become a wedding anthem. Also right, the lyrics have nothing to do with the movie. But the song’s been given a fresh arrangement and the melody and tone have been “warped” a little bit, so it does indeed add to the goose bumps.
Husky-voiced Pooh admits amid giggles that she’s never done such a creepy tune before. “My songs in the movies were all lovely, romantic songs that I sang with Byrd Thongchai 30 years ago,” she says. Her radio hits included the sensationally popular “Nueng Diaw Khon Nee” (“The One and Only”), and she also made history by co-starring in a TV commercial for Pepsi with American rock diva Tina Turner, an ad that was aired in many countries, not just Thailand.
In her heyday is seemed she could do no wrong in whatever she did, and that extended to acting with Byrd in the romantic movie “Duay Rak Khue Rak”, directed by MC Tipayacaht Chatchai. Her own songs inspired the script and every track from her latest hit album was featured. And Byrd hadn’t even released his first album yet!
Prodigal daughter is back
The gorgeous Ditlada “Stang” Disayanon has decided it’s time to live up to her duties as a member of the third generation of the Kaljaruek family, which runs the giant Kantana entertainment empire.
Stang’s compass was pointed elsewhere when, at age 15, she opted to move to New York and pursue her dream of becoming a model. She’s had a good run on the runway, and still loves the work, but she’s 23 now and preparing to rejoin the clan in its own field of expertise.
While attending the recent wedding of her cousin Kulp Kaljaruek (director of “Hong Hoon”) and actress Rattanarat “Ploy” Aurthaveekul, Stang reported that she’s studying for a master’s degree in marketing communication at the University of Westminster in London. Once she’s got that, she’ll be back in Thailand to join the family business – specifically helping her mother Jitlada produce TV series. “If any modelling jobs come my way, though, I’d still love to do it,” she said.
Jitlada was never thrilled about her daughter’s venture onto the catwalks, but Stang said it was her own decision to abandon her career ambitions in modelling. She knows the time is approaching for her generation to take up the reins at Kantana. Her cousins, who are all her age, started working there right after graduation.
