Zenn Kyi

Zenn Kyi (Burmese: ဇဏ်ခီ; MLCTS: jan hki; born 25 August 1980) is a Burmese actor, scriptwriter, writer and singer.[1] He is best known for his leading role in films Deception (2018) and Mudras Calling (2018), Now and Ever (2019), which propelled him to fame in Myanmar.[2]

In this Burmese name, the given name is Zenn Kyi. There is no family name.
Zenn Kyi
ဇဏ်ခီ
Born (1980-08-25) 25 August 1980
Mandalay, Myanmar
NationalityAmerican
Alma materCity College of New York
Institute of Audio Research
Occupations
  • Actor
  • singer
Years active2009–present
Height5 ft 11 in (180 cm)
Spouse
​
(m. 2006)​
ChildrenNoah Lynn Htet Kyi

Early life and education

Zenn Kyi was born on 25 August 1980 in Mandalay, Burma (now Myanmar), but grew up and studied in New York City, United States, and returned to Myanmar in 2009. He graduated with a degree in music at City College of New York and Film Scoring at Institute of Audio Research.

Career

Zenn released his first solo album The Lost World in 2009. He made his acting debut with leading role in the 2018 film Mudras Calling alongside actress Hla Yin Kyae, directed by his wife Christina Kyi, and which premiered in Myanmar cinemas on 16 March 2018 which was a huge commercial success, topping film ratings and becoming the most hit film at that time.[3][4][5]

In 2017, he starred in his second film Deception (Oo Pel Dan Myin) alongside Thet Mon Myint and Kaew Korravee. The film is directed by the same director of Mudras Calling, Christina Kyi, premiered in Myanmar cinemas on 19 January 2018 stayed in local theaters for a record seven weeks and was also screened in Singapore.[4]

The two films was both a domestic hit, and led to increased recognition for Zenn Kyi.[6][7] He was nominated for the 2018 Myanmar Academy Award for Best Actor.

Now & Ever (2019) earned 3.5 billion kyat at the box office in Myanmar, becoming one of the most successful domestic films of the decade.[8]

Personal life

In 2006, Zenn married Christina Kyi, a film director. The couple have two sons; the firstborn son died young and the second son is named Noah.[9]

Political views and activities

Since he was a teenager, Zenn Kyi has been a strong supporter of the NLD (National League for Democracy) party led by the Noble Peace Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, who is currently being incarcerated at Nay Pyi Daw prison for obscene charges accused by the Myanmar regime.[10]

On 17 April 2021, in the aftermath of the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, Zenn Kyi and his wife Christina Kyi were detained at Yangon International Airport right before depart to Bangkok with MAI airline.They were put under house arrest along with their underage son and their assistant for nearly two months before being released.[11]

Filmography
List of films
Year Title Director Co-Stars Role
2018 Deception Christina Kyi Thet Mon Myint, Kaew Korravee, Aung Myint Myat Min Htet
2018 Mudras Calling Christina Kyi Hla Yin Kyae Jaden Willan
2019 Now and Ever Christina Kyi Paing Phyo Thu Thiha

Discography

Solo albums
  • The Lost World (2009s)

Awards and nominations

Academy Awards
Year Award Category Nominated work Result
2018 Myanmar Academy Award Best Actor Deception (Oo Pel Dan Myin) Nominated

Other awards
Award ceremony Year Category Nominee(s) / Work(s) Result
Major M Myanmar Music Award 2019 best pop song Kal Tin Shin Won
Best Original Soundtrack In Your Eyes Won
Album Of The Year Now and Ever Soundtrack Nominated
Song Of The Year In Your Eyes Nominated
Best Compilation/ Soundtrack Album Now and Ever Soundtrack Nominated

References
  1. Whitney Light (10 March 2014). "The big picture". The Myanmar Times.
  2. Aye Min Thant (5 April 2018). "'Mudras Calling' actor Zenn Kyi wants to end Myanmar's 'copying' culture".
  3. Sithu Soe (7 June 2018). "We want real tiredness and real sweat". Frontier Myanmar.
  4. "Analysis: Audiences Embrace New Filmmakers, Cinema Industry Slow to Follow Suit". The Irrawaddy. 30 March 2018.
  5. Nandar Aung (23 March 2018). "Golden lotus Versus Mudras Calling". The Myanmar Times.
  6. Simon Roughneen (17 March 2014). "Hollywood Calling for New Burmese Film". The Irrawaddy.
  7. Khin Swe Thet (19 February 2018). "'မုဒြာရဲ့ခေါ်သံ'ဟာ မြန်မာပရိသတ်တွေ ဂုဏ်ယူရမယ့် ဇာတ်ကားလို့ဆိုတဲ့ ဇဏ်ခီ" (in Burmese). 7Day News.
  8. Aung Myint, Sithu (26 December 2019). "Lights, camera, lots of action as movie industry enjoys a revival". Frontier Myanmar. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  9. သားေလး ရဲ့ ယံုၾကည္မွဳကို လိုခ်င္ပါတယ္ လုိ႔ေျပာလာတဲ့ ဇဏ္ခီ
  10. Human Rights Watch (19 December 2017). "Burmese Army Crimes Against Humanity".
  11. "Myanmar releases prisoners for New Year, though likely not dissidents". SWI swissinfo.ch. 17 April 2021.
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