It was the year 2021 when Adrian Teh watched a video interview with badminton player Cheah Liek Hou.
The Malaysian sportsman had just won the first para-badminton gold medal at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, a historical win for the country.
His coach, the legendary Datuk Rashid Sidek, also spoke at the interview of how proud he was of Cheah for getting the gold medal for Malaysia – something he came close to getting during his career as a national badminton player. Rashid won bronze at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.
The Paskal director immediately saw the Malaysian spirit captured in the video interview when Cheah hung his gold medal around Rashid’s neck.
Teh knew that this is a story that needed to be told and shared.
“The first reason I wanted to tell this story is because of that video clip. I felt that is the true Malaysian spirit that we need to put out there,” said Teh at a media meet in Kuala Lumpur last week.
“Enough with all the talk of race and whatever that separate us. That is old news.
“Different races working together is the thing we need to focus on and talk about. This is the direction we should all aim to head. And I feel this is the story that depicts that.
“This exemplifies how we can bring glory to the country if we put aside all the unnecessary thoughts. Plus, they won a freaking gold!” the director added.
Teh stared doing his research on Cheah.
He learned that Cheah’s life story and the unbelievable journey the athlete had so far, already felt like a film script.
But when Teh met with Cheah, the latter turned down the director’s offer to turn his story into a film.
Cheah, who was also at the press meet, said: “I didn’t want to do it initially as I thought my story – from when I was very young until now – wasn’t anything special.
“But I did go home and give it some more thought. I tried to recall if my story could be inspiring, and I felt there was something.
“So, I agreed to share my story with Adrian,” he said.
The result of that effort is the film Gold.
And that video clip that inspired Teh to make the film is featured at the end of the film.
Starring Jack Tan as Cheah and Farid Kamil as Rashid, it details young Liek Hou watching all the badminton games live on television, falling in love with the game and developing great admiration for all the national players, especially Rashid.
When the teenager gets the opportunity to join his school’s badminton team, his father (Freddie Ng) encourages him to pursue his dream.
Liek Hou becomes a stellar player and is invited to train with the national team.
It is during this time that he discovers he has Erb’s palsy, which causes his right hand to have less strength and stability.
In a sport that requires players to have a good balance and coordination, Liek Hou has to work twice as hard if he wants to continue playing badminton.
To bring this story to life, Teh knew he had to get the right actors.
The 39-year-old director said that Tan and Farid were his first and only choices.
These two performers themselves felt it to be an honour to portray the badminton heroes, and were more than willing to spend months training and going on a strict diet.
But Tan had a little bit more to overcome than Farid as he didn’t know how to play badminton whereas Farid did.
Farid, 43, said that he played the sport seriously in his teens when his parents enrolled him in badminton training during the height of the Sidek brothers’ success.
“The last time I held a badminton racket was 30 years ago when the Sidek sons were the champions,” said Farid, who previously starred in the biopic Anwar.
“At that time, all the parents were enthusiastic about sending their children to learn badminton. And my parents were among them.
“I played until I was 17 years old. I never played again until the day I got involved in this film.
“And since the time I shot the film last year until now, I have continued playing badminton. That is the magic of the game,” said Farid, who trained for one and a half months for the film.
But it was a different case with Tan, according to Teh.
The director shared: “When I first approached Jack, he did tell me that he was not good in playing badminton.
“But I thought he was just being modest.”
So, Teh invited Tan for a round of badminton.
“Really, he couldn’t play!” Teh said, adding, “But I could also see his determination in wanting to play this role.
“I know he is someone who likes a challenge and is a professional, that’s why I went ahead and cast him. And he proved me right. He’s dedicated.”
Even before his training started, the Abang Adik actor went to the badminton court where Cheah was training to watch him both on and off the court.
The 36-year-old player said he couldn’t comprehend why Tan was there at first, and assumed perhaps the actor wanted to learn the game from him personally.
“I realised later he was there to observe how I am on a daily basis.
“He also took great care in observing how I hold my right hand when I play, which is one of the main points of the film.
“He asked a lot of questions too. I was impressed that he went to great lengths to ensure his portrayal of me in the film felt genuine.”
And how did Tan do in Cheah’s opinion?
“Although he didn’t get 100%, he got really close and did his very best,” answered Cheah.
Tan said that the process to portray Cheah was a challenging one, but nevertheless, he’s proud to be part of the film.
Having come off from filming Abang Adik, where his Adik character is a little chubby, Tan’s weight was at almost 80kg.
Then he started his intense training with former national player Adelle Ng.
“I remember the first class, I couldn’t even hit the shuttle because I had to train using my left hand,” said Tan, who is right-handed.
“That made me even more determined to overcome it.”
The 33-year-old made sure to keep his right hand in his pocket not only while playing badminton but also in daily life as much as possible.
Training went on for three months, six times a week, for some three hours a day not including the warm up sessions.
By the time he started filming, Tan’s weight went down to 67kg.
But then he was faced with another challenge – he had to put on the weight again for a crucial scene when Liek Hou gives up badminton and takes up an office job.
In order to film the scenes that showed the character at his lowest, the production halted for three months so Tan could gain weight.
Wearing a fat suit was not an option as Tan had a few shirtless scenes.
“The body transformation turned out to be very difficult,” admitted Tan, who said he struggled to gain 20kg.
For the actor, the hurdles he went through was not an issue as he felt that the story of Cheah, whom he calls a hero, is something that needs to be told.
“I’m very proud to be involved in Gold,” added Tan. “I learned a lot; one of it is that champion spirit.”
Gold is showing at cinemas nationwide starting from July 11.