Panna Rittikrai. Mini biography

01.08.2009EvilDollaR

Режиссёра и исполнителя главной роли в классическом тайском боевике “Рождённый сражаться” (Born to Fight), Панну Риттикрай, можно без угрызений совести назвать человеком, которому самому удалось развить жанр тайских боевиков. Причем, не только вдохновить будущую звезду двух “Онг-Баков” и “Защитника” Тони Джаа, но и заложить прочный фундамент для их совместного сотрудничества, которое со временем принесло им всемирную славу.

Panna Rittikrai was born in 1961 in the small Thai village of Kon Kaen. A fan of martial arts films since childhood, he never stopped hoping that one day he would work in films. While in college, he created his own stunt team called “Seng Stunt Team”, consisting of 20 members.

Panna Rittikrai's career in the Thai film industry began with an appointment as a stuntwoman at Coliseum Films. There he was to teach kung fu to rising Thai action star Sureewan Suriyong for the film Petch Tud Yok. This position was his starting point and he later became a stunt coordinator in the film “Phayakyeegey”, and soon made his debut as a director and actor in his first action film “Born to Fight”. This action film radically changed the life of an unknown village youth named Panom Yirum. Having difficulty obtaining his father's consent, dreaming of a career in cinema, he went to Panna and later became known as Tony Jaa.

Panna and Tony's first film together, “Spirited Killer” (1994), which boasted impressive fight scenes, never made it to the public eye. Fortunately for fans of action films, this couple was not going to give up so easily, creating more and more new films (Hard Gun, Mission Fighter 2, Nuk leng klong yao, Iron Angels 3, etc.). Literally ten years later they reappeared with the spectacular Muay Thai masterpiece, the action film Ong Bak, in which Panna was the fight director and screenwriter. The film was a breath of fresh air in a genre dominated by soulless computer effects and animation. The fight scenes looked as realistic as possible, and the stunts were more than dangerous. 2004 was a very productive year for Rittikrai. He managed to work on three projects at once: “The Protector” (Tom Yum Goong), the action comedy “The Bodyguard” and the remake of “Born to Fight” with Dan Chupong and members of the Thai Olympic athletics team.

“You've probably never heard of my films,” Panna told the Bangkok Post in 2004. “They are popular among taxi drivers, somtam sellers, security guards and the working population of Isaan. My most loyal fans are ordinary people from remote areas. They lay out mattresses on the ground, drink homemade whiskey and watch my films.”

Then there was “Mercury Man” (2006) with the position of stunt coordinator, a role in “Dynamite Warrior” (2006), stunt staging in “The Bodyguard 2” (2007), choreography in “Chocolate” (2008) and “Power Kids” ( 2009). In “Ong-Bak 2” and “Power Kids” Panna Rittikrai was not only a choreographer, but also a producer. He is currently working on the third part of the film “Ong-Bak” (work on “Furious Phoenix” has been completed).

A compilation of stunts from the film “Born to Fight” with the participation of Panna Rittikrai

Source: imdb, allmovie, netglimse
Translation: EvilDollaR

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