Let things go: Ananda Everingham, star of new film Go Away, Mr Tumor, if he had little time left in life

Just before Valentine's Day this year, a Thai film opened in local theatres with little fanfare.

The movie poster shows Ananda Everingham (from the 2004 horror cult classic Shutter) and Peechaya Wattanamontree cosying under an umbrella, looking dreamily at each other while soft snow floats around them.

But this is far from your typical girl-meets-boy romance and audiences aren't going to walk out of the cinemas with smiles on their faces.

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Go Away, Mr Tumor — based on the bittersweet life of Chinese comic book artist Xiong Dun — looks at the many facets of love in its retelling of a young woman's optimism in the final months of her life.

Peechaya plays Pakkad, a graphic designer who encounters a series of unfortunate events the day she turned 25. It started with her quitting her job in anger. Then she witnesses first-hand her boyfriend's affair, and her day ends with her being diagnosed with late-stage cancer.

Though her world is collapsing, Pakkad finds her heart at ease and she bounces back easily with loving friends and family who stand by her side. The unexpected occurs when she develops a big crush on Dr Kawin (Ananda), her stern-looking doctor with a gloomy past.

In an interview with AsiaOne, Ananda said it's likely he would be as positive as Pakkad if life throws the same obstacles at him.

"I'm quite a positive, let-things-go type of person anyway, and so it's the philosophy that I have about life and death, love and so on," said Ananda, who turns 40 in May.

"As I was working on the film, I found the experience to be quite touching. Because if you have limited time left in the world, in that limited time left in life, what would you do? While a lot of people just bring this up in theory, we got to act it out."

He added: "It's quite normal that people tend to live in the past or worry about the future and they forget what's present in their lives. It comes back to the theme of the film. Once you find out you have limited time left, It kind of forces you to put yourself in that position [and think], what's most important in the present? I mean, it's not easy but it's what I'm trying to practise."

In focusing the story not just on Pakkad's love life but also on her strong relationships with her parents and her BFFs, Ananda believes the film will touch a very broad spectrum of audiences.

He explained: "Love is very diverse in how it's shown. I guess we're hoping that it can connect to everybody in many different ways. Like, if you're somebody who's younger and going through maybe some turmoil in your love life, maybe this film can show you how to be more patient and how to live in the moment a bit more. And it's no different in the love with your parents and your friends."

The love between the characters also extended beyond the script; Ananda said the mood and the energy on the film set were the most positive he had experienced among the 30-plus films he has been in.

Turning 40

Before her life shattered, Pakkad happily proclaims that turning 25 would be amazing. And as Ananda turns 40 in a few months, we asked him for a look back on his life.

Ananda, who started working when he was 13, said: "When I was in my teens, it was very nerve-wracking because I felt like I had no idea what I was doing. I was just a nervous wreck and I just never felt like I was good enough. And I felt like I was a fraud all the time.

"And then in my 20s — and I'm speaking from an artiste's point of view — I remember being stressed all the time. I felt like I had acquired some of the skills to become a decent actor and now the whole process was about proving myself and proving my worth.

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"Everything was so much more stressful than my 30s. A lot of my 30s was like, letting go of the stress and preconditions and, for some reason, my 30s felt like they have flown by so quickly. It felt like, everything was a little bit lighter."

He gave an analogy, likening his life to a trip to a club.

In his 20s, he would have been the cool kid who had to find something to prop himself up against because he was insecure and he could only bop his head to the music.

In his 30s, he would be "that silly guy" who's the first one on the dance floor and having the time of his life.

And what does he think life in his 40s would be like?

Ananda added: "I think I'd still definitely be dancing and also sitting at the bar people-watching. I think the thing that is probably going to be most prominent in my 40s is just sharing this experience with someone and possibly starting something new with my partner."

Go Away, Mr Tumor is now showing in Cathay Cineplexes.

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kwokkarpeng@asiaone.com