Stephen Frears tells a tale of naked girls performing live cabaret shows at Windmill Theatre in England, introduced by Judi Dench in Mrs Henderson Presents.

Baz Luhrmann pairs Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor as a pair of star crossed lovers in Moulin Rouge, a cabaret nightclub in Paris.

Now, Royston Tan is bringing getai, a dance and sing stage performance from Singapore, which would only be performed on the Chinese seventh lunar month, onto the big screen. And he created a pair of sisters named 881.

Entitled 881, it is the pronunciation in Mandarin, which sounds like papaya, a tropical fruit. Here, we have a pair of sisters named Papaya sisters, which was named after Big Papaya (Yeo Yann Yann) and Small Papaya (Mindee Ong),who shares the same interest of listening to Hokkien songs from the late Hokkien singer Chen Jin Lang. They become good friends and with the help from Sister Ling (Liu LingLing, a popular getai host in Singapore) and her son Guan Yin (Qi Yuwu),they rise to popularity at the getai for their performance in Hokkien songs.

Soon, their popularity leads to the jealousy of Durian sisters (May and Choy, the MTV VJ in Asia),and they create troubles for Papaya sisters, which leads to the final showdown for both Papaya and Durian on the last day of Seventh month in a competition. Winners will remain in the Seventh month industry, while losers will have to stop performing forever.

Watching 881 is a rare treat for Singaporeans who loves Singapore films, after we seen several box office failures with mediocre performance and bad reviews in cinemas. For those who have previously watched Royston's 15 and 4.30, expect something different for 881, a musical cum comedy.

Firstly, the introduction was presented in the style of Jean Pierre Jeunet's Amelie. which was handled in the similar way Royston made his short film in the past. Next, as the movie discussed about getai, famous getai performers such as Wang Lei, Karen Lim, Lin Ru Ping and Liu herself were given supporting roles to made the movie more realistic and closer to the heart of Chinese Singaporeans.

Dialogues used in 881 are mainly in Hokkien, with some Mandarin and English dialogues mixed in. This is very different from Royston's previous production, where little or no dialogues were featured. Language used for the film has truly reflected the culture and daily lives of Singaporeans, which scores the film another bonus point.

The songs featured in the film are mainly in Hokkien, with the lyrics reflects the hardship faced by the Chinese in the past. The songs might not be appealing to teenagers, but it is more meaningful compared to other musicals showed in the recent years, where it mainly deals with love. This also gives the movie another plus point.

Fans of Qi Yuwu might be disappointed as he do not have any dialogues, but he will be the narrator for the film. Mindee and Yann Yann's performance as the Papaya sisters gives the audience a fresh new look after having seeing the same old faces in other Singapore films. Liu, however, steals the limelight in the film as her role was a cheerful and experienced former getai singer in her heydays. Audience who could not get enough of Liu will be given a double treat, where she will play another role: The Getai Goddess, who gave advice to the Papaya sisters.

Lastly, Singaporeans will remember the movie as a tribute to Chen Jin Lang, who passed away shortly after Royston had completed the script in 2006. To the Singaporeans, the movie will be something that is closer to their heart. To the foreigners, they will be taught on a unique culture of getai, which only exists in Singapore and Malaysia, as a way to celebrate the Seventh Lunar month.

881 is truly a remarkable Singapore movie that truly reflects the lives of Singaporeans.

881 is told through the eyes and viewpoint of Guan Yin (local television heartthrob Qi Yu Wu),a mute who spends his free time playing with his cock (yes, thus providing indirect bawdy comedic references),whose mother Auntie Ling (Liu Ling Ling) is the guardian of the Papaya sisters. The mother-son duo are the pseudo-managers for the sisters, responsible for designing the costumes and songs for the sisters to perform, as well as offer various event management services, ferrying them from assignment to assignment. Royston Tan does a Hans Christian Andersen here, for the Papaya sisters to realize their dream of performing on the song-stage (given that they're really, really horrendous performers),they make a pact with a Getai-Goddess (also played by Ling),who grants them the power of "feeling" and magical peacock feathers, in exchange for their strict adherence to her 5 unbreakable rules. They become the quintessential modern day Little Mermaids, but naturally, rules are meant to be broken with dire consequences, and 881 chronicles the ups and downs, trials and tribulations of the Papaya sisters, in the face of adversary posed by rivals, the Durian sisters.

