Showbiz Periscope

LOVE AND PASSION IN THE HACIENDA

by Pablo A. Tariman
March 5, 2014



            The hacienda -- those large tracts of agricultural lands belonging to the wealthy few in the country – is now the setting of a highly ambitious teleserye, “Ikaw Lamang” featuring the country’s most awarded actors and child stars.

            Movie scribe Ethel Ramos wondered if haciendas and hacienderos still exist even as she notes there is not a single haciendero in the Forbes’ list of the world’s wealthiest men with  at least  two Filipino-Chinese magnates landing in the world’s top 100 billionaires.

            Forbes is the unofficial but popular figure gatherer of the world’s richest people.

            While the movie scribe and talent manager asked the question,  actress and TV host Kris Aquino, was on her way to Dolphy Theater preparing to appear in her evening show with Boy Abunda.

            Aquino happens to be associated with Hacienda Luisita controlled by the Cojuangcos.

            “Ikaw Lamang” director  Malu Sevilla said her research group made a thorough study of haciendas and hacienderos  and she thought the subject would make a good subject for a teleserye. As the trailers revealed, the teleserye had heirs of hacienderos falling in love with son (s) of sakadas.

            (By coincidence, there is a Hacienda Napoles in Columbia covering 20 square kilometers of land owned by Columbian drug lord Pablo Escobar. It features a Spanish colonial house, and a zoo that included many kinds of animals from different continents and a large collection of old and luxurious cars and bikes, a private airport and even a race track. The country’s alleged queen of scam, Janet Lim Napoles,  is in a good position to acquire this hacienda now turned into a theme park in Columbia.)         

            In the teleserye trailer, the prototype  haciendero played by Ronaldo Valdez is seen lashing out at sakadas played by stage actors  Coco  Martin, Julia Montes, Cherie Pie Picache, Spanky Manikan and Ronnie Lazaro, among others.

            Film and stage actress Cherie Gil  -- playing a haughty  member of  a haciendero family in the teleserye – was earlier seen as member of  an  illustrado family in Peque Gallaga’s “Oro, Plata, Mata” and “Sonata”  also by Gallaga  co-directed with Lore Reyes.

            Members of the sakada and haciendero families in “Ikaw Lamang” were, however, garbed in elegant evening dresses for the teleserye’s grand presscon at the Dolphy Theater the other night.

            Daughter of sakada played by Julia Montes and daughter of haciendero played by Kim Chiu appeared in provocative high-slit evening attire while another sakada played by Meryl Soriano came in elegant black gown. She clarified the dress was not courtesy of his TV host father, Willie Revillame.

            Both Chiu and Montes admitted it was quite intimidating working with a stable of award-winning actors all in one teleserye.

            Even child stars Zaijian Jaranilla, Xyriel Manabat, Alyanna Angeles and Louise Abuel realize they are working with virtual icons of Philippine cinema and admitted being nervous before a take. “I  make sure I know my lines before a shoot,” said Jaranilla who admitted getting the jitters acting with  Picache.

            Abuel – noting the  intensity of  Tirso Cruz III  in the teleserye – said Nora’s leading man in the 70s deserved to be classified  in the same level of  Lazaro and Valdez in the acting department.

            Jaranilla said he wanted to be like Coco Martin when he grows up although he says he doesn’t have the look of the reputed Prince of Teleserye.

            The evening presscon was of course focused on the teleserye’s love team, Martin and Chiu who said their romantic moments may look easy and spontaneous on the TV and movie screen but there is more to doing love scenes than meets the eye.

            “The truth is it is doubly tough for the actor once you face the cameras. The work starts before the shoot. First, you need good rapport with your co-actor and you need to trust your director,” says award-winning actor Coco Martin plays the role of a sakada’s son in the teleserye.

            “First, you have to trust yourself, trust your co-actor and your director who has the final say on how those love scenes would register on screen,” adds Chiu who plays Isabelle in the new teleserye that highlights love and passion in the hacienda in the 70s. “True, you need good chemistry for the love scenes to look real. Otherwise, they would look too studied or contrived. I do my best if I know my director will not do anything that will violate good taste,” she adds.

            Martin says good chemistry doesn’t happen overnight.

He points out:  “You have to work hard on it, you have to be really comfortable with your co-actor and then you give it your best shot once the cameras start rolling. I am not the kind of actor who can project ‘kilig’ in one setting. I need time to work on it to make it believable. For another, I need to connect very well and make sure she has no reservation when the director shouts, ‘Action!’ When the cameras roll for the love scene, she should feel that I have high respects for her and that I am not taking advantage of that intimate moment before the camera.”

Chiu admits projecting the ‘kilig’ moments doesn’t come easy. “It is good that we already know each other before so that the initial scenes should not look awkward. We exchange inputs and we discuss how we can make it look good on screen. We had such a scene on first shooting day. Indeed we worked hard to make it look very spontaneous. If it looked good, there is real hard work behind it.”

            The new teleserye has the looks of Behn Cervantes’ Sakada  and Gallaga’s Oro, Plata, Mata with much of the scenes shot in the sugar plantation in Negros and Batangas.

            For the new project, the production team made sure they capture the looks of the 70s from production to costume design.

            From what the trailers indicate, the teleserye highlights love and passion between the class divide, between members of a landlord family on one hand and the working class.

            Martin and Chiu share common expectations on what they look for in their leading partners.

            Rues Chiu whose latest film, Bride For Rent, was a big hit. “Of course the good looks is a given and Coco (Martin) has it. But more than good looks, I expect a good actor in my leading man especially in a teleserye which can run from months to years. Coco has all that qualities and it can add pressure on you to do just as well because his awards are proof his work is generally recognized. The pressure is twice as compelling because I will be working with other awardees from Cherie Pie (Picache) to Cherie (Gil), among others.”

            The old star system where stories are woven around box office stars obviously no longer holds true.

            Says Martin: “The project started with a concept and the casting followed later. I guess I work better in love stories with heavy drama.”

            Picache emphasized there was no battle of stars in the set. “We were all members of an acting ensemble helping each other to make characters true to life and faithful to the story.”

            A production man from the network agreed there was more sense of ensemble work in this project which doesn’t give importance on whether you are leading or support actor. “All the actors from lead to support have equally important roles to play in making the characters look alive. We have chosen the actors strictly on the basis of their ability to do justice to the part and we give due importance on how they will interact with the entire ensemble. As they say, no such thing as minor role in this project. We’d rather that they help each other help realize the flow of the story rather than be preoccupied with being lead or support cast.”

            That they do rather well in drama is probably because the private lives of Chiu and Martin are by themselves materials for another teleserye.

            Chiu unburdened her unusual family situation in the teen edition of Pinoy Big Brothers while Martin had his share of struggling days before the top-rating teleseryes came to be.

            Martin quips: “Yes, my own life is material for another teleserye but that is beside the point. What many don’t realize is that we have sleepless night doing the project. You can get sick from too much fatigue and I worry a lot about that. But we go on because we value our televiewers who deserve good entertainment after the day’s hard work.”

            Ikaw Lamang directed by  Malu Sevilla and Avel Sunpongco airs on Channel 2 on March 10.