Female-led fantasy drama connects Philippine's contemporary, precolonial times
The Kapuso creative and production team carries on to tell another compelling narrative, with the marriage of the perceived present and the distant past.
Following the lead of the successful Maria Clara at Ibarra, genre- and milieu-timeline-wise, is Mga Lihim ni Urduja, with Sanya Lopez in the title role, and Kylie Padilla and Gabbi Garcia as the police woman Gemma and jeweler Crystal, respectively.
The GMA Telebabad primetime series brings viewers to the intersection of the contemporary and the pre-colonial times, presenting a colorful aspect of Philippine culture and the innate, not constructed, strength of women.
“My vision is parang nasa loob ka ng adventure (give viewers the ambiance that they are on an adventure),” said director Jorron Lee Monroy of Mga Lihim ni Urduja in a recent media conference. “Parang pumasok ka sa loob ng game (You seem to be in a game). So, yun yung kakaiba sa kanya, pilot pa lang nasa loob na tayo kaagad ng adventure (So, that’s the distinct feature of it. In the pilot episode, you already have that sense of adventure).”
I’m sure viewers have caught that and a clear idea of what the tale is and the adventure that comes with it. There’s no build-up, but a straightforward exposition, as direk Jorron put it.
Dubbed as the mythical and mega series of 2023, associate director Ralf Mabunga would like to consider it as one of “the most innovative series of GMA ever produced,” said he, “so with the introduction of a new technology that we’re using in the world of Urduja, na ikagugulat at ikamamangha ng lahat.” That may be served as basis to explore the idea of making Urduja a graphic novel, as mentioned in the mediacon.
With the given resources and means, Ralf shared, “We’ve thought (of) something creatively in our minds and in our craft that we can be proud of. And that’s the message we want to put across to our young people, whatever you are into, whatever you are doing, kung anuman yung nilalagay mo yung isip mo, you should be proud of it. And another thing is, you should be happy (with) what you are doing kasi lahat kami we’re happy to create something for the Filipino audience and hopefully for the worldwide audience.”
Following yesterday's premiere, audiences got a taste of the amount of hard work and dedication the group has put in Mga Lihim ni Urduja. The show also intends to connect with the now generation that the director belongs to.
“To connect to the generation that is us. So, it’s perhaps my contribution in trying to reach out to the youth,” said Jorron. “Hindi lang siya sa aesthetics, hindi lang siya sa linggo, even sa music, even sa lahat ng aspeto (not just on the aesthetics, language and even music, even in all aspects). I have fully embraced it na sinabi kong, this could be the show that I (would) allow also myself to be in it, to represent me as well.”
Everything in the fantasy drama, peppered with action, is also a product of collaboration among creatives and that included the decision to follow a trend or devise a new one.
Aside from offering an engaging and entertaining primetime series, Mga Lihim ni Urduja has also the purpose to make the youth understand and reflect that “sometimes our stories, our culture, our socio-political histories are more colorful than our neighbors,” said head writer and concept creator Jojo Nones, “…nakakalimutan natin (we tend to forget) that we are a strong, proud race and according to our history consultants, pre-colonial Filipinos have very advanced societies compared to our neighbors or even (to) other parts of the world.
“We’ve always thought na parang underdogs lang tayo (we are like underdogs)… but actually, we’re more than that, we’re so much more than that and we want Mga Lihim ni Urduja to awaken that spirit in our youth and be proud of who we are as a race.”
Watch Mga Lihim ni Urduja weeknights at 8.
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