Alibaba’s Jack Ma to be a wushu star?
ALIBABA founder Jack Ma is full of surprises.
The richest man in China apparently dreams of being a wuxia hero or a movie kungfu superstar to be exact. The world-famous entrepreneur posted on his Weibo account on Oct 28 about his latest project – starring in a short film.
In the post, the 53-year-old wrote six words in Chinese, “Na yi ye...Na yi meng.” Translated, it means, “That one night ...That one dream.”
The accompanying poster gives the movie title as GSD or Gong Shou Dao in Mandarin, meaning ‘guardians of martial arts’.
In the poster, the Alibaba group executive chairman takes centrestage as the Taichi Master. Ma is said to have been practising Taichi since 1988, and even conducts classes to teach fellow entrepreneurs.
Apart from Ma, the poster also features 11 other famous faces in Chinese cinema as well as martial arts such as Jet Li, Donnie Yen, Sammo Hung, Jacky Wu Jing, Yuen Woo Ping, Tony Ching Siu Tung, Jacky Heung Cho, Thai action star Tony Jaa, boxer Zou Shiming, retired Mongolian Sumo champion Asashoryu Akinori and Australian actress Natasha Liu Bordizzo (who played Snow Vase in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon).
The short film is produced by wushu superstar Li, with whom Ma co-founded the Taiji Zen martial arts academy in 2013.
GSD is made to promote Taichi to a global audience by presenting its benefits to health and happiness and as a window onto Chinese culture.
This view is shared by Ma’s fellow cast members, none of whom took a paycheck for their participation, according to Alizila, which reports news from Alibaba Group in English language.
GSD is scheduled for release in China in November.
It will be subtitled in English, and made available to viewers outside of China.