MTV Asia Launches Its First TV Drama Series Rouge

MTV is premiering a new action-comedy titled Rouge on MTV’s Southeast Asian
channel. The show’s plot is reminiscent of Charlie’s Angels and stars five
females that live the fantasy life of pop-stars by day and spies by night.

The five actresses were handpicked out of a pool of 400 hopefuls after five
long months of auditions. After making the cut, they went through a three-day
boot camp to test their endurance.

The soon-to-be stars are a diverse group with very different backgrounds. 
There are two Filipino natives, one Singaporean, one Vietnamese, and one
American with a Thai mother. They will collaborate this October to form a
group of talented and intelligent females dedicated to fighting evil.

What:  MTV’s Action-drama Rouge
When:  Series begins October 2004
Where:  Southeast Asia
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Singaporean Punk Rock Group Releases Rebellious Debut Album

Zircon Gov. Pawn Starz, the threesome formerly known as Zircon Lounge,
recently released their debut album Follywood. Reviews have interpreted the
album’s explicit lyrics and risqué content as an attempt to rebel against
Singapore’s restrictive government and loosen up the conservative population.

The album is a combination of punk-rock music and anti-establishment
sentiments. In songs like "Media Whore" the group attacks pop-stars in
Singapore as people that cater to the mainstream without having a mind of
their own.

This is a gutsy album that parodies the Singaporean national crest on the
front cover and flaunts the phrase, “Nu-school f*cker, Singapore f*cker!”
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Hong Kong Filmmaker Ann Hui Delivers Action Instead of Drama

Director Ann Hui, renowned for her character-dramas like July Rhapsody is
giving audiences a new type of film.  Jade Goddess of Mercy, is an emotional
action-thriller that combines a love story with action-packed shootouts.
The film’s plot centers a female police officer (Vicky Zhao Wei) who becomes
infatuated and romantically involved with a mysterious stranger (Nicholas Tse)
who turns out to be a drug-smuggler.  When Zhao discovers his secret,
she quickly becomes torn between love and her profession.

The film is of a different style than we are used to expecting from director
Ann Hui. However, the film's uniqueness lies in its surprising success at
combining mainstream mainland actors with Hong Kong’s “indie” actors.

Film: Jade Goddess of Mercy
When: Release Date November 30, 2004
Where: China
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Bollywood Films Gain Popularity As They Get Steamier

Two recently released Bollywood films Murder and Hawas (Lust) have become
smash hits with Indian audiences.  The conspicuous correlation between the
film’s success and its sex-based themes is no coincidence.  Producers can no
longer afford to ignore the “sex sells” recipe anymore.

Both films involve sexually liberated Indian women engaging in adultery with
bold and unapologetic attitudes.  Never before have these themes been
explored in Indian cinema. These two movies are just a small part of a
growing trend in which filmmakers are showing graphic kissing scenes and
exploring risqué topics like lesbianism.  Audiences can even expect a take-
off of D.H. Lawrence’s classic novel – Laila Chatterjee’s Lover.

The films’ approval and popularity reflect a change in attitudes by a
typically traditional Indian audience.  Even the censor board is becoming
increasingly liberal and tolerant of sexually explicit themes that involve
more skin and more male-female contact.
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Amuro Namie Completes Tour In Seoul With Great Success

Japanese pop-star Amuro Namie ended her “So Crazy” tour in Seoul last
Saturday. The tour involved 36 cities and over 300,000 fans. Amuro’s
performance was the biggest thing to hit Korea since the recent lift on the
ban of Japanese cultural products in Korea.

The Okinawa native definitely gave fans their money’s worth for the three
nights that she performed in the Olympic Park Gymnasium. She combined
impressive vocals with unique dance moves. At one point, teen idol Rain took
the stage and drove fans into a frenzy. While the fact that the two never
performed together disppointed fans a little, overall, the tour was a huge
success.
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Sony’s Anime Channel Animax Coming To Indian Network

Animax, Sony’s 24-hour Anime channel, is looking to expand its scope to an
Indian audience. The channel already reaches 5.5 million homes in Japan,
Taiwan, Hong Kong and Southeast Asia. The Animax Corporation has expressed
big hopes for success in India.

The programs will be dubbed in both Hindi and English and with a huge portion
(43%) of India’s growing population under age 20, Animax knows this is a big
step forward. The unique anime style is expected to be very successful
because of its ability to reach out to youth irrespective of their culture.

The channel will feature shows like Astro Boy, Ghost in the Shell, Stand
Along Complex, and even the Indian-specific Arjuna, a show based on the
ancient Indian story of the Mahabharata.

What:  Animax
When:  July 5, 2002
Where: India
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Ponds Commercial Inspires Malaysian Romantic-comedy Series

When the cosmetic brand Ponds used the classic boy-meets-girl scenario to
sell their product, they never expected the host of mail that they would
receive. Viewers wrote in about how the commercial had touched them and
inquired as to whatever happened to the couple.

Advertisers capitalized on the success brought on by the commercial by
creating sequels and even a contest with a prize for who could guess what
happens in the next commercial when the couple goes out on a date.
Producers recently decided to use the popular commercials to spin off a 13-
episode English-language mini-series that will quench the viewers’ curiosity
as to what happens next with Adam (Azizan Nin) and Sue (Melissa Maureen). 

The series, Table for Two, is about the couple’s daily interactions and
conflicts. The series’ advertisement-based origin is unprecedented in the
media. 

What:  Malaysian sit-com Table for Two
Where/When:  TV3 on July 19, 2004
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Korean Trio V.O.S. Releases Debut Album

Male trio V.O.S. originally intended to be an album-less group but after the
success of their first single “For My Precious One," demands for a debut
album were too great to ignore.

The group announced that they would remain album-less and release another
single in May. However, Star Empire decided to maintain the groups mounting
popularity by scrapping the original plan and pushing the group to create an
entire album by early May.

What:  V.O.S. Debut Album
When:  May 13, 2004