It's a musical through and through, with characters spontaneously breaking out into song, but not everything's fun and laughter, as the sisters do face their fare share of inner demons and challenges, and what's two sisters going to do when there's this understated nagging feeling of affection for their hunky close friend too? Little Papaya Ong Bok Gua (Mindee Ong) faces an uphill battle with time, while Big Papaya (Yeo Yann Yann) has to convince her mother of her profession of choice once the Seventh Month comes rolling around. Granted, to some, getai singers do not get the general nod of approval, given the poor image that the high- and-mighty have on this little local sub-culture, that the performers can't sing, can't dance, can't entertain, and have to rely on loud bass to drown their poor vocals, disturbing the neighborhood; the complaints go on. But opinions could change once they understand the spirit of things, and when the Papaya sisters shed their inhibitions and personal misfortunes aside, they engage everyone on a whole different plane altogether, of course with help from Ming Zhu sisters, real getai singers who provide the Papaya sisters their singing prowess.

And surprise, the movie will actually touch you, on different levels. Those who like melodramas will find no lack of moments to let the floodgates open at their tear ducts, as the ending is particularly fitting, meaningful and yet, bittersweet. Despite a runtime of close to 2 hours, 881 shuffles breezily, with noisy fanfare moments balanced appropriately with quieter ones. I thought while Kelvin Tong's Men in White was an attempt at mo-lei-tau (nonsensical) comedy, 881 had a more natural attempt in infusing those elements into the story, without coming off as too trying. Given that the past two Royston feature films have more of a testosterone filled presence with male leads, 881 marked a stronger feminine presence with excellent, credible performances by Mindee Ong, Yeo Yann Yann and Liu Ling Ling, coupled with the Durian sisters played by MTV VJs May and Choy. They / their characters were a lot of fun, with their faux pas Hokkien language ability ramped up for laughs intentionally (they can't speak the language and had to learn their lines phonetically),and their uber-crass and provocative performing sequences turning the heat up.

T here's plenty on offer here for audiences, and they all work - drama, song and dance, comedy and camp, an appreciation and ode to the cultural elements of getai, with an expansion and provision to allow for greater understanding of the unwritten laws behind the scenes, the puns and wordplay to satisfy locals familiar with the language used, yet not alienating those who don't understand it thoroughly, and spectacle enough to warrant it being watched on the silver screen. This year had seen a number of quality local films making their way to the cinemas, and it is without a doubt too that 881 ranks high amongst them. By far, I will rate 881 as possibly the best Royston Tan feature film to date!

I will unabashedly proclaim I love 881 ("yo-ah-yo!", so goes the chant),and have one wish should there be a DVD release of the movie, and that is to allow a release packed with loads of extras. Local DVD distributors have peculiar reasons for a preference for bare-boned DVD releases, but given the many edited song-dance segments, it will be a real treat if we could watch the performances (if already filmed),in their entirety. Then it'll be "Huat Ah" (Prosperous!) indeed!

Let's make a test... Remove every songs from this movie, show an edited version of 881 without any music... What will u think ? Even for the few minutes left of the movie (yes, the songs are most of the movie),it will be a very boring story, without goal and with bad actors...

You guess it, the show is all about music and dance, fancy dresses and uninteresting story ! A very disappointing movie from Royston Tan. Have u seen his previous ones ? Yes ! Then you will understand me but you won't understand why the director choose the most easy way of bringing popular songs on the screen instead of a writing a credible story... Popularity ? Well Mr. Tan, you should think about your art before thinking about your money... Remember you did it before, and it was quite good...