Paolo gets Lian pregnant

Author: Mario E. Bautista
Column: Dream Factory

WE VISITED the fabulous set of "Ang Panday" at its specially constructed site at Sampaloc Mountain in Tanay, Rizal and it's really impressive. They built an entire village for the villain, Lizardo, and also an eerie lair for him that's full of skulls all over the place.

Sen. Bong Revilla has made big-budgeted action extravaganzas for the Metro Manila Film Festival before like "Exodus," "Agimat" and "Resiklo," but he says that his latest entry, "Ang Panday," which is a co-production between their family's Imus Productions and GMA Films, is much bigger than any of his past films.

"It's 'Ang Panday' for today's generation of viewers and I assure them all na magugulat sila sa laki at tindi ng pelikula," he says. "I'd also like to thank Phillip Salvador for agreeing to play the villain. Napakahusay niya in the role of Lizardo. We also shot part of the movie in the sand dunes of Ilocos. We started shooting this in March so bale six months na ang shoot namin. But pre-production work started in November pa, so bale one year in the making ito and we've spent P70 million so far. We want to finish principal photography soon as we want to make all the special computer effects perfect and seamless."

How did he convince Ipe to play villain to him?

"Pinakiramdaman ko muna kung magugustuhan niya. Kinuwento ko what I intend to do sa movie na personal tribute ko to my ninong, the late FPJ. He said maganda yan, then I offered the Lizardo role to him. He said he'd think about it. After one week, he said payag na siya. Nagpaalam din ako kay Ninang Susan Roces na gagawin ko ito and she gave me her permission. Sinabi kasi sa'kin niNinong Ronnie once na, 'Bong, sa'yo na "Ang Panday."'"

Is he faithful to the first "Panday" that spawned three sequels?

"This is more of a prequel. Binigyan namin ng back story si Flavio as batang panday at si Lizardo on how he started with his evil deeds. Tapos, original writer Carlo Caparas gave new inputs to the story and we got a new pool of writers headed by RJ Nuevas para buuin ang script nito. This time, meron kaming dragon na combination ng animatronics and CGI. We have aswang, manananggal and tikbalang bilang mga kalaban. My leading ladies are Iza Calzado as a diwata and Rhian Ramos as a village girl, pero karibal ko sa kanya si Geoff Eigenmann. Anne Curtis also appears in a cameo role as the do-gooder who helps Panday nang mabulag siya. Three directors pooled their resources to make sure 'Panday' will be a great holiday movie this Christmas. Richard Somes ("Yanggaw") is our production designer and he created truly fantastic set for 'Panday.' Rico Gutierrez is our creative director in charge of visual effects while Mac Alejandre, with whom I worked before in Viva's 'Captain Barbell,' is the overall director."

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Congratulations to Paolo Contis, one of the busiest actors on GMA-7 today who's in "Darna," "Show Me Da Manny" and "Outrageous and Courageous." His girlfriend Lian Paz is said to be two months pregnant. They're reportedly so happy as they thought Lian would have difficulty conceiving because of her endometriosis (A condition that is common in women with infertility characterized by the formation of endometrial cells outside of the uterus. - Ed).

"Mabagsik pala ang kamandag ni Paolo," quips one writer.

Meantime, Sunshine Dizon and her camp choose to ignore the rumor that she's infanticipating.

"Ni wala nga siyang boyfriend, ano?" they counter in defense. "Gawa lang yan ng mga naninira, lalo ngayong sisimulan na ni Shine ang bago niyang show na 'Tinik sa Dibdib.'"

Other actresses rumored to be on the way are Melissa Ricks and Jennylyn Mercado. Melissa denied it in "The Buzz." As for Jen, it's circulated in text messages that she's two months pregnant courtesy of VJ Andrei, so Mark Herras should not hope for any reconciliation while taping "Ikaw Sana." "Naku, tigilan na yang ganyang intriga," says Jen. "Alangan namang I haven't learned my lesson. At sinabi ko na before, I will sayit again, wala kaming relasyon ni VJ Andrei."

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Aljur Abrenica and Kris Bernal took the lie detector test in the "Don't Lie to Me, Buwis Buhay Edition" of "Showbiz Central" to promote their launching movie, "Nandito Ako, Nagmamahal Sa'Yo."

