“Pirate Brothers” Indonesian cast from left: Director / Producer Asun Mawardi and Lead star Verdy Bhawanta. Photo was taken at SM Megamall during their mall tour. Photo by Jude Bautista

Written and photographed

By Jude Bautista

Describing it in words may illicit disbelief. It is a scene that both Actor Verdy Bhawanta and Director Asun Mawardi are proud of. A car comes at Verdy trying to run him over he instantly leaps into the hood of the car. He somersaults in mid-air and lands just behind the trunk of the car. And unlike most action movies of today there were no wires used nor were there any CGI in the stunt sequences.

“Pirate Brothers” lead star (left) Verdy Bhawanta demonstrated some Capoeira moves with Fantasma (right) Brazilian Capoeira Professor of ESCOLA BRASILEIRA DE CAPOEIRA in the Philippines. Photo by Jude Bautista

Audiences will get to see the proof of this in the credits portion of Pirate Brothers. The out takes where Verdy doesn’t quite land perfectly are included. A scene where Verdy and Robin Shou throws bad guys into glass panels simultaneously also gets a minor accident. One bad guy gets some (real) cuts on his head after doing the stunt. This is real film making without the fancy special effects. The most popular face in the film is Robin Shou of Mortal Kombat fame. He was not able to make it to Manila for the mall tour because he is in South Africa shooting “Death Race 3.”

“Pirate Brothers” Indonesian cast from left: Lead star Verdy Bhawanta and event Host Kristinedera of YES FM. Photo was taken at SM Megamall during their mall tour. Photo by Jude Bautista

Pirate Brothers is an all-Indonesian production. Bhawanta and Mawardi along with one of the nemesis Ryan Tedja were in town to do some demos in capoeira and even Wu shu. Director Asun Mawardi may be the only film maker with a doctorate in Business Administration. Out of a genuine love for film he also graduated from theNew YorkFilmAcademy. He has won awards inIndonesiafor his films, “I Do, I Do”, “Untukmu”, “Rindu Kami Pada Mu” and a documentary on the “Tsunami” which devastated Thailand and his country.

“Pirate Brothers” Indonesian cast visits CINEMANILA from right: Ryan Tedja, Lead star Verdy Bhawanta, Director / Producer Asun Mawardi, Cinemanila founder Tikoy Aguiluz, Starlink Managing Dir. Shirley Calibara, Creative Motion Pictures GM Gina Maria and Starlink staff Raymond Dorosan. Photo was taken at Bonifacio Hi Street during the Cinemanila Awards night. Photo by Jude Bautista

Verdy Bhawanta and Asun have met on the set of several TV commercials and developed a strong working relationship. Verdy credits him for motivating him through that car scene, “This is really important, when the director gives you the support it brings out the star in the actor. I really wanted to do this scene because I know I can do it but at times there’s self doubt. He gave me a few words ‘If you don’t want to do it I can delete this scene. Tell you what if you don’t do it, you’re going to regret it your whole life.’ That’s the secret word I always remember: regret.”

“Pirate Brothers” lead star (right) Verdy Bhawanta in mid-air with Fantasma (left) Brazilian Capoeira Professor of ESCOLA BRASILEIRA DE CAPOEIRA in the Philippines. Photo by Jude Bautista

“Pirate Brothers” lead star Verdy Bhawanta demonstrated some Capoeira moves. Photo by Jude Bautista

Asun was able to talk about where he got the idea for the scene, “The reason I was confident with Verdy because we measured it. We found out he can jump over 9 people. With the car scene it was less than that. It’s the timing, the fact that the car is moving towards you. You get messed up from the pressure.” He explained that they put together 9 people side by side and had them bend over and then had Verdy do the jump.

“Pirate Brothers” Indonesian cast visits CINEMANILA from right: Lead star Verdy Bhawanta, Director / Producer Asun Mawardi, Awardee Italian film maker Italo Spinelli and FDCP Chairman Briccio Santos. Photo was taken at Bonifacio Hi Street during the Cinemanila Awards night. Photo by Jude Bautista

“Pirate Brothers” Indonesian cast from right: Director / Producer Asun Mawardi and Ryan Tedja

But it really wasn’t the distance that made the car stunt so difficult, “Doing it without the car is very easy than with a car coming towards you. There’s a mind fear feeling. We did it a couple of times then he didn’t quite make it right. After a few attempts finally he made it. Once he overcame the fear he did it.  He was supposed to jump over the car without getting hurt. It took 5 or 6 takes.”

“Pirate Brothers” lead star Verdy Bhawanta demonstrated some Capoeira moves. Photo by Jude Bautista

“Pirate Brothers” Indonesian cast from right: Director / Producer Asun Mawardi and Ryan Tedja. Photo was taken at Bonifacio Hi Street during the Cinemanila Awards night. Photo by Jude Bautista

Some of the other scenes which looked spectacular were a lot easier for Verdy. The scene where he leaps into a car window feet first was no problem, he said he could do “10 takes.” Or when he was surrounded by 5 bad guys and leaps 4 feet high and kicks all of their faces in one sweeping motion.

Pirate Brothers” lead star Verdy Bhawanta demonstrated some Capoeira moves. Photo by Jude Bautista

Fantasma Brazilian Capoeira Professor wows the crowd w acrobatic moves

It’s actually the fourth time Verdy has been to Manila. He has been a guest instructor invited by Fantasma the premiere capoeira proefessor here. “I love thePhilippines, I’m being honest. The Capoeira community here is like a family. Maybe it’s because of the culture here. Everybody’s close they love to sing. Everybody’s friendly, I love it. Sometimes I want to get Filipinos for the film. Four years ago I was asking about the movie industry here. There are a lot of people with potential that they don’t know about.

“Pirate Brothers” lead star (left) Verdy Bhawanta demonstrated some Capoeira moves with Fantasma (right) Brazilian Capoeira Professor of ESCOLA BRASILEIRA DE CAPOEIRA in the Philippines. Photo was taken at SM Megamall during their mall tour. Photo by Jude Bautista

Asun Mawardi also revealed his secret for casting Hollywood actor Robin Shou, “He adjusted well, he’s very easy. He eats whatever we eat. He loved Ayam Bakar (grilled spicy chicken). When he was asked by the press ‘how did Asun convince you?’ he jokingly said ‘it’s the Ayam Bakar!’ I bribed him with grilled chicken all the time. Anytime he has a chance he will eat it. When he went back toL.A.he had the recipe and he sent me a video: ‘Asun check it out Ayam Bakar!’”