Aleck, Maricar not afraid of Rica, Maui?

Had the original play date (Nov. 6) of Masarap Na Pugad pushed through, Aleck Bovick and Maricar Fernandez would have figured in a confrontation at the tills with Ara Mina’s Two-Timer. However, Angora Films International’s booker thought it would be wise to move the play date to Nov. 13 considering that on Nov. 6 only 20 theaters could be committed to this film. Not worth it for a big-budgeted film. This means that the clash is now between Masarap and Hibla of Rica and Maui Taylor.

Lawyer Gaudioso R. Manalo, the debonair big boss of Angora Films, is not a bit afraid to go on a head-on collision with anybody or any film for he is absolutely convinced that Masarap can hack it. Indeed, this movie has the quality that can make it acceptable in the international market. He knows what he is talking about. Aside from being a producer, he is also a film distributor. His firm locally released High Explosive, Blood Relations and Better Than Sex.

Masarap is not your formula film featuring a love triangle among a native girl (Aleck), a rich boy (Gary Estrada) and a brawny islander (Joko Diaz). It also includes a sizzling sexual encounter of the "third kind". Elizabeth Oropesa plays a closet lesbian with Rita Magdalena as her lover. Alma Soriano, hopelessly in love with a man in love with somebody else, offers her virginity to the object of her affection but does not succeed in winning his love.

Aimee Torres plays a concerned environmentalist who fights the balik-islas, former residents of Calauit Island who now hunts the animals in the sanctuary to sell the meat.

The injection of the balik-islas in the film is not a coincidence but a deliberate attempt at showing the injustice committed against them when they were unceremoniously dislocated from their land of birth to give way to the African wild animals for the hunting pleasure of the powers-that-be at that time. The film’s social and moral relevance will be palpable to the discerning.

The balik-isla hunters are headed by the versatile character actor, Mon Confiado. Alberto de Esteban, a native hunk, plays a would-be rapist of an island girl (Aleck). Former beauty queen, Ma. Isabel Lopez, essays the role of a victim of a haunting past. How the film retained its integrity and coherence despite the twists and turns is proof of the competence of its director, Francis, "Jun" Posadas.

A highlight in the film is the heart-stopping gathering of nido nests woven from the saliva of balinsasayaw (swifts) by Aleck.

The movie’s lead star, Aleck Bovick, flaunts her finely chiseled features as she throws caution to the wind. Maricar Fernandez, on the other hand, displays her drop-dead appeal. Both of them are generously blessed with natural endowments that cannot be said, according to many, about Rice and Maui.