“Mallari” producer addresses rumor about submitting incomplete film in MMFF
Agad daw na napa-oo si Piolo Pascual na gawin ang Metro Manila Film Festival 2023 entry na “Mallari,” ayon sa writer nitong si Enrico Santos.
Kaya raw nagulat sila sa rebelasyon ni Piolo noong media conference ng “Mallari” noong December 1 sa SM Mall of Asia Cinema 5 na muntik na pala niyang tanggihan ang lead role.
Tatlong characters kasi ang ginagampanan ni Piolo sa “Mallari,” isang horror flick na base sa Fr. Severino Mallari, ang una at nag-iisang recorded na serial killer sa Pilipinas.
Pero para sa pelikula na hinaluan ng fiction, ginawang tatlo ang karakter ni Piolo.
Ayon kay Enrico, si Piolo na raw agad ang una nilang naisip na babagay na gumanap sa tatlong lead characters.
Kwento niya noong mediacon, “The truth is the first name that came out on the whiteboard noong nagbe-brainstorming tayo, first day pa lang ng brainstorming, ang unang-unang pangalan na nasa whiteboard ay si Piolo.
“And then, dumating na iba’t ibang pangalan and all that, and then balik din si Piolo. And to convince Piolo, all we had to do is pitch. ‘Tapos sa pitch, tuwang-tuwa ka, yun pala tinanggihan mo!”
Noong mediacon lang din na yun pala nalaman ng creators na muntik na palang tanggihan ni Piolo ang pelikula.
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Ayon naman kay Piolo, bago pa raw nangyari ang formal pitching ng maisip niyang tanggihan munang gawin ang pelikula.
Pero naisip daw niyang panahon na para mas i-challenge ang sarili at gumawa ng naiiba sa mga proyektong dati niyang nagawa.
“As an actor, it’s your job to always push yourself, to do something different, and I guess, for my growth as well, for my evolution. I want to be able to give myself that challenge so that I can become there.
“Hindi naman pwedeng mag-rest ka sa laurels mo, hindi naman pwedeng mag-settle ka palagi and I have this big opportunity to be able to choose the roles that I can play and this time around, with the streaming platform, mas broad na po kasi yung roles na pwede mong tanggapin, so, mas madali nang mag-diversify nowadays.
“For me, I’m just really passionate about my job, what I do, and open po ako sa kahit na anong role na pwedeng magbigay sa akin ng challenge para mag-grow pa rin po ako sa craft ko.”
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Doing three characters
Bukod sa gumawa ng naiiba sa mga rom-com at drama projects niya, isa pa sa nagpa-oo kay Piolo ay ang pangalang “Mallari.”
Kwento niya, “It was intriguing for me, yung ‘Mallari,’ the name itself, and when I googled and I saw that he actually existed.”
Pero aminado si Piolo na talagang nahirapan siya sa proyekto dahil tatlong magkakaibang karakter mula sa magkakaibang panahon ang kanyang ginampanan.
Patuloy niya, “It was hard because three roles, e. So, as an actor, that’s a challenge not knowing what to expect. Just saying yes, for me, I was up for the challenge and I just wanted to do something different.
“When this came about, it just all fell into place and the production value alone is a big consideration. It’s very ambitious but they lived up to the expectations and everything, so I was really happy about it.”
Buti na lang daw at nandiyan ang direktor nilang si Derrick Cabrido para tulungan siyang ma-pull off ang tatlong roles. Meron din daw siyang acting coach sa set.
“It was really hard but what made it easy was the vision of my director. Direk knew what he wanted, he knew his vision, he had a vision, he knew his story.
“Maganda ang pagkakasulat ni Sir Enrico, napakalinaw though it went through several drafts, and my biggest blessing was having an acting coach, Tita Angie Castrence.
“We were talking about every scene before [shooting] because there are a lot of days I was doing three characters in one day.
“So, you have to be specific and you have to know each of the characters which for me, as a character, nalatag siya ng maayos and the story and everytime I would read it from start to finish, lalong lumilinaw yung journey ng bawat character.
“So, for me, malinaw yung pagkakaiba ng tatlong characters but it was really hard. But masaya lang kasi ang laki ng production.”
Did “Mallari” submit an unfinished work?
Samantala, naging kontrobersyal naman ang pagkakapasok ng “Mallari” sa MMFF 2023.
Ayon sa mga haka-haka, kaya raw naging sampu ang entries ng MMFF ay para mapagbigyan na makapasok ang “Mallari” at isa pang entry na “Broken Heart’s Trip” kahit na diumano’y hindi sila umabot sa deadline ng submission for finished films.
Pinabulaanan naman ito ng producer ng “Mallari” na si Bryan Dy nang matanong siya tungkol dito noong mediacon.
Sabi niya, “We’re just pretty confident of what we have submitted and I think kasi, yun nga, e, mataas ang respeto namin sa lahat po ng nagbigay talaga ng entries.
“Actually, kami po up to the last minute, yung kaba ko ho talaga nandito hanggang dulo kasi siyempre, talagang binuhos din namin and lahat naman deserving and at the end of the day, kailangan pong mamili.
“Sa akin, I was just curious doon sa ginagamit na hindi tapos, mas tatanggapin ko po siguro kung pangit, huwag niyo isama kasi pangit, di ba? Hindi maganda. Siguro doon na lang yung tinitignan ko kasi kahit ano namang sabihin nila, wala tayong magagawa doon.
“Sa amin, from the beginning, we wanted to join MMFF because it has currently the widest audience na festival dito sa Pilipinas and we’re honored that we’re part of that and siguro, yung intriga is just noise.
“Really, we encourage everyone to watch it on December 25 so you know why it’s part of MMFF.”
Nilinaw muli ng press kung tapos ang pelikula nilang nang i-submit sa deadline.
Sagot ni Bryan. “Yes, we submitted. Lahat naman po kami, nag-submit ng tapos. We’ve done it, submission po namin, tapos kami.”
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