By PABLO A. TARIMAN
“DYESEBEL” the new teleserye of ABS CBN is off to a good start with a strong message to save the sea and get rid of dynamite fishers.
The unlikely love affair between a mermaid and a merman finds distinct possibility in the roles portrayed by Dawn Zulueta as the fisherman’s daughter who attracts a prince of the sea played by Albert Martinez.
As usual, the villain of the teleserye – played by John Regala as the head of a band of dynamite fishers – makes a strong impact with Eula Valdez as Dyangga building up strong motives to take over her husband’s ocean turf. It turns out she had a taste of man’s inhumanity and is determined to get back at her land tormentors by any means possible.
But how can she go ahead with the prince of the sea falling in love with the fisherman’s daughter? From that union of creatures of the land and sea will emerge the new “Dyesebel” played by Anne Curtis.
Meanwhile, the grand presscon for the new edition of Mars Ravelo’s “Dyesebel” tried very hard to capture the ocean milieu of the most popular mermaid character in Philippine movies and television.
The lighting design in the buffet dinner had bluish hues supposed to look like schools of jellyfish and the giveaways consist of necklaces and bracelets made of sea shells.
The trailers showed the graceful and willowy “Dyesebel” of Curtis swimming away like a real pro with her Fredo (Gerard Anderson) taking off his shirt and diving into the deep blue sea for all he cared. Anderson’s diving scene came with a voice over saying, “Eto na ang magpapainit ng inyong tag-araw.”
When the cast appeared with Yeng Constantino singing the Dyesebel theme song at the Dolphy Theater, they indeed looked like sea creatures with the tall and handsome “mermen” as the extended characters. Gerard as Fredo and Sam Milby as Liro showed their well-sculpted bodies while Ai Ai de las Alas was a show-stealer with what one movie scribe as her generous “front bumper” which he was sure would make a lot of splashy sound in the swimming scenes.
When the cast re-appeared doing away with the “Dyesebel” buntings, the directors — Don M. Cuaresma and Francis E. Pasion — intimated the new teleserye was lucky with a highly professional cast who traveled to faraway Palawan and the nearby Batangas for most of the taping sessions.
“It was hard shooting this teleserye,” Cuaresma pointed out. “We would shoot early morning with not a soul complaining about the cold sea temperature. Anne (Curtis) would often be seen shivering but once the cameras started grinding, she’d be transformed into a real sea creature and emerging from the sea without even wiping the salty water on her face.”
Anne admitted her new roles entailed a lot of preparations. “I had to perfect my fin swimming and I had to do a lot of work-out to be perfectly fit. I didn’t mind all the hard work because I was conditioned to become the best Dyesebel of this new generation.”
Before her, it was Edna Luna in 1953, Vilma Santos in 1973, Alma Moreno in 1978, Alice Dixson in 1990 and Charlene Gonzales in 1996. Marian Rivera did a TV series for another network in 2008.
Dyesebel is a creation of komiks guro Mars Ravelo whose other equally popular komiks output include Darna, Captain Barbell, Lastikman , Pacifica Falayfay and Maruja, among others.
The teleserye’s creative staff said ABS CBN started negotiating for the rights to the Mars Ravelo komiks characters some years back and was able to close a deal on a long-term basis in close partnership with the heirs. The network had to consult with every detail from the one portraying the part to the new direction of the story including the right color of the Dyesebel costume. Midway into the taping, they had to re-shoot as the agreed color of Dyesebel fish tail had to be coral yellow.
Meanwhile, the rest of the cast admitted portraying their parts was no walk in the park.
Both Gerard and Sam admitted it was no joke taping with them naked from beginning to end. They said they had to spend more time in the gym and at the same time fine tune their fin swimming just to look natural floating and making turns underwater.
Dawn Zulueta who is playing the love partner of Albert Martinez and mother of Dyesebel opined it was exciting working with both seasoned actors and the new blood. “What most don’t realize is that even seasoned actors learn from the young ones,” she added.
Andi Eigenmann said her part doesn’t look like work because she enjoys being a part of a good story
So what is in store for TV audiences in the new Dyesebel?
The Dreamscape staff said the new Dyesebel has inputs on environmental concerns notably global warming with the sea creatures as backdrop for story-telling.
Gerard added he wants to promote good health this summer through the teleserye. “I am showing off my body partly for that reason while doing justice to my role,” he pointed out.
As for Anne, she said her Dyesebel will go beyond innocence and sensuality of the early mermaids. “My teleserye has a subtle message about acceptance for women whatever their stations in life are.”
Meanwhile, the creative staff announced the ABS CBN Philharmonic will do part of the soundtrack of the teleserye with no less than Lea Salonga singing one of the theme songs.
The teleserye is bound to have smooth sailing with everyone fascinated with mermaids whether you are familiar with ‘Splash’ or ‘Little Mermaid.’.
As pop diva Beyonce once confided: “I’m always happy when I’m surrounded by water, I think I’m a Mermaid or I was a mermaid. The ocean makes me feel really small and it makes me put my whole life into perspective… it humbles you and makes you feel almost like you’ve been baptized. I feel born again when I get out of the ocean.”
