Until the movie 200 Pounds Beauty, Korean actress Kim Ah Jung had always been known as an acting lightweight, famous only for good looks and 'knockout figure'.

But now, she has found big-time fame by donning a fat suit to play an obese backstage singer who undergoes full-body plastic surgery to become slim. Ah Jung, 25, was the only one who dared take up the challenge of the 90kg role which was reportedly rejected by other actresses.

Her jaw-dropping transformation - not unlike Hollywood star Gwyneth Paltrow in the film Shallow Hal - has won rave reviews in Korea and catapulted the movie to the No 1 spot on the local box-office chart. Within a month, 200 Pounds Beauty has attracted more than 4.5 million admissions.

Ah Jung herself has also become the talk of the town, inspiring Sports Chosun to coin the term 'Kim Ah Jung Syndrome' to refer to her raging popularity. Korean newspaper Donga Ilbo's resident film critic also praised her 'artful comic acting' and how her tears 'embellish' a key concert performance scene.

The movie's theme song Maria, also performed by Ah Jung, has soared to No 1 on a local music chart. It has also been downloaded 170,000 times from Cyworld, where the single is posted. In addition, Ah Jung has also snagged no less than five product endorsements, including a coveted lingerie commercial.

Ah Jung, who made her acting debut on TV in 2004, was once deemed too snobbish and unapproachable. She has admitted she does not warm to strangers easily, and that she is too 'timid' to initiate conversation. But not anymore, it seems.

DIFFICULT TO ACCEPT
Earlier when she was busy touring Korea to promote 200 Pounds Beauty, Ah Jung was only too eager to share her filming experiences. Like how it took four hours for a special Hollywood makeup team to 'inflate' her to 90kg, and how it was unbearably hot to wear the fat suit made of latex and cotton. 'To smile as I usually do, I had to double my energy because of the thick makeup on my face,' she told The Korea Times.

But the svelte 48kg star, who stands at 1.69m, was also frank to admit that she found it hard to accept her ballooned image. 'When I first looked at myself after the special effects makeup, I was really shocked and cried when nobody was looking... until the seventh shooting, I couldn't focus on acting,' she told The Korea Herald.

However, she said it was easy to immerse in her fat character. She even drew strength from nasty comments from passers-by who whispered they 'felt sick' to see her filming in the streets.

Exactly how does she look? Singapore fans do not have to wait long to find out. Innoform Media has acquired the distribution rights for 200 Pounds Beauty and its general manager Lim Teck said it will hit our screens late next month or in March. 'We like the concept of the movie and we think it'd work here,' said Mr Lim. 'The fat/slim theme will definitely attract attention here and Kim Ah Jung really went all out for her comedic role.'