How Bob Ong & Mark Meily collaborated and won

Of the many writers we have met, and the many books we have read from the Precious Hearts Romances (PHR) that have since been produced as teleseryes, to Bob Ong’s ABNKKBSNPLAKO?! which somehow connected with young readers, with 240,000 copies over 12 years, there is still that element of wonder that will always be unanswered. What makes a hit? Will other books from the same author be similarly blessed? And now that ABNKKBSNPLAKO?! has been released as a movie, will this be a good move for the author whose readers have already given him their blessings without any dint of “showbiz”?

The movie version of Bob Ong’s book brings back memories of yesteryear, from elementary to high school to college. Produced by Viva and MVP Entertainment, we find familiar names like Vince de Jesus as musical director, Lee Meily as director of photography, June Torrejon Rufino as supervising producer, Vincent del Rosario as executive producer and Mark Meily as director.

We had been attracted to its unique title, with Jericho Rosales and Andi Eigenmann as the romantic leads and Vandolph Quizon and Meg Imperial providing the comic relief. The supporting cast was no less impressive with the likes of Giselle Sanchez, Julio Diaz, Gino Padilla, Lander Vera Perez, Bing Pimentel and many more.

And so we went to watch the movie, without having read the book, hoping that the “showbiz” tag wouldn’t ruin the purity of the material. Happily, the movie version even leads to revelations the many followers of Bob Ong will be happy to discover. Not that it would have been easy on director Meily. Recasting one’s work into something else without ruining its original intensions is backbreaking work.

We are told that Bob Ong had never thought he could even have a reprint of that first book ABA?! of 2001, much less have eight others, plus a board game, but he is not exactly certain he is happy about the situation. Just like many others in the entertainment field, he does not relish having his private life open to criticism.

“I’m no longer as anonymous as I used to be. If I could take back all the good and bad, I’d want only less than half of this success,” he told an interviewer. He gave all his rights to the producers Viva and MVP Entertainment since he didn’t want to be bothered, although he admits he would want to see one of his more recent books Alamat ng Gubat on the big screen. He finds it surreal and funny to have an actor like Jericho to play him in a movie. “I was under the impression that readers actually picture me more as Christian Bale when they read the book,” giving us a sampling of his funny sort of sarcasm.

We wonder what Bob Ong’s reaction would have been had he known Jericho had similar apprehensions of disbelief. “Gosh, for me, this is a very important role to play. Bob Ong has millions of fans and the book has millions of fans. When I got the script, I remembered my childhood. I remembered my high school days and my elementary days,” says Echo, while admitting that he only became a fan after he got a copy of the script and the book.

Before we had watched the movie, we also couldn’t imagine Echo in the role either. But reading the book and part of the numerous interviews done with Echo has changed our perspective of the actor. In one incisive interview, he affirms, “I guess it really helped that marami akong experiences na pinagdaanan… Yung classroom issues, teacher issues, insecurities. Enjoying high school life, falling in love with a ‘special someone,’ feeling like a loser, feeling helpless, feeling torpe, feeling lost. Naka-connect ako talaga sa story ni Bob Ong.”

Jericho shares the practical jokes he played in high school. There was one where he left fresh paint on his classmate’s chair; another where he drew his teacher with a companion article that spread throughout campus without anyone knowing he did it.

We read through portions of the book and found the many things we had also experienced during high school and college, how we would cut classes, change the report cards with expertise, and much more. We could even share some funny, stupid, delightful memories with Bob Ong should he be interested. Suffice it to say that we loved the book, loved the movie, and would recommend both even if the movie costs less than the book today.

(Send your questions to bibsyfotos@yahoo.com, or text 0917-8991835.)