BEFORE Pacman, the People’s Champ, there was Kid Kulafu.
Two weeks before his megabuck bout with undefeated American champion Floyd Mayweather, Manny Paquiao gets a tribute of sorts when a movie about his childhood, is shown in cinemas all over the country.
Produced by ABS-CBN’s Star Cinema and Ten17 Productions, the movie hopes to pump Paquiao up and rally the entire Filipino nation going into the final days of his biggest fight in the ring on May 2 in Las Vegas.
“With or without Mayweather, Manny is already an accomplished boxer. Eight division titles would prove that. But if this film will help Manny to be more motivated as he goes up against Floyd, we’re happy to be part of it,” said director Paul Soriano.
Soriano said he spent a lot of time with Pacquiao trying to absorb the boxing champ’s thoughts and make the movie as realistic as it can get. For two years, the young, dynamic director and his team worked on researching the details about the people involved in Paquiao’s early years.
Then, they began filming that took a full year to finish, most of the scenes were taken right where it happened–Mindanao–back when the young Paquiao was a victim of constant bullying in school, collecting used bottles for a living and a struggling amateur pug.
Starring the young Paquiao is Buboy Villar, who underwent three months of boxing training under fight director Erwin Tagle, an accomplished Mixed Martial Artist and fight instructor.
“It was not just the acting. We had to transform Buboy to move and fight like Pacquio in the scenes. In this movie, Pacquio is reminded how and why he started. To give him enough reason why he has to win big against Floyd and complete the story of his life,” said Tagle.
The movie is aptly entitled Kid Kulafu, the nickname given to Pacquiao when as a frail, young fighter, he has already shown tremendous power on his left fist.
Kulafu was a comic character, who was considered as the local Tarzan, the famous American hero of the jungle. The name was picked up as a brand by a local wine company and on its packaging was a picture of a well-chiseled body of a man, depicting strength and vigor.
Apparently, this brand of wine came into the mind of Paquiao’s first boxing coach–his uncle Sardo Dapidran portrayed by Cesar Montano, who gave gave him that moniker. Thus, Kid Kulafu was born.
The rest, as they say, is history.