It's called "Buwis Buhay Edition" as host John Lapus does a dangerous dance each time someone gives a "lie" answer.

Both Aljur and Kris are questioned at the same time: When Aljur appeared half-naked in the Cosmo Bash and Kris donned a two-piece bikini in their movie, did they find each other sexy? They both said yes and it's true.

Do they get jealous when each one is linked to another party? They both said no and it's a lie, so John did a difficult dance involving some bamboo poles.

They've been a love team for two years now, will they say that they both love each other now? Both said yes, but Aljur's answer turned out to be a lie and only Kris' answer was true. John did the so-called dance of darkness where he puts on a blindfold then is thrown on the air by the dancers. Kris said she feels hurt since Aljur's answer turned out to be a lie. John said he's probably just nervous because his right arm is on a sling. "It got fractured in a fight scene so nilagyan ng cast," says Aljur. "Hindi siya simple fracture kundi malala."

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Jennylyn Mercado was interviewed by "Showbiz Central" host Pia Guanio, with all the questions coming from her "Ikaw Sana" leading man Mark Herras. What's Mark's difference from her other boyfriends?

"Malambing siya talaga. Mabait, magaslaw, masayang kasama. Lagi akong kinukulit."

What is the one thing she misses most in Mark?

"His being conservative. Sinasaway niya ako kapag revealing ang dress ko. Kinakausap niya pati wardrobe department about it."

When they were on, did she ever think their relationship will last forever?

"One year, 7 months kami at matindi ang naging relationship namin so we really thought kami na forever. We even talked about our future."

If ever Mark would woo her again, may pag-asa pa ba siya?

"Yes, I haven't closed my heart to him."

Patrick Garcia was shown in a taped interview later and he said he has already seen their son, Alex Jazz, on TV. "Talagang inabangan ko sa TV when it was announced na ipapakita siya," he says. "Ang pogi."

Will he now go visit the boy?

"Unless I'm invited, hindi ako pupunta. Let's not pressure her (Jennylyn). One day siguro, lalambot din ang puso niya."

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Other interviews in "Showbiz Central" featured Tanya Garcia and Mark Lapid as their daughter Misha Amidala celebrated her 2nd birthday. Mark revealed that his marriage to his Korean wife, Yuri, with whom he also has a daughter (now 5 years old) has already been annulled in Las Vegas on Sept. 8, so he's now free to marry Tanya. "But it's just a piece of paper," says Tanya. "Two years na rin kami and we're happy, para na rin kamingmag-asawa."

Jackie Forster was interviewed and revealed she's now based in Singapore with her 3-year-old son. She deliberately distanced herself from showbiz to have a more normal life. She's now studying hairstyling and other beauty related courses there. She also has a foreigner boyfriend and they're engaged. "He's everything I prayed for," she says. "He accepted my situation and doesn't judge me." She won't reveal his name yet. She admits she misses her two older sons who are now with their dad, Benjie Paras, and she's fighting for visitation rights. But we heard Benjie saying before it's the own decision of their two sons not to see her.

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Ryan Agoncillo is elated that his show on TV 5, "Talentadong Pinoy" won as best talent show at the recent MTRCB Awards. "We're so happy as it is as we're rating so high on Saturday night at 7:30, toprater na nga kami sa lahat ng shows ng TV 5, tapos ngayon, may award pa so dami talagang blessings," says Ryan who also won the Male Star of the Night plum in the special awards category. "The show is so popularit has spawned a new program about its contestants, 'Kuwentong Talentado,' shown Monday night."

This is just one of three honors TV 5 won from the MTRCB. Their "Wow Mali" hosted by Joey de Leon and shown Sunday nights won best comedy show, while "Mustard TV" shown Saturdays at 7 a.m. won as best children's show. TV5 also brings back "Philippine Independent Movies Night" every Wednesday at 9 on 5MAX Movies to continue its advocacy of airing critically-acclaimed films of internationally awarded Pinoy indie filmmakers. This Wednesday, Khavn dela Cruz tells the tale of six modern-day Filipinos living in a single neigHBOrhood, each narrating their private yet vivid stories of loss, longing, and Third World in the 2008 Cinemalaya full-length feature, "Philippine Bliss."

Source: Malaya