Aiko gives her all in Cinemalaya debut

In the trailer for Asintado (Between The Eyes), her Cinemalaya debut produced by Ferdinand Lapuz and Dennis Evangelista, with a story and screenplay by Soccorro Villanueva, directed by Louie Ignacio (also taking his bow in the same event), Aiko Melendez is shown with her face caked in mud in a scene with, as backdrop, the Taong Putik Festival of the farming community Bibiclat in Nueva Ecija where the movie was shot in more than one week.

That scene must have made Aiko recall how her face got bloated, poke marked with pimple-like growths caused by a botched stem-cell procedure. It happened two years ago. The condition became so serious that Aiko had to beg off from the cast of the Kapamilya soap Apoy sa Dagat because no amount of make-up could hide it.

“That was the reason why I stayed away from the scene for a while,” said Aiko. “I’m well now. Look,” she added, touching her smooth face, “okey na, thanks to my dermatologist.”

Instead of filing a case against the “culprit,” Aiko decided to just forgive her and charge it to experience. Actually, she said that she has become more forgiving since she joined the Victory Christian Fellowship and met Piolo Pascual (her Apoy sa Dagat co-star), one of the group’s devout members, who gave Aiko a copy of The Bible.

“I get goosebumps every time I watch that scene,” confessed Aiko whose character speaks with a Northern accent.

In Asintado (competing in the Directors Showcase category of Cinemalaya X), her big-screen comeback, Aiko plays a mother of two sons, the older (played by Jake Vargas) involved with a drug ring and the younger (Miggs Cuaderno) an autistic who is gifted with a marksman talent that he can shoot a a bird or a person between the eyes.

“The ending is a bit shocking,” warned Aiko who refused to go into details. “Basta, my character is made to choose who between her two sons she has to save. It will make the audience question my character if she’s a good mother or not.”

How was Aiko able to relate to the role (also a single mother of two like her in real life)?

“In my scene with Jake where I had to cry because I couldn’t give him the pair of shoes that he wants, I tried to imagine that Jake was my son Andre (By Aiko’s first ex-husband Jomari Yllana. — RFL). I thought, ‘What if one day Andre (now 15) asks for something na hindi ko maibigay?’ The story was inspired by real-life incidents.” (Aiko has a daughter, Martina who just turned eight years old last week, by her second ex-husband Martin Jickain.)

To illustrate her feeling both as a reel and real mother and how far a mother would go for her children, Aiko quoted a line from the movie’s theme song by Gloc 9,…minsan may gagawin ka sa buhay mo na kahit ayaw mo, para lang sa mga mahal mo…

“That pertains to the dilemma of my character na kahit ayaw niyang mapasama ang isang anak niya, she has to do something because of her love for both her sons,” said Aiko who admitted that she’s a spoiler/disciplinarian. “I am both a mother and a father to my children so I have to be that way.”

 Loveless (and presumed to be, well, chaste) for six years, Aiko insisted that it’s her personal choice, not that she’s wanting in suitors. Ex-husband Jomari is now her good friend, said Aiko, “Friends without benefits.”

Having been just baptized a Christian, Aiko said that having sex out of wedlock is a big no-no.

“I used to have 10 suitors but when I told them that I was staying away from being intimate, isa-isa silang nawala, until only two have remained, nagtitiyaga. My outlook in life has changed, nag-improve. I can’t have sex until after I get, if ever, married again.”

(Reminder: Cinemalaya X runs until Aug. 10. You can watch the entries in cinemas in Trinoma, Greenbelt, Alabang Town Center, Fairview Terraces and CCP.)

Nico Antonio avoids being typecast in gay roles

Can a certified straight guy be affected in real life by the gay roles that he often plays?

“I don’t think so,” said Nico Antonio. “I can speak only for myself.”

Married with kids, Nico has played gay a few times (in the Kapamilya fantasy-adventure Dyesebel and in the indie Sana Dati), so convincingly that people have started wondering, is he actually gay? “I just laugh it off,” said Nico. “They can ask my wife.”

Nico (who was in five Cinemalaya entries last year) stars in Eyeball, a seven-minute film directed by Thop Nazareno for the Short Film Category of Cinemalaya X, which is about a pervert man set to see a woman he met on Facebook and bumps into someone else who will change his life forever.

A Multimedia Arts graduate of College of Saint Benilde School of Design and Arts, and who attended the filmmaking program of Mowelfund Film Institute, Thop made his first short film titled Ang Balut ni Mang Roger in 2012, which was screened in Europe and the USA. He was the editor of previous Cinemalaya films Pasahero (short film, 2012) and Purok 7 (New Breed Category, 2012).

“I asked Thop why he got me for Eyeball and he said that he saw me in Sana Dati,” recalled Nico. “I said, ‘Eh, bakla ako doon.’ And he replied, ‘Kahit na, nakakatawa ka pa rin d’un.’”

When he’s offered a gay role, does Nico ask permission from his mom, lawyer-producer Joji Alonso?

“Not from my mom,” clarified Nico, “but from my wife. Pero okey lang sa wife ko. Sabi niya, ‘Okey lang ‘yan, lalaki naman ‘yan, eh.’ But then, I don’t want to be playing gay all the time baka ma-typecast ako.”

Briefly Noted

• Nineteen newbies are competing in the 2014 Miss Grand Philippines. The winner, who will be known on Aug. 16 at the GT-Toyota Asian Cultural Center in Diliman, Quezon City, will compete in the 2014 Miss Grand International on Oct. 7 in Sukothai, Thailand.

According to John dela Vega, founder of Miss Grand Philippines Organization, the first Miss Grand International Janelee Marcus Chaparro Colon of Puerto Rico, and Miss Grand International franchise-owner Nawat Itsaragrisil have confirmed their participation in the Oct. 7 finals.

Ali Forbes (left photo), our bet in last year’s Miss Grand International, finished third runner-up.

— Celso de Guzman Caparas

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