‘Never ever stop believing na meron kang mararating. Me, I didn’t know gaano
kataas o ano ba ‘yun. Talagang sinurprise ako ni Lord.’
Almost a year since news broke out that his life story will be shown on the silver screen, Filipino singer Arnel Pineda has finally given other information about the project.
In an interview, Arnel revealed he met with Scott Silver, the scriptwriter of psychological thriller “Joker.” The two interviewed him, but Arnel said more things need to be done.
“I need to get into a lot of details kasi ang tagal na,” he related. “They’re going to explore magmula nu’ng may sakit ang nanay ko, ‘yung pinagdaanan namin — pinapaalis na kami sa inuupahan namin (na bahay) kasi hindi na kami nakakabayad—hanggang sa namatay na ‘yung mother ko. Tapos hanggang sa magkahiwalay-hiwalay kami hanggang sa makasali ako sa ‘Yamaha World Band Explosion…’”
It was December last year when Bulletin Entertainment first reported about his rags-to-riches story being adapted to a movie. Jon M. Chu of “Crazy Rich Asians”-fame is said to helm the biopic.
Later, Arnel said if he can’t play himself in the movie, he’d like Coco Martin to do it.
The singer shared the times he lost his voice, thrice in all, due to “substance abuse and alcohol addiction” will be tackled as well.
Though there’s no tentative title for the film, Arnel said “Crazy Little Asian”—a wordplay on Jon’s biggest hit to date—would be a good idea.
‘Smalltown boy’
According to Arnel, music plays a huge role in his life.
“That frees me from my pain or problem that I encountered in life,” was how he put it.
In fact, he said if there’s one song, to sum up his life, it’s Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’.” He strongly relates to the song’s first line: “Just a small town girl livin’ in a lonely world.”
“Talagang I was homeless when I was 14 years old,” he explained. “But then never stop believing na meron kang mararating. Me, I didn’t know gaano kataas o ano ba ‘yun. Talagang sinurprise ako ni Lord.”
Recall that Arnel came to prominence in the Philippines in the 1980s, and internationally in 2007 as new lead singer of American rock band Journey.
As world-class artist now, the musician wants to help other Pinoy artists to get through the door he kicked open for them.
Mentoring
Arnel was offered to sit as one of the judges on reality television singing competition franchise “The Voice Of The Philippines.”
But due to his busy schedule, as we often hear on the show, “it’s a no for now.”
“Actually galit na nga ata sa akin ‘yung mga taga ‘The Voice,’ kasi in-invite nila ako before eh talagang hindi ko lang magampanan pero gustong-gusto ko talaga. I have so much to share,” he said. “Talangang pinanggalingan ko, tubong lugaw talaga. Eh karamihan na sumasali sa singing contest talagang nakikita mo na they’re trying their best kahit mahirap lang sila — katulad ng pinanggalingan ko.”
“Ang lalakas ng loob nila, ako, I can’t do that — ‘yung mga contestants sa ‘Tawag Ng Tanghalan’ — kasi I was born as a very, very shy person. Talagang ngayon ko lang na overcome (‘yung pagkamahiyain) nu’ng mas nagka-age na ako,” he added.
Journey is set to have a world tour next year, from May to September with 62 shows, with the English-American rock band, The Pretenders. (S.M. Bernardino, mb.com.ph)