Getai girls rule again

Photo: ALPHONSUS CHERN

HOW do you follow up a mainstream breakthrough that was also a runaway homegrown pop phenomenon as well as Singapore's official entry for the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film?

Director Royston Tan's answer: Give the crowd what they want.

So his new film 12 Lotus, which opens tomorrow, returns to the familiar stomping ground covered by his getai flick 881.

Inspired by the hard-luck song 12 Lotus, it tells the melodramatic story of Lian Hua (the Lotus of the title played by 881 alum Mindee Ong), a talented singer who is made use of by the men in her life.

The stakes are higher this time round. After all, 881 beat even reigning box-office champion director Jack Neo's Just Follow Law to the No. 1 spot last year with a gross of $3.5 million.

It also spawned two Hokkien-heavy hit soundtracks, tuned hipsters into the entertainment value of getai and proved that Tan, the enfant terrible of Singapore independent film, had what it takes to make a commercial film.