Jon M. Chu proud of 'Crazy Rich Asians'

Director Jon M. Chu says he is proud after working with "the most talented Asian actors" on "Crazy Rich Asians".

"Several years ago, my sisters, mom, aunt and uncles all emailed me that I had to read this book 'Crazy Rich Asians'. And that I would then have to make it into a movie. I read and loved the novel, but I was in the middle of directing a movie," Chu said in a statement to IANS.

"Two years after that, my sister reminded me about 'Crazy Rich Asians'. I discovered that Nina Jacobson and Brad Simpson, two producers who I really looked up to, had the movie rights to the book. At the same time, I knew I had to direct 'Crazy Rich Asians' because I was at a point in my career where I was looking for something more personal," he added.

Billed as the first contemporary English language Hollywood movie with an almost all-Asian cast after a long time, "Crazy Rich Asians" is based on the book by Kevin Kwan with the same name.

It tells the story of Chinese-American Rachel Chu, her boyfriend Nick Young and the adventure that they go on when Nick takes Rachel to Singapore for his best friend's wedding. The Warner Bros' project stars Constance Wu, Henry Golding, Gemma Chan, Awkwafina, Nico Santos, Lisa Lu, Ken Jeong and Michelle Yeoh.

Chu says he "had always put my Asian heritage to the side because I just wanted to be a filmmaker".

"But at the same time, there was this whole revolution happening on social media about not whitewashing movies - casting Caucasians in Asian roles - and Constance Wu was one of the leaders of this movement, with her television series 'Fresh off the Boat'. It really inspired me. I was in a position where I could now ask a movie studio to finance a movie like this," he added.

He thinks this is chapter two of his career.

"It flips a page for me. I was proud to find and cast the most talented Asian actors from all around the world. It opened my eyes for sure," added the director.

The film opened in India on October 5.

--IANS

sug/sim/sed