BELA Padilla is now based in London but she is currently in town to attend the premiere night of her new movie, “Spellbound,” which opened in theaters nationwide yesterday. It’s an adaptation of a 2011 Korean film that combines horror with romance and comedy.
Bela is Yuri, the survivor of an accident where her best friend, Clara (Rhen Escano), died.
Since then, she developed the ability to see dead people who scare the people around her.
Clara wants Yuri to be sad forever as she believes Yuri is guilty of her death.
Bela has shown before that she is the queen of hugot films with sad endings, but here, she succeeds not only in making the viewers feel her palpable sadness, but she also shows a comic side we haven’t seen before.
She is specially hilarious in that drunken scene where she reprimands a young couple who are kissing unabashedly in public. Where did she get her knack for comedy?
“I really don’t know,” she said during the Q&A that followed the film’s screening. “As I was watching the film, pati ako nagugulat but I think it’s because I have good mentors in my comic scenes, my co-stars Sarah Brakensiek and Moi Bien, who are both very good in comedy. I’m just thankful the feedback for the movie is all very positive and very encouraging.”
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‘Kasi artista rin siya, alam niya ang kalakaran sa showbiz.
— Barbie Forteza’
Barbie Forteza and David Licauco were successfully launched as endorsers of Ishin Glutathione food supplement for skin whitening and immunity boosting. Both Barbie and David said they never expected that their love team will be embraced warmly by audiences since they all know that in real life, Barbie has been on with Jak Roberto for some time now.
Does Jak ever get jealous of the Filay tandem?
“Jak is very supportive,” said Barbie. “Kasi artista rin siya, alam niya ang kalakaran sa showbiz. And we’re happy that fans now are very intelligent and know how to separate ‘yung Filay love team from our personal lives. Actually, mas nagselos si Jak kay Dennis Trillo, kasi alam niyang noon pa, crush ko si Dennis. But ‘yung selos lang naman na nagpapa-cute.”
How does she find David as an on screen partner?
“We’ve worked several times but dito lang kami sa ‘Maria Clara at Ibarra’ naging close talaga. Kasi while shooting on location in Ilocos, we got to open up to each other at naging friends kami talaga. Very caring siya.”
Shirleen Albino Bautista of Ishin said they got Barbie as she’s a personal fan of her and her love team with David. “Barbie looks angelic, so innocent, and ang puti-puti niya talaga, so bagay siya sa Ishin. At talagang personally, kinikilig ako sa love team nila ni David.
Sobrang ganda ng chemistry nila.”
Meantime, “Maria Clara at Ibarra” enters a new phase as it transitions from “Noli Me Tangere” to “El Filibusterismo.” Barbie as Klay has returned to the present world and she is trying to find out ways of how to get back to the novels of Jose Rizal.
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After directing psychological thrillers with disturbed lead characters like “Kinsenas Katapusan,” “Doblado,” “Purificacion” and “Kara Krus,” GB Sampedro now comes up with something different in “La Querida,” written by Eric Ramos. The movie has two different love stories that interweave with one another.
One story happens to an older couple in their 40s, starring Jay Manalo as Leo and Mercedes Cabral as Connie. The other story happens to a younger couple in their 20s, starring Arron Villaflor as Jose and Angela Morena as Maria. It turns out they are both cases of forbidden love affairs since Jay is a married man, with Yda Manzano playing his wife, while Angela is a married woman, with Josef Elizalde playing her husband.
“In the movie we try to explain the real meaning of the word ‘Querida’,” says Direk GB. “As used in Jose Rizal’s ‘Mi Ultimo Adios,’ it means dear, love, beloved. But in Tagalog, it has a negative connotation. Naging kabit, kulasisi, third party, secret lover, homewrecker.”
It’s the first time for Jay and Mercedes, Arron and Angela to work with each other and they said they had fun on the set.
“Magkababayan kami ni Arron,” says Angela. “Pareho kaming cabalen so nagkasundo kami agad.”
“It’s a great experience working with Jay Manalo,” says Mercedes. “Magaling na aktor at magaan katrabaho. He helped me a lot in many of our scenes.”
“La Querida” is Viva’s special Valentine presentation to start streaming on February 10.
