At a big show biz bash last month, we were happy to meet up again with Aga Muhlach. Ever since he was a teenager, we have been keeping track of his career, applauding his performances in his early starrers megged by Lino Brocka and other tough mentors, as well as the flubs, flops and flip-flops that have occasionally marred his stellar career.
Aga first made it in “Bagets,” and we saw in him not just a handsome, frisky teen who could make a bevy of girls and giggle-gaggle of gays giddy and breathless, but a sensitive and “vulnerable” actor whose thespic talent could grow, deepen—and stay. Thirty years after the fact, he’s still very much around, so it turns out that we were right!
Granted, Aga has not been very visible of late due to his weight problem, but when we saw him last month, he didn’t look as heavy as before, so the good news is that he’s seriously working on licking his literally big problem, so that he can resume his acting career and face the TV-film cameras again!
Catching up
After catching up on old times, we urged him to make his film comeback by next year, and he promised he would. He pointed out that, through the years, he’s heeded our advice, because he knows that we’re coming from an informed and relatively objective place.
Once, in fact, we even “dared” to point out to him when he was at the height of his stellar popularity that he had a speech problem that could become a bigger distraction and stumbling block if he didn’t attend to it: He tended to “lisp.”
It wasn’t all that bad-sounding, and some people could even have thought it endearingly “cute,” but we were worried that it could turn out to be a distraction in serious and dramatic scenes.
—Well, Aga took note and heed, focused on enunciating much better, and the vocal tic ceased to be a problem.
Due to his talent and relative seriousness of purpose, we’ve “been there” for Aga, even when he stumbled badly, like his ending up as a teenage dad, gaining much too much weight, etc.
His financially profitable stint with TV5 was also eventually a career downer, but we know that Aga can recover—if he loses some more pounds.
For his part, Aga announced to everyone within earshot at our instant reunion that he benefited a lot from our notes on his performances through the years, adding that even in his choice of films to watch, he would use our reviews as a reliable guide.
Naturally, we were in turn grateful for his “affirmative” words, and wished him well in the new chapter of his performing career which should start soonest next year!
Other reactions
Come to think of it, this has been our week for “affirmative” reactions to our thespic notes from different performers.
Coney Reyes also reached out to us to thank us for singling her out for her exceptional portrayal in “Nathaniel.” Ditto for Ketchup Eusebio, who was happy to be praised for his simple but felt performance in “Ningning.”
We do our work for our readers, not for stars, but it’s still a psychic boost when performers and other industry insiders reach out to us, and react.
For instance, last month, we got an appreciative letter from some industry people who shared, “We are avid readers who admire your savvy, straightforward and unbiased reviews.
“We are particularly enamored with your review of the ‘kiddie’ soap, ‘Ningning’ which, like you’ve said, is reflective of reality and real-life occurrence. And we appreciate the fact that you are a staunch supporter of homegrown Filipino music.” —Again, we thank you back!