THE ROMCOM “I’m Drunk, I Love You” starring Maja Salvador and Paulo Avelino is the first full length film directed by JP Habac, who has previously helmed three short films, including “Maria” that won as best short film in Cinema One Filmfest last November. The 29-year old JP finished filmmaking at UP in 2009 and has worked as assistant director to Jerrold Tarog in “Heneral Luna” and “Sana Dati” and in TV shows like “Wagas” and “Karelasyon” on GNTV. How did he conceive of “I’m Drunk, I Love You”?
“Nag-iinuman kami when a friend said ‘I’m Drunk, I Love You’ and we asked kung puedeng gawin title sa movie,” he says. “We pitched it to TBA, Tuko Films, Butchi Boy and Artikulo Uno, and they agreed to finance it. I wrote the script with Gian Abrahan of ‘Dagitab’ then we sent the script to Paulo Avelino, who I’ve worked with in ‘Hen. Luna’ and ‘San Dati’. He agreed to do it and he recommended Maja Salvador as leading lady. Maja plays Carson, who’s been secretly in love with Paulo as Dio, her classmate in college for seven years. Jasmine Curtis Smith plays Pathy, the ex-GF of Paulo na bumabalik and Dominic Roco plays Jason Ty, Maja’s gay best friend.”
They open in theaters on February 15 and they’ll be up against Star Cinema’s “My Ex & Why’s” with a more established love team. What does he think are their chances? “We offer an alternative to the usual romcoms at maraming makaka-relate sa story nito tungkol sa mga umaasa at nagpapaasa. It’s set in UP and we make use of contemporary music from top bands like Parokya ni Edgar, Eraserheads, also Ebe Dancel, Jimmy Bondoc and new singers like Juan Miguel Severo and Kai Honasan.”
