Jack Neo: Our prop guns in Ah Girls Go Army are heavier than the real ones

We imagine many local guys were intrigued when local director Jack Neo announced that he's making a movie based on an imaginary scenario where national service is mandatory for female Singaporeans.

After all, the idea has been mooted many times before in chat forums.

To find out more on what the actresses would be going through and what they did at a boot camp conducted before filming began, AsiaOne recently spoke to Jack at the film set of Ah Girls Go Army.

The 61-year-old told us none of the actresses had any military experience and so the production team got a few former soldiers and physical training instructors to train the girls at the boot camp.

"There were simple things like drills, how to hold the rifle properly, and what their posture should be when they fire it. It was the first time many of them touched [a rifle]. Even though the weapons aren't real, they are very realistic and heavy.

"Everyone was very excited but once they got the rifle, they wondered how tough it would be for a soldier to carry such a heavy weapon during training. But I think our Singapore soldiers are already very used to it."

Jack added that their prop guns are even a little heavier than the real ones.

The boot camp also allowed the team to get a gauge of their actresses' attitude and everyone was very positive, he said.

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Did the girls have to go on the same obstacle courses as the male recruits do in real life?

Jack replied: "This movie is not supported by the Singapore Armed Forces so we created our own version of basic military training. So viewers will find some fresh and different training elements in the film."

The actresses will also film scenes involving military exercises later during production.

Ah Girls Go Army, which will premiere in Chinese New Year 2022, stars Apple Chan, Ke Le, Samantha Tan, Xixi Lim, Eswari Gunasagar, Kelly Kimberly Cheong and Glenn Yong.

kwokkarpeng@asiaone.com