Thai Film exposes Hollywood Con Queen

Victims of fraud turn tables, and exact revenge in riveting 'true crime' saga

By Ron Gluckman

Nikkei, April 26 2024

BANGKOK -- Just like a Hollywood fantasy, the dream call came as a complete surprise to Irish actor Eoin O'Brien. On the phone was Deborah Snyder, co-producer of films such as "Man of Steel" (2013), "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice" (2016)" and "Army of the Dead" (2021).

A martial arts expert mostly known for his fight scenes, O'Brien had performed in small parts in dozens of movies. But this was different, potentially his big break. "She said she'd seen me in 'The Last Full Measure,' and really liked me," he said. The 2019 film featured a host of stars including William Hurt, Samuel Jackson, Christopher Plummer and Peter Fonda.

More calls followed, with Snyder hinting at possible roles in upcoming films and talking of auditions in Hollywood. "It all sounded too good to be true," O'Brien said. "I never stopped to think, 'Is this real?'"

It was not. The calls were not from Hollywood, nor from Snyder. They were not even from a woman. Instead, said O'Brien, he was talking to Hargobind Punjabi Tahilramani, an alleged con artist with an adept gift for impersonations of Snyder, movie lawyers and other Hollywood bigwigs.

The audition in Tinseltown never happened. Instead, said O'Brien, he was persuaded to fly to Indonesia, Tahilramani's home country, for fictitious screen tests and tricked into paying bogus film fees and other expenses with promises of reimbursement that never were never honored.

The crushing reality was confirmed by O'Brien's girlfriend back in Bangkok. After he expressed doubts as expenses mounted in Indonesia, an internet search quickly led her to firsthand accounts about the "Con Queen of Hollywood" from scores of aspiring actors and film workers. "I was completely devastated," O'Brien said.

But O'Brien flipped the script on the con artist, transforming the costly sting into a golden opportunity. He wrote his sad story as a film script, which has become the latest movie from award-winning Thai Irish director Tom Waller.

"Kiss of the Con Queen" premieres on April 27 at the Sunscreen Film Festival in St. Petersburg, Florida. "It's a great story," said Tony Armer, co-founder of the festival. "We're really excited to show it. It's well-shot, well-acted, and it's incredible that the lead actor and writer was himself a victim. That gives it great authenticity."

This is not the first time Waller will appear at Sunscreen with a reality-based story from Asia with international appeal. He was the first director to release a film about the famous 2018 rescue of a soccer team of Thai boys trapped in a flooded cave.

Waller's "The Cave" came out in 2019, ahead of a major Hollywood production by Ron Howard as well as a National Geographic film, and it won the award for best international feature at the Sunscreen festival. "We are excited to have him back with another great film," Armer said.

Waller is pleased to be the first to film the true-crime saga. The story was covered widely, most notably by Scott Johnson of the Hollywood Reporter, who wrote a book, "The Con Queen of Hollywood: The Hunt for an Evil Genius," published in 2023. Apple TV+ recently announced that a three-part "Con Queen" documentary TV series will start streaming in May.

Waller's movie followed a tight schedule, filming in Indonesia, Thailand, Ireland and the U.S. Independent filmmakers always struggle for attention and financing, Waller said, yet they can be more adaptable. With budgets running to hundreds of millions of dollars -- "Dune: Part Two" (2024) reportedly cost $190 million, and "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" (2015) more than double that -- blockbuster movies can take five years or more to make.

In contrast, "Kiss of the Con Queen" took about two years to make and cost about $2 million despite having such recognized actors as Patrick Bergin and the brilliant Ravi Patel in the lead role as the scam artist.

Waller had cast O'Brien in previous films, including "The Cave." "He came to me with this script he'd written, and told me the story, which I'd heard from another person who had been scammed. I was intrigued. It was a total page turner," Waller said.

Waller especially liked the story's fairy tale-like twist. "It was poetic justice to show a bit of comeuppance, of this con artist being taken down by a victim," he said. "Eoin really turned his nightmare into a dream scenario where he actually stars in a film, just like he was promised." O'Brien is also an executive producer of the film.

Not that it was easy for O'Brien to bring to the screen. The initial script was written within a month, he said. "It just poured out of me." Then came the rewriting. And re-rewriting. "That was probably the fifth version that I sent Tom," he recalled. Dozens more versions followed.

The fast-paced film largely tells O'Brien's actual story, although some details have been changed to improve the flow.

O'Brien, who boldly includes his own embarrassing phone-sex audition scene, said he learned in scriptwriting classes to hold nothing back, since the best stories are true. Other victims reported being coerced into risque sex scenes over the phone, with Tahilramani, impersonating Snyder, offering seductive encouragement along with telephoned kisses.

Tahilramani, who is in prison in the U.K. after being arrested in 2020, is portrayed in the film as a demented genius with kinky desires. He is contesting extradition to the U.S., where he faces charges of wire fraud and identity theft.

There is an undeniable cathartic quality to the film, which also features another victim of the scam, Mike Swick, who runs a gym in Phuket and appeared in the 2010 martial arts film "Beatdown." In 2016, he was lured to Indonesia, where he was fleeced of $25,000.

?"I made it my life goal to find this guy," Swick said. The film details how the Con Queen was tracked through travel agencies, leading to his arrest. Much of that was due to Swick's investigation, although the search was initially frustrated by Tahilramani's alleged presentation of himself as female. Swick passed his documents to a group of other victims, and his paper trail was eventually instrumental in the arrest of Tahilramani.

"It's great that they got this guy. He's scum of the earth," said Swick, who appears in the film. Like O'Brien and others, he is astonished at how much creativity and effort went into the scam.

Waller said victims were scattered around the world, but many lived in Thailand. "It is close, and easy to get people to fly to Indonesia." Thailand also has a sizable film industry, and the new third season of the hit TV show "The White Lotus" was filmed there.

"Kiss of the Con Queen" stands out not only for being the first film to portray this "true crime" story, but also for turning tragedy into triumph for its victims.

This story was published by Nikkei on April 26, 2024

https://asia.nikkei.com/Life-Arts/Arts/Thai-film-exposes-alleged-Hollywood-Con-Queen