Ah Niu, no longer a Kampung Boy.
Hailing from Penang, is a kampong boy that has made it big in the entertainment industry. His success is not defined by his looks nor his style, but it’s that friendly sincere boy next door look, a very localised and unique voice, that has helped him find fame as a musician, actor and now a director of movies. He’s more popularly known as Ah Niu.
The name is an extension of the man himself. He’s an easy going, humble and down to earth. His songs are catchy, easy to sing along and are stories of our daily lives; of things we can easily relate to.
At the start of our interview with Ah Niu, the impression we get of him is that of a strict fatherly figure head who has a tight leash on things. But on the contrary, he shares his daughter is actually stricter, and in fact is the one that’s bullying or controlling of him.
He goes on to share, his twelve year old daughter is pretty stubborn, has got her own opinions of things, and he’s even got to reason with her when imparting a different opinion. In fact, he jokingly shares he doesn’t even feel like he’s the head of the house.
At one stage, because of his very busy work schedule, his relationship with his daughter at one stage, seem somewhat distanced. Because of that, despite his crazy schedules, he consciously tries to make an effort to spend time with her and to strengthen their relationship.
Life’s like a movie and we are the casts
Movies directed by Ah Niu like “Ice Kacang Puppy Love” or the more recent “The Wedding Diary 2” are a reflection of his personal life. As depicted in “The Wedding Diary 2”, where scenes of the lead actresses’ woes like leg cramps and such are all experiences his ex-wife has had.
When ask if he’s brought his experience as a father into the big screen, he replies he tries where ever possible.
Ah Niu also shares he’s really happy that child actor, Wei Wei’s, out-going personality has made the filming process a lot smoother as she’s not afraid of strangers despite her young age. He compares that with his daughter, who’s afraid of the opposite sex and people of other nationalities.
To him, the biggest challenge for him as an actor in the movie was to convincingly project ones’ emotion when crying. No matter how much emotional hurt the lead actress tried to inflict on him, it just wasn’t enough to bring him to tears. He then elaborate, he’s not used to crying in front people. He will usually hide himself away before he lets it go. For as the saying goes, men shed blood before tears, he always try to maintain macho!
Laws of Attraction
When filming “The Wedding Diary 2”, as the casts for this follow-up movie remains the same, we have had a lot of fun working on set and we really open our hearts and pour ourselves into the movie. Ah Niu also shares, Kara Hui and Marcus Chin are like a big kid, who’s very energetic, love to joke and play pranks.
Kara Hui in particular likes to tease and punch Ah Niu in the chest, to the point where he’s now fearful of her. Whenever she’s close by, Ah Niu would naturally lift his hands to protect himself. Even though Ah Niu is already a father, he’s still like a kid that’s never really grown up, easily bullied but the life of the group.
As a film director himself, Ah Niu does not interfere with the decisions of the film director Adrian Teh. He tries his best to live up to the expectations and requests.
阿牛不再是邻家男孩
胆识够、才气足就是属龙的人与生俱来的性格，出道至今，属龙的阿牛配上他那种不屈不饶的“牛精神”，不仅让他在乐坛上一炮而红，而且也让他稳站影坛。
一位从槟城小镇踏入演艺圈的邻家男孩，不靠光鲜亮丽的外表，也不靠英俊帅气的脸庞，凭着那股傻劲和一把纯净的声音，为自己的歌艺生涯开扩了另一片天地，成为大马中文乐坛无人不晓的歌手兼导演——陈庆祥。
或许大家快把他的真名给忘了，因为大家都习惯叫他“阿牛”，这可爱又亲切的名字相当符合他的形象。一直以来，他那随和、亲民的性格，不仅深入民心，而且首首耳目熟祥的歌曲，都能让人琅琅上口。
在开始接受访问时，阿牛表现得比较拘谨，难免会令人误以为私底下的他是位很严格的父亲，但他却反驳说：“我有一个很严格的女儿”。
原来对阿牛而言，12岁的女儿就像“牛魔女”般会比较凶，而且有很多属于自己的想法，要管她较难，只能跟她说道理。他坦言，自己还常常被女儿欺负，所以私底下，他都没有表露父亲的威严。
此外，他也说道，之前因为工作忙碌的关系，导致父女关系疏远，但现在他会多抽时间陪陪女儿，以增进父女之间的感情。
人生如戏，戏如人生
无论是阿牛执导的《初恋红豆冰》抑或近期主演的《结婚那件事之后》电影，戏里的故事剧情都相当贴近他自己的生活。就像《结婚那件事之后》这部电影，剧情里描述了一些“老婆”江若琳怀孕时的一些特征，如脚抽筋、馋嘴等等的一些征兆，都会让阿牛不禁想起前妻怀孕时的状态。
当他被问及在拍摄期间是否会把私底下当父亲角色搬上荧幕时，他表示自己会尽量把所会的“招术”搬上去，因为在拍片时一定要与小孩子保持良好的关系。
令阿牛感到庆幸的是，小主角李伟炫（伟伟）是一位比较外向的小孩，因此他都不会太抗拒陌生人，让拍摄顺利进行。此外，他也提到小主角不像自己的女儿般，对男生以及黑皮肤的人比较抗拒。
至于，让他觉得拍摄最大的挑战就是演哭戏，尽管女主角江若琳在他面前提起许多伤心事，都无法令他成功流泪，真是功亏一篑。他坦言，自己不习惯在那么多人面前哭，就算伤心都会躲起来才哭，或许他的性格就像大家常说的“男人流血不流泪”般的坚强。
魅力不减，常被袭胸
继《结婚那件事》之后，这次与其他演员再度合作，所以大家都会摊开胸怀，玩得不亦乐乎。阿牛也爆料，惠英红、陈健彬等，就像大孩子般，相当活泼，爱说笑话之余，也爱作弄人。
贪玩的惠英红更爱经常捏“牛胸”，导致阿牛对她有恐惧感，看到她来时，即刻捂住自己的胸部，避免被袭胸。虽然已为人父，但阿牛的样子就像长不大的小孩般，容易被欺负，因此大家都爱与他玩乐。
尽管他本身也是导演，但在拍摄时，他却不会与郑建国导演闹意见，他会尽量去配合导演的所有需求。
冬天过了，春天还会远吗?
相信大家都好奇想知道，再次扮演夫妻的阿牛和江若琳是否会檫出爱的火花呢？对阿牛而言，江若琳的性格就像男孩儿般，做兄弟会比较适合。若非要他选谈恋爱对象，他会觉得斯文的王心如会比较适合自己。
不过，这些也只是假设性的问题，他对自己的下一个春天并没有想太多，一切顺其自然就好。
重新寻回理智
相信大家都知道，之前阿牛为了圆自己的导演梦，开拍《初恋红豆冰》不惜一切的把房子抵押，瞬间成为众人的焦点。不过，这已成为过去，若再度开拍电影时，他表示，自己只会做一些适当的投资，不会再做一些那么不理智的事情了。
隔了4、5年没发专辑的他，这一次他重回乐坛，筹备推出个人新专辑，还是一样会以亲民的方式去呈现。唯一不同的是，这一次他长大了，从歌曲中会听到他成熟的一面。
送龙迎蛇，春回大地，又一年。在新的一年里，阿牛希望能达到郑建国导演的目标，《结婚那件事之后》这部电影要突破500万的票房，也希望大家能力捧这部电影。
