By Carissa Alcantara
Like the title of her film "Marupok A+", Kapamilya actress and singer Maris Racal reveals that she was emotionally vulnerable due to her past relationship.
At the special screening and press conference for the film, which took place at the Greenbelt 3 cinema on July 4, Maris revealed how she turned her heartbreak into a source of income.
"Kung ang movie natin A+, ako marupok AF as in. Naalala ko sa sobrang rupok ko at broken hearted, nakagawa ng album.Pinagkakitaan ko yung mga ginawa sa akin kasi hello kailangan ko ng pera," Maris said.
(If our movie is A+, I felt extremely vulnerable. I channeled my emotions into creating an album and made money from it because, well, I needed the income)
Maris also mentioned that creating the album boosted her confidence and provided a sense of retribution.
"It’s me taking my power back, 'Sinaktan mo ako, I’m gonna write a song about you," she said.
(It's me taking back my power. "You hurt me, I'm going to write a song about you.)
Maris looks back on her past relationship with laughter, considering the pain as part of her early 20s phase.
"Especially noong early 20s ko, grabe yung karupukan ko talaga, as in. Napapa-deep breaths na lang yung pamilya ko and yung mga kaibigan ko. I think lahat naman dinaanan yun. Dadaan tayo sa karupukan at dyan tayo natututo," Maris said.
(Especially in my early 20s, my fragility was terrible. My family and my friends just took deep breaths. I think everyone goes through that. We will go through that fragile phase, and that's where we learn)
Laughing from her experience, Maris concluded that even though our hearts are broken and fragile, the most important thing is that we learn from our mistakes.
"Ang importante what you do after being broken hearted — maging marupok pa rin[laughs]," Maris said.
(The important thing is what you do after being heartbroken—still be fragile [laughs])
As per her co-stars EJ Jallorina, Royce Cabrera, and Director Quark Henares, the three also admitted that they've been fragile when it comes to love.
"Aminado naman ako na isang beses naging marupok din ako, akala ko na parang kaya ko na tapusin, hindi pa pala. So, dumating din ako point na hinanap-hanap ko siya, yung mga nakasanayan ko ganun, pero eventually natuto din naman ako," Royce said.
(I admit that I was once fragile. I thought I could handle it, but I couldn't. I reached a point where I always looked for her and got used to the things we did together. Eventually, I learned from the experience.)
'Marupok A+' makes its way to cinemas
After premiering at Cinemalaya 2023, the film depicting the true-to-life catfishing incident of Janzen Torres will exclusively show at Ayala Malls starting on July 10.
According to Direk Quark, they had to make several changes to the film after the MTRCB (Movie and Television Review and Classification Board) gave it an X rating during the initial review.
The film's original title was "Marupok AF (Where Is the Lie)". However, after reshooting, the title was changed to "Marupok A+," leading to an R-18 rating by the MTRCB.
They gave the film an R-18 rating due to its frequent use of foul language.
"E, di ba ‘yun naman talaga ang usapan ngayon ng mga tao. Tsaka common naman na ‘yun, ewan ko, for me kasi ganun. Tsaka may masturbation scene si Maris (Racal) pero wala namang pinakita. Suggestive lang, tapos mga mura," Direk Quark said.
(Well, isn't that what people are really talking about now? Besides, it's common, I don't know because that's how it is for me. Maris (Racal) had a masturbation scene, but nothing was shown. It was just suggestive. Then there are bad-mouthing and curse words.)
Ayala Malls Cinemas exclusively brings another acclaimed Filipino film, Marupok A+, to the theaters. The film centers around the use of catfishing in the online dating world.