IT was a demand he couldn't ignore.

The message essentially was, 'Change the title of your movie, or...'

And the people who sent it to Jack Neo were not ones to be trifled with.

The movie Ah Long Pte Ltd stars Fann Wong as a newly-elected triad leader who marries a sissy dance instructor played by Mark Lee.

Last May, Jack had announced the tentative Chinese title to be Ah Long Yao Da Bian, which translates to A Big Change For Loansharks and is also a pun for Loansharks Want To Defecate.

And with that, Jack had unwittingly stepped on some underworld toes.

During an interview with The New Paper at his J Team Productions office at Kampung Ubi, Jack said: 'They sent word through a friend - who knows some of these people - that I should change the title.

'Basically, their message was, don't belittle them in the title.'

Jack, 48, was reluctant to go into details, but he revealed that it wasn't so much of a threat, but more of a 'solemn' message.

And obviously, he didn't want to take chances.

So the title has since been changed to Lao Shi Jia Lao Da (which translates to Teacher Marries Triad Leader).

'But we didn't change just because of that feedback. We also didn't want to be too crude for Chinese New Year,' Jack added.

Through the same friend, Jack invited a few of those who sent the message for a focus group screening, which Jack said, went down well with them.

'It was actually one of my worries when making the movie, how the loansharks would react to it.'

Despite it being a comedy, Jack denies that Ah Long Pte Ltd is about taking the mickey out of the underworld.

VARIOUS PERSPECTIVES

'It's about looking at them from various perspectives. You see negative reports of what they do to debtors, but there are also stories of how they get beaten up trying to collect debts.

'The story I'm trying to tell is about how violence need not be part of the Ah Long trade, exploring how they can change their business model.'

On talk that the movie, on the surface, seems rather similar to the Korean movie My Wife Is A Gangster, Jack said the only similarity is on how two very different characters get married.

'You have to watch my movie before you know what I mean.'

Ah Long Pte Ltd stars Fann again.

She was the lead of his Chinese New Year offering last year, Just Follow Law.

In that movie about soul-swapping, Fann had morphed into an uncouth blue-collared worker.

And in Ah Long Pte Ltd, Fann will appear sans makeup with thick fierce eyebrows, hair swept behind and a gigantic tattoo on her back.

And this time, Jack is making her fight too, and with only minimal help from stuntmen as most scenes required close-ups.

'Every day, she would show me her bruises. There could be four or five today and six or seven the next...

'I also made her dangle from six storeys and do a 360-degree somersault. Now, I would be scared too if you asked me to do it. But she never once complained.'

Another reason why he didn't want her to rely on stuntmen, he said cheekily, was his evil plan to 'make her so tired, she wouldn't think too much about her troubles'.

He was, of course, referring to her boyfriend Christopher Lee, who was serving a six-week jail sentence while the film was under production in Malaysia last May.

Jack revealed he had several heart-to-heart chats with Fann when filming was over, but did not want to say more as these were private conversations.

'We all know how professional she is. But during times like this, her professionalism is really admirable.

'You could tell that she was feeling down, but when the camera was on, she still performed like nothing happened.'

TOUGH FIGHT

Despite the 'eye-opening' performance from Fann that Jack is touting, he knows there is a tough fight for the box office ahead.

With Stephen Chow's CJ7 and Jay Chou's Kungfu Dunk also opening on 7 Feb, Jack admits it's the 'toughest competition' he has ever faced.

But it was his own decision to go head to head with these two big-budget blockbusters. Originally, Ah Long Pte Ltd was slated for release in December.

He said: 'The audience has come to expect a Jack Neo movie every Chinese New Year, so it feels weird to stop.'

Over the years, Jack has rolled out movies like I Not Stupid, I Do I Do and Just Follow Law at this time.

But Jack admits that Ah Long Pte Ltd with its $1.2 million budget, is a small fry up against the big boys.

'We shall see how much support we will have from Singaporeans then. I'm very confident we'll (get that) because when you make a sincere film from the heart, people can see it.'

However, Jack covered his eyes when we asked him to estimate his box office takings.

'Oh no, don't ask me about that please! I don't like to set a goal because it's too much pressure!

'I just hope people will find it in them to watch all three movies. You don't necessarily have to pick just one, you know!'

This story was first published on Jan 24, 2008.