"Mano Po 6: A Mother’s Love” is the biggest budgeted and most star-studded of the “Mano Po” series.
An official entry of Regal Entertainment, Inc. to the 2009 Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF), the episode is expected to garner the top festival prizes.
The “Mano Po” and “Shake, Rattle & Roll,” both productions of Mother Lily Monteverde, are the only movies in the country that have gone into several blockbuster series.
“Mano Po 6” stars Christopher de Leon, Zsa Zsa Padilla, Boots Anson Roa, Ciarra Sotto, JC De Vera, Glaiza de Castro, Niña Jose, Zoren Legazpi, and Ryan Eigenmann.
What makes “Mano Po 6: A Mother’s Love” even more significant is that it stars Sharon Cuneta, dubbed as the megastar, who makes her debut in a Regal film! Kris Aquino plays a special role in the movie, as the best friend of Sharon’s character.
Heart Evangelista (as Stephanie) and Dennis Trillo (as Daniel) play lovers and their fresh love team certainly gives sparks to the movie.
Of the love team, Mother Lily said: “There is a strong chemistry between them. They are very talented and popular.”
Heart and Dennis said of Sharon: “We were very excited working with Ms. Sharon. We learned a lot from her!”
“Mano Po 6: A Mother’s Love” is a special tribute to all mothers this Christmas. In the story, Sharon plays a Chinese matriarch whose obsession is to get back her rebellious daughter (Stephanie played by Heart Evangelista) by all means. The compelling drama delves on relationships and the bond within the Chinese clan. It espouses the family values and the rich culture and tradition of the Chinese.
With Sharon in the leading role, the movie was given a P70-million budget. Roselle Monteverde-Teo, the heir apparent to Mother Lily, said: “Only the best would be given to the megastar and to this significant movie.”
Mother Lily also said: “This project for Sharon is exceptional and very detailed, moving and dramatic. The role is tailor-made for Sharon.”
To give the movie more interesting and authentic Chinese visuals, Mother Lily brought to Beijing a 50-member entourage of stars, production crew and members of the press. Mother Lily brought them to Beijing to shoot additional footages.
Also in the cast are Nicole Uysiuseng and John Manalo.
Zsa Zsa plays an intense villainess in the movie. She said: “Since I do not play this kind of a role very often, I asked the producers and Direk Joel Lamangan to make the role super bad so that it will be worth a milestone.”
Sharon and Zsa Zsa have a number of highly-charged dramatic confrontations. The scenes are a must-see because the two actresses really gave their all, with the help of the movie’s director Joel Lamangan.
“We really gave it our all,” Zsa Zsa said. “Sharon and I are friends, so there’s no problem even if the ‘fights’ we had were a bit realistic. We wanted the movie to showcase only the best, so the viewers will see only the best.”
Zsa Zsa added that she was honored to have worked with the country’s best actors and actresses from different generations.
Zsa Zsa concluded: “I am happy to be part of the movie. It’s very obvious why it is the biggest ‘Mano Po’ movie. You couldn’t ask for more – great actors and actresses, multi-awarded director, touching story and excellent production design.”
“Mano Po 6” opens in theaters nationwide on Dec. 25.
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MANILA, Philippines—(UPDATE) She is no ordinary nanny.
Who’s the other yaya who had starred in movies and in TV commercials?
Who’s the other yaya who, in death, would be interred at the Santuario de San Antonio in posh Forbes Park.
Loreta Benitez, or Yaya Luring as she is known in show biz circles, wasn’t just like any other nanny, or household helper, in the eyes of her famous ward, singer-actress Sharon Cuneta, also known as the country’s Megastar.
In a text message, Cuneta described Benitez, who succumbed to cardiac arrest on Saturday night at the age of 83, “as one of the biggest losses” in her life.
“I don’t know how life will be without her,” Cuneta said.
Yaya Luring was definitely part of Mega’s family—and was treated as such.
Cuneta, who was in the middle of the publicity blitz for her latest movie, “Mano Po 6: A Mother’s Love,” had to cancel all her appointments on Sunday —including TV guestings and the premiere of her movie, an entry in this month’s Metro Manila Film Festival.
“I apologize to everyone. It’s hard to adjust now that she’s gone. She will forever be in my heart,” she said via SMS.
According to friend and business manager Sandy Santamaria, Cuneta and her husband Sen. Francis Pangilinan threw a Christmas party for their household staff in their rest home in Santa Rosa, Laguna, on Saturday night.
“While the staff exchanged gifts, Yaya Luring felt faint,” recalled Noel Ferrer, friend and a talent manager.
She was then rushed to a nearby hospital (in Laguna) where she was pronounced dead.
In an interview when she was still alive, Benitez recalled that she joined the Cuneta household 40 years ago.
A native of Pangasinan, a mother of two with at least four grandchildren, Benitez was already in her early 40s when she was hired by the Cunetas.
Benitez recounted: “My own children were already grown up then. I took care of Sharon’s parents”—former beauty queen and singer Elaine Gamboa-Cuneta and the late Pasay City Mayor Pablo Cuneta.
“Sharon was five years old then,” Benitez said.
She was originally in charge of the laundry and kitchen, before becoming the nanny of the Cunetas’ youngest daughter.
In previous interviews, the singer-actress said that her father Mayor Cuneta passed on his recipe of sinigang to Yaya Luring.
Benitez used to cook sinigang in Boston where the Pangilinans stayed for a year in the late 1990s.
In her most active years, Yaya Luring went with her celebrity-ward everywhere.
She could very well be the most well-traveled nanny in the country—having accompanied Cuneta in her concert tours in the US, Asia and Europe.
She also appeared in cameo, blink-and-you’ll-miss-her roles in Cuneta’s movies.
Later, she co-starred with Cuneta in three high-profile commercials for a detergent (Tide), noodles (Lucky Me) and film brand (Fuji).
Lately, however, Benitez had gone into retirement and spent most of her remaining days in the Pangilinans’ Laguna home, where the fresh air and unhurried lifestyle were perfect for her, said Cuneta’s personal assistant Penny Chung-Diamzon.
According to Ferrer, Yaya Luring will be buried on Dec. 23 in Heritage Memorial
NEWS UPDATE ABOUT THE FIST SHOWING DAY
HEART: hi! im already here in megamall. its the premiere night of mano po 6. wow!
ang daming tao! im so happy! hope andito ka! see u in a bit! 12-20-2009 6:12 pm
Pulang-pula ang SM Cinemas 9 and 10 dahil sa Mano Po 6 premiere, na dinaluhan nina Mother Lily at anak nitong si Roselle at miyembro ng cast na kinabibilangan nina Christopher de Leon, Ciara Sotto (na kasama ang mga sisters), Heart Evangelista (na kasama ang kanyang ina at manager na si Annabelle Rama). Wala pa sa venue sina Zsa Zsa, Dennis, Nicole Uysiuseng, at John Manalo.
Hindi nakadalo sa premiere ng Mano Po 6 si Sharon. On her behalf, dumating sina Senator Kiko Pangilinan at Kc Concepcion.
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