‘KURUPT FM’ GO BIG IN JAPAN!
16th August 2021
It’s out this week ‘Big In Japan’ on the big screen, birthed by the Bafta winning TV show ‘People Just Do Nothing!
Allan Mustafa, Hugo Chegwin, Asim Chaudhry, Steve Stamp and Dan Sylvester have been friends for over a decade, in their debut movie the guys head to Japan where they have become big stars unintentionally. Kurupt FM is no longer a big thing at home and this is their chance to live it up in another country, create a whole new fanbase and in their usual style party hard. Their music has been used on a big Japanese TV game show with help from manager Chabuddy G they plan to make it big!
The interesting thing about ‘Big In Japan’ is you don’t have to be invested in the TV show or be familiar with the characters to enjoy it. Packed with banter, adventure and friendship, this movie feels good, silly, cheeky and honestly won’t offend anyone. If you are a fan of the BBC TV series you will feel more of a connection with the characters I guess and be a little more invested, but overall this film has a beginning, middle and end that takes you on a journey of friendship, loyalty and dreams. The director Jack Clough who playfully describes himself as the posh one in the group hoped that the movie when making it would attract a new audience and not just be a continuation of the TV show.
“We wanted to make sure new people could come onboard but also kept the soul of the series. So everything that makes the series work should be there but then you just step it up cinamategly so it becomes bigger and more rewarding thing while still being a mockumentary, which was definitely a challenge we had loads of conversations the right way to step it up, because we don’t want to lose a rawness to it the improv side of it we want to be able to keep all those things feeling like it’s been captured. If you notice what I’m doing in a way it shouldn’t ever feel directed, it should feel like it’s being captured as it’s happening, that’s the aim.”
“I’m the posh freak that follows them around. They are telling a story from the world they come from, so making sure everything feels real and right and is an homage and fits into the scene all the right ways I think was crucial to making the whole show work. We wanted to attract new fans with the film. Also represent Japan in a respectful way in the film. We tried to be respectful everywhere we went. What’s weird about Japan is you can’t get permits to work anywhere on the streets so we blagged it all. Basically you can’t get permission to film so at any point the police could come and tell you to stop. So let’s go for it and to be honest with you everyone just ignored us completely. You get more attention in Soho when everyone sees a camera while here they just walking past us.”
Watching the film you will find yourself wondering how much of the characters are really a part of the guys personalities in real life, it feels like this is almost for Allan and Hugo definitely a way of expressing their love for music, and living out a dream to be musicians. A greatest hits is due with new music out recently with the likes of Craig David, Mist and Jaykae confirms music very much is intertwined in the acting.
“Allan is most similar to his character Grinda… but he’s such a lovely guy and Grinda is such a dickhead so I feel bad even saying that, but they all have bits of themselves in the characters. Bits of truth, either via who they know or met, or they were that person back when they were teenagers and now it’s like a parody of themselves. Steve is the one that is most different, when I watched the YouTube stuff I was worried like was he going to be a nightmare to direct some drugged out person but turns out no he is a really sensible guy.” Jack Clough, Director.
In any group of friends there will come a time to spread your wings and pursue solo endeavours but in the meantime enjoy Kurupt Fm on the big screen having fun and not taking themselves too seriously. Highlights include a Japanese TV show appearance in lycra where they are dubbed ‘Bang boys’ and a promo campaign with their new A&R trying to make them into a sexy boy-band. Steves gets some action, the female kind while Grinda’s ego takes over and almost splits the gang for good. ‘Big In Japan’ is loud, colourful and filmed in a mockumentary style. At the heart this is ‘Kurupt FM’ trying to make it one more time and live out their dreams in a new exciting place, isn’t that what we all want, second chances? The movie was a collaborative effort by all the cast and Director Jack reveals.
“I mean it’s different in different parts of the process, initial start, writing ideas. Imagine everyone throwing in and chatting over each other then eventually it will get into the fine details where Steve will take that one much more. Then when it gets I the directing parts like we do a lot of improv around the script and within the script. It will later up we will be doing the scripts and people will be saying their lines, while trying to remember their lines and then we will start feeding in extra jokes and eventually everyone will be chatting over each other and then you go in and say “say that” cause that’s really funny, don’t say that bit and let’s focus on that bit and then you start to get a bit of structure, so that’s when my role as a director is to come in. Here’s what we are doing and how we are doing it. It’s actually really hard when you get into the edits you sort of go through and watch this long thing but I love that but does it work with that bit or just slow down the story in that bit. If we have that bit of improv we can’t have that bit too. It’s so much fun and I get to sit behind the monitor and say ‘tell that orange story again’ and this time Grinda can tell it. It’s such a collaborative process, we will all be so opinionated but it all comes from the right place, everyone either loves that part, or thinks it’s really funny, ‘how could you get rid of that’ but then eventually we all need end up with a bit that we love as it’s our favourite bit. We are open and talk through it all, it’s a really rewarding process.”
BIG IN JAPAN IS OUT FROM THE 18TH AUGUST 2021 IN U.K CINEMAS!
