Panna Rittikrai

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BIRTHDAY

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RECENT CREDITS

Ong-Bak 2 (FILM) Oct. 23, 2009

Chocolate (FILM) Feb. 6, 2009

Dynamite Warrior (FILM) Jul. 6, 2007

The Protector (FILM) Sep. 8, 2006

Born to Fight (FILM) Aug. 5, 2004

View all Panna Rittikrai Credits

BIOGRAPHY

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As the director and star of the Thai action classic Born to Fight, Panna Rittikrai could be credited as the man who single-handedly kick-started the trend of action cinema in Thailand. Not only did that film serve to inspire future action superstar Tony Jaa of Ong-Bak and Tom Yum Goong fame to take up fighting, but it also paved the groundwork for a collaboration between the pair that would propel both into the international spotlight.
Rittikrai got his start in the Thai film industry as a stuntman at Coliseum Films -- his first assignment being to train action starlet Sureewan Suriyong in kung fu for the film Petch Tud Yok. That position eventually led to a job as a stunt choreographer for the film Phayakyeegey, and it wasn't long before Rittikrai was stepping behind the camera to direct his debut feature, Born to Fight -- in which he also assumed a starring role. It was that film that had a life-altering effect on a young boy named Panom Yeerum. Given permission by his father to seek out Rittikrai and pursue his dream of becoming a martial arts film star, Yeerum eagerly followed through and would later be known to the world by the name Tony Jaa.

While Rittikrai and Jaa's first collaboration -- the 1994 action film Spirited Killer -- boasted impressive fighting, it didn't break any new ground stylistically and failed to reach a widespread audience. Fortunately for action fans, the pair wasn't willing to give up so easily, and nearly a decade later they resurfaced with the breathtaking Muay Thai masterpiece Ong-Bak -- for which Rittikrai served as writer and fight choreographer. A brutal breath of fresh air in a genre increasingly dominated by soulless computer-generated animation, Ong-Bak offered fight scenes that felt stunningly real and more than a little bit dangerous. 2004 was a busy year for Rittikrai, with directorial work on The Protector and a remake of his own Born to Fight preceding preparations for the eagerly anticipated Ong-Bak 2 (2008).

~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

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