HATAW! D'yaryo ng Bayan hatawtabloid.com
ni Ronnie Carrasco III
FIGURES wouldn’t lie na isang box office setback ang Star Cinema offering naThe Manny Pacquiao Story—shown about five or six years ago—topbilled byJerico Rosales.
But direk Paul Soriano who helmed Kid Kulafu—na tumatalakay sa paglalakbay ni Manny patungong ring until he reached 15-17 years old—ay may ibang kapalaran sa takilya.
“I’ve seen the film myself. I’m not saying that ours is a better film, but we are giving an alternative film that chronicles the journey of Manny. I would say that we all did the best we could,” pagmamalaki ni direk Paul of his work that took all of three years bago natapos.
Fearless forecast niya sa kikitain ng Kid Kulafu, ”I would say P1-M!”
Tulad ng mga hirap na pinagdaanan ni Pacman sa totoong buhay, aminado si direk Paul that filming wasn’t easy. ‘Yung set daw na kanilang itinayo in the mountains of Laguna na supposedly ay gagamitin nila uli on the second day of shoot ay napinsala ng bagyong Glenda.
“But we persevered. I told my Ten17 staff, our goal was to finish the movie,” sabi niya of the movie whose major technical work ay ginawa niya sa Los Angeles, California.
Playing Kid Kulafu (ang tawag sa batang Manny who would collect empty bottles of Kulafu, brand ng isang syoktong) is former child actor Buboy Villar.
Like the filming, hindi rin naging madali para kay Buboy na masungkit ang naturang papel. With his name already suggested to direk Paul, nagpa-conduct pa rin ang direktor ng auditions for boys Buboy’s age who hardly knew what character awaited the successful auditionee.
Ganoon na lang ang tuwa ni Buboy nang mapili siya from over a thousand hopefuls, lalo’t idol niya ang Pambansang Kamao. Kaya nga noong makaharap niya ito sa General Santos City, Manny inquired: ”Sino ba rito ‘yung gumanap bilang ako?”
Nang malamang si Buboy ‘yon, sabi ni Manny, ”O, galingan mo, ha?” And Buboy—even before their meeting—already made that promise to himself.
