MANILA, Philippines —If you think Paul Basinillo’s Indak, starring Nadine Lustre and Sam Concepcion, is going to be just like the Step Up films – think again. 

Basinillo, speaking during the Viva Convention on August 4 at the World Trade Center, said his movie makes it a point to “promote Filipino culture.” 

“We don’t want to be a copy cat of Step Up. So if you noticed in the baybayin translation…that’s indak. We specifically wrote this because we wanted to promote Filipino culture. So what you will see here in the movie is not a western type of dance.

“Of course yung sayaw na iyon (the dance) is modern. Hindi ka naman pwede mag Pandango sa Ilaw (You can’t do the Pandango sa Ilaw)…ibig sabihin (it means) the references to our culture is very strong. So pagnakita n’yo yung (when you see the ) performances dito, they are very very Filipino yung references but done in a modern way.”

Basinillo said the story will focus on Nadine Lustre’s character Jen.

“We’re attached to our hometown. The story of Indak revolves around the idea of Jen, Nadine Lustre, who lives in the province, in Bantayan Islands where we shot. Her struggle is like Moana’s — do you want to cross the boarder or do you want to stay and go home? So on that part alone Step Up does not have that type of story,” he said in a mix of English and Filipino.

“This is about your dreams and your passion and about making your dreams happen. So with that and  your passion and love for music and dance, I think it’s unique in terms of the narrative and the songs we made.”

Basinillo tapped the G-Force dance group to help with the choreography but added that other people also helped.

“The nice thing about this lang is most of our cast members like sila Nadine, Sam [Concepcion] are also dancers and they also do choreography…once we have the song we consult them also and we collaborate with the sound team. So hindi lang siya basta isang (So it’s not just one) choreographer.” he said. 

Indak tells the story of Jen (Nadine), a dancer from the province who meets Vin (Sam) when her dance video goes viral online. Jen is then invited to be part of a dance group that’s set to compete in South Korea. She tries to come to terms with the challenges along the way.

Also part of the movie are Yayo Aguila, G-Force dancers, Julian Trono, Vitto Marquez, Zarah Tolentino, Rose Van Ginkel, Race Matias, Aubrey Caraan, Keiko Nakajima, and Nicole Omillo.

Indak opens Wednesday, August 7. — Rappler.com