Robin & Regine: Will history repeat itself?

By Mario E. Bautista

Philstar

[snip]

GMA Films and Viva Films co-produce the Robin Padilla-Regine Velasquez reunion film, ’Till I Met You. Does this mean they have reconciled after Viva transferred Rachelle Ann Go, Sarah Geronimo, Anne Curtis and other talents to ABS-CBN?

"We didn’t have any falling out," says GMA Films president Annette Gozon-Abrogar. "It just so happened that after Viva’s Search for a Star on GMA expired, it was not renewed kaya nalipat sa ibang station ang talents nila. But we still have Viva’s new stars in Posh on QTV 11. Our partnership with Viva goes back a long way. On TV, we co-produced TGIS and Anna Karenina. In film, we did Ober Da Bakod 1 and 2, Sana Dalawa ang Puso Ko, Forever and Kalabog en Bosyo. So this isn’t really the first time GMA and Viva are working together."

’Till I Met You will open on Oct. 11, the same playdate of the first Robin-Regine hit, Kailangan Ko’y Ikaw when it was shown six years ago. Obviously, they’re hoping history will repeat itself. In the film, Regine plays Luisa, a con-artist who seduces a wealthy haciendero, Senyor Manuel (Eddie Garcia), to get his riches.

They’re supposed to get married soon, but Senyor Manuel’s ward, Gabriel (Robin), an orphan boy he treats as his own son, suspects that Luisa is a shady character and is determined to uncover the truth about her, blowing up all her covers. The problem is he also finds himself falling in love with Luisa.

"This is a must-see love story," says Annette. "We didn’t follow the usual formulas in local romance movies. What we did is come up with several twists that will surely surprise the viewers. The script is written by Benedict Mique, who has come up with a totally different love story, and directed by Mark Reyes. The first part is romantic-comedy and Regine proves in several scenes that she is really a fine effortless comedienne.

Robin also has his own share of comic moments with Pekto as his sidekick. But there’s a turning point in the middle of the film where Regine’s true motives are discovered and the second half becomes more of a drama. This is where Robin gets to show he really deserves the Urian Best Actor award he won recently. The movie also stars StarStruck 3 Ultimate Survivors Marky Cielo and Jackie Rice to attract the teen crowd."