Rodina Singh lets her hair down in ‘Multwoh’
One of Rodina Singh’s biggest fears was not being taken seriously as a filmmaker. That’s why she felt the psychological drama “Dreamboi,” with its authentic depiction of trans desire and exploration of erotica as art, “needed to be done.” It’s a film, she jests, that other directors might jokingly describe as “nanghihingi ng award.”
And if the acclaim it earned last year is any indication, she has proven herself more than serious enough.
So now that the monkey is off her back, she can finally let her hair down and just do something campy, over-the-top—or simply, “unapologetically queer.” “Multwoh: Patay na Patay Sa ‘Yo’” is just that.
“Baka this time, mabigyan na ako ng luxury na baklang-bakla lang ang gawa ko,” she tells Lifestyle Inquirer. “After what happened with ‘Dreamboi,’ hindi ko na kailangang patunayang seryoso ang mga storya o ang mga ginagawan natin. Kaya magbaklaan tayo!”
A riotous romp
An entry to this year’s CinePanalo Film Festival, “Multwoh” follows Marcel (Sassa Gurl), a college student who suddenly dies before she can confess her feelings to her crush, Miguel (João Constancia), who had ghosted her before.
And so, she returns as a ghost—not to haunt people, but to say the words she couldn’t say while she was still alive: “I love you.”
“Marami sa ‘tin ang may ganitong hang-ups. May mga crush tayo na ‘di natin nasabihan na bet natin sila. Here, we want to say that, whoever or whatever you are, it’s okay to take that risk,” says Sassa, whose character is a departure from the usual fierce and no-nonsense roles she’s typically cast in.
“Pinahinhin ako ng panahon. Malayo sa personality ko,” she says, laughing. “Pina-sweet girl ako dito. Kimi nang konti.”
This riotous romp of horror, comedy, drama, and kilig takes place mostly at night, its visuals cool with tints of blue. It’s a ghost world, after all. And nightlife, Singh says, has always been the queer people’s “playground.”
“I grew up at a time when coming of age as a young queer meant going out at night at rumarampa sa Malate,” she says. “I experienced all this, so I have a fascination with and affinity for the night.”
Besides, it was the only time of day when Singh felt she could be herself without a nagging sense that judging eyes were watching her. Well, maybe there were thieving eyes, in which case, you just had to pick your poison.
“Mas maraming beses kang mababastos sa umaga kaysa sa gabi,” she points out. “Mamimili ka na lang talaga: Babastusin ka o hoholdapin ka? Parang mas may thrill ‘yong maholdap. Charing!”
Life imitating art
On the surface, Singh says “Multwoh” is a pop culture reference to the ‘90s song “Multo sa Paningin (Multong Bakla)” by The Youth. On a more personal note, she uses the ghost as a metaphor for queer visibility.
“Alam mo ‘yong pakiramdam na your presence is felt, you are remembered, but you’re not seen? Perhaps that’s one of the reasons it’s so difficult for queer people to say, ‘I love you,’” she says. “That was my emotional anchor.”
Little did she know that the ghost would soon take on an even deeper meaning. In what may be described as life imitating art, midway through filming, someone Singh worked closely with—someone whose relationship with her she describes as being “in between friendship and something special”—died.
“When I started working on the film, grief was just observed from something I had experienced. But after filming, during editing, grief was something I was actively feeling,” she says.
It was hard piecing everything together because it hit and triggered so many things. But in the end, what prevailed was the reason she was creating the movie. “Ang realization ko was that death might end a life, but love remembers how it lived,” she says.
Creative differences
Aside from the loss, Singh also saw her friendship with Sassa getting tested. You see, Singh is also a friend and manager to Sassa, who, on the other hand, is also a producer of the film. There are many layers to their dynamics, she says—and sometimes, these things don’t mix together very well.
The two have known each other for a long time and not once did they ever fight. But amid creative differences—and differences on how to settle said creative differences—they “finally crossed that line.”
“I’m normally confrontational with people when I get angry. I want to talk it out. But when our differences were growing, I just couldn’t give that to her. ‘Di ko alam kung paano siya i-confront… naging avoidant ako,” she says. “Sabi niya, bakit sa mga taong hindi naman kaibigan, kaya kong ibigay ‘yong confrontation, pero sa kanya na close ko, hindi.”
Newfound courage
At one point, Singh wondered if this “test of friendship” would leave a permanent crack. Still, she believed that “if the friendship is genuine, it will survive.”
True enough, they did “come back stronger,” thanks in large part to their shared goal of telling stories that wouldn’t get told otherwise.
“Ang community ay punong-puno ng fantasy, pero hindi tayo laging hinahayaan na gawing reality ang mga ito. So we have to work hard and find ways to make them come true,” Sassa says of taking the leap of being a producer. “I just want to make movies that will bring life to our stories.”
And through “Multwoh,” they hope that young queer viewers leave the cinemas with a newfound courage to love. “Hindi na sila mahihiya, mandidiri, o matatakot na i-profess ang love nila—kahit na ano pang sabihin ng iba,” Singh says.
