The truth about the Baron-Aljur scuffle

Author: Mario E. Bautista
Column: Dream Factory

WE joined the press visit on the set of the movie that Aljur Abrenica and Kris Bernal are now shooting on location in Bohol. Mother Lily Monteverde, daughter Roselle Monteverde and supervising producer Manny Valera joined the print and TV people who left Saturday morning and returned on Monday afternoon.

On the way there, it’s said the film’s title is "Bohol, Nandito Ako," the title preferred by the director, Maryo de los Reyes, who had used the same style before in "Camiguin, Ikaw Lang ang Mamahalin." But when we got to Bohol, Mother Lily said she wants an English title since most romantic blockbusters today have English titles like "For the First Time" and "You Changed My Life." Mother changed the title to "Love of My Life," with "You Are the Love of My Life" as theme song.

But when we got to the set, Direk Maryo didn’t like it as it sounds like the current soap of the Al-Kris love team, "All My Life." He chose another title, "I’ll Be Waiting for You," which will also be the theme song. Someone quipped that viewers might really make them wait in the theaters: "Baka mag-wait nga kayo nang mag-wait for viewers na hindi pumapasok ng sinehan." So we won’t be surprised if the title would be replaced anew.

It was past 10 p.m. when we got to the set and fans of the Al-Kris tandem were still hanging around. "They still call us Myrna and Lito," says Kris.

Those were the names of the characters they played in their hit afternoon soap, "Dapat Ka Bang Mahalin?" So don’t they get confused since they’re Jules and Romina in "All My Life" and now play two more new characters in their launching film?

"Nakaka-confuse minsan, kaya nga we have to keep on reading the script to remind ourselves who we are playing when we face the camera. Aljur and I help each other para hindi kami nalilito."

In the movie, Kris is about to marry Baron Geisler. They’re both from Bohol and meet each other while studying in the US. They return to Bohol for their wedding.

Aljur is a poor boy from Quiapo whose mother, Anna Capri, sells herbs in front of the church. Anna is dying so she tells her son the truth that his real dad is alive and lives in Bohol.

They both go to Bohol for Anna to introduce Aljur to his dad, Lloyd Samartino, who also happens to be the dad of Baron Geisler. At first, Lloyd won’t recognize Aljur, but they undergo a DNA test and it’s proven that Aljur is indeed his son. Things get complicated when Aljur meet Baron’s bride-to-be, Kris, and they fall in love. As may be expected, all hell breaks loose between the half-brothers.

Supporting them in the movie are Valeen Montenegro as the cousin of Kris who’s her wedding planner, Julio Diaz as Kris’ dad, Anton Bernardo as the uncle of Aljur in whose house they stay in Bohol, Gerald Madrid and newcomer Dean Pastrano (son of director Al Quinn) as Baron’s best friends.

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Aljur Abrenica is thankful to Mother Lily for giving him and Kris their launching flick. "We’re excited but siempre, kinakabahan din kami as to how the public will accept our movie," he says. "Sana, suportahan din nila ito like they did our TV shows. We’re confident that they will like our movie kasi ang director nito, si Direk Maryo, is also our director in ‘Dapat Ka Bang Mahalin?’ and he already knows what the viewers like in us ni Kris."

Does he think they’re truly ready for movie and not just TV stardom?

"I’m sure hindi naman kami ilo-launch ni Mother Lily kung wala siyang tiwala sa love team namin ni Kris.Kaya naman kami ni Kris, we promised to her that we will do everything to make sure the movie is something that our fans will enjoy watching."

What does he think of the Al-Kris love team being pitted against ABS-CBN’s "Kimerald" (Kim Chiu and Gerald Anderson) loveteam? "I think it’s not fair for us to be compared kasi marami na silang accomplishments. Mas nauna sila sa amin. Kami ni Kris, we’re just starting. Pero sabi, okay din daw ‘yung may competition kasi mas nagkaka-appeal sa fans. Gaya ngayon, pinag-aaway raw kami niGerald ng ibang fans sa internet at pinagtatapat kami. Ang importante, hindi kami basta magpapaapekto."

But how come someone reported that he and Kris refuse to kiss on the lips during their mall shows?

"I’ll answer that," says Kris. "Kasi when we guest on talk shows, lagi na kaming pinagki-kiss nang ganun. So we said na sa mall, siguro naman, we shouldn’t be doing that all the time. Kasi magmumukha nang cheap, common. So sa mall shows,sa noo lang ako hinahalikan ni Aljur