'Indak' stars take in stride physical demands of dancer roles

CEBU, Philippines — More than introducing a dance craze, the musical film “Indak” wants audiences to go crazy about their dreams and try their best to achieve these despite the odds.

With some parts shot in the town of Santa Fe of Bantayan Island north of Cebu and in South Korea, “Indak” is about an island girl named Jen (Nadine Lustre) whose passion is to dance. She harbors inhibitions that keep her from performing, until Vin (Sam Concepcion), a dance crew leader from Manila in search of the best dancers in the country to complete his team, finds Jen and urges her to fulfill her dreams of performing on the world stage.

More than just acting, the project required dancing and a little bit of singing as the film also built a soundtrack of its own – demanding each and every person on set to not only deliver but really perform.

“Bugbog katawan talaga. Masakit siya, especially if you’re not used to certain movements na kailangan stretched ang katawan mo. But I don’t really mind as long as I get to train, as long as I get to dance and express myself,” said Nadine during a press conference yesterday at Cebu Parklane International Hotel, prior to a mall show at SM Seaside City Cebu and the film’s red carpet premiere at SM City Cebu Cinema 1.

Nadine had her work cut out for her as she portrays a Cebuana, and the  actress admitted having trouble speaking Bisaya. When asked about her favorite Cebuano word, Nadine uttered “samoka,” a term which literally means to annoy or bother but has now become an expression used to react to things or situations that are not necessarily bothersome but are still pretty much off the wall or at the very least funny. She learned it from her Cebuano friends who gave their stamp of approval on how she delivered her Bisaya lines in the film.

“There’s a lot of Bisaya lines and conversations with my friend from Bantayan, my mom, my brother [in the movie]. To be honest, napakahirap mag Bisaya. If you watch it there’s one scene na kausap ko sila lahat sa telepono. Naiiyak na talaga ako kasi hirap na hirap ako mag memorize,” Nadine sheepishly shared.

“It’s challenging but at the end of the day, nagawa ko naman. And all my friends na taga dito sa Cebu who watched last night were telling me na it was actually pretty good. At least I did it.’

Despite the physical demands of the role such as weekly training, constant rehearsals, a string of takes to finish one scene, Nadine said that the reward for all their hardships was the relationship and the family they formed on set. They’re glad about how the friendships displayed on the big screen also trickled its way into real life.

“It’s a rare opportunity where we get to do all of those things in one project,” Sam said. “You get acting jobs, singing jobs, dancing jobs, and concerts. But it’s rare to do all three things in one. It’s about utilizing all that, making all that work together. It creates different dimensions to the emotions you’re trying to portray. When you act you have lines as vehicle, you have movement as a vehicle and song as another. It’s a really good marriage of all those things and it makes it really beautiful.”

Both actors were glad to have been given their respective roles in the project, both of them attracted to the risk of an all-out dance film, something that hasn’t been seen on the Filipino big screen in a long time, or ever.

Sam described the journey as basically, the whole “Indak” team learning and picking up things as they go, as they didn’t have previous Filipino films to refer to in terms of the genre’s execution.

Nadine said that she just had to say yes to the role, sharing how she had been wondering when her next dance stint would turn up, as she was itching to get back on the dance floor.

Sam hopes that “Indak” becomes the spark that begins the rebirth of dance movies in the country. He also encourages people to see the heart of the film before comparing it with  Hollywood’s various “Step Up” iterations. He said that while the film is big on dance and entertainment, the movie’s soul is that of a Filipino’s.

“We tend to compare anything to a Hollywood counterpart, like ‘He is the this of that country...’ But we have our own good material. Its core is very Pinoy,” Sam said of "Indak.”

“They wanted to create a dance movie but Pinoy pa rin siya, it preserves the sentimental values of being Filipino. Jen is from the island, doon siya lumaki, that’s her home. Ang paglabas niya sa environment na iyon, into Manila, a concrete jungle, parang metaphoric first step into the unknown.”

Produced by Viva Films, “Indak” is directed by Paul Alexei Basinillo, and also features Cebuana singer Karencitta. It stomps its way into cinemas today.

“Ang pinaka-main na message is to never give up on your dreams. Lahat ng kaya mong gawin, lahat ng pwede mong gawin, gagawin mo para ma achieve mo ito,” she said. “Yung character ko kasi, yung journey niya, sa umpisa parang ‘Okay, sige.’ Ang daming nagyari, eventually she lost her way, but sa huli nahanap niya ang sarili niya.”