Directors Ricky Davao and Philip Lazaro did not touch the most vital, the most iconic scenes from the 1988 classic movie, Nagbabagang Luha when they turned it into a television series.
“We’re loyal with the very vital scenes, with the very iconic scenes, we’re loyal on that. We were also loyal to the main issue of the whole movie,” explained Direk Lazaro at the virtual press conference for the soap, July 22.
However, they added a bit of twist after they stretched the movie, turning it into a television drama.
“But we placed a little bit of kumbaga stems, more problems on the side para mas lumawak s’ya, para tumayo s’ya bilang isang soap opera.
“It used to be a movie, now it’s a soap opera. Pinahaba at lalo pa naming pinalapot pa namin yung aming palabas,” he added.
For Direk Ricky, they made some adjustments in terms of acting. Since the techniques in acting change over time, the actor-director noted that they had to add a modern take on it.
They also added background stories on each character to stretch it even more and fit it into one season.
“Pero yung pinaka-situation, it’s a two-hour film and then you’re making it into a one season, so s’yempre mas humaba yun. Ang nangyari, mas kinalkal namin yung bawat character. So nabigyan ng emphasis, mas nahimay namin isa-isa ang mga characters,” said Direk Ricky.
Though they did put some emphasis on each character’s back story, Direk Ricky noted that they remain faithful with the character names and their respective characteristics.
“We followed all the characters’ names and siguro bawat character, yung mga ugali nila. Yun napaka-strikto sa paggawa no’n.”
But Direk Ricky cannot hide that he was pressured when he was assigned the task of turning a two-hour film into a series.
“Nakaka-pressure, nakaka-challenge,” he admitted.
Nevertheless, the director of the show is confident that the adaptation of Nagbabagang Luha will be excellent because of its writers. He argued that this time, the show will be much more daring than the original.
“But ako naman I was very confident because I was given a very beautiful script. And I was very thankful sa mga writers na talagang, matapang, mas sexy, mas nagbabaga, mas maraming maipapakita sa one season na mapapanuod nila.”
Nagbabagang Luha stars Glaiza de Castro, Rayver Cruz, Myrtle Sarrosa, Mike Tan, Karenina Haniel, Claire Castro, and Gina Alajar, who is also one of its directors.
The cast also includes Alan Paule, Archi Adamos, Myrtle Sarrosa, Royce Cabrera, Ralph Noriega, Karenina Haniel, Bryan Benedict, and Cannes Film Festival Best Actress Jaclyn Jose in a very special role.
The series will begin, August 2 on GMA Network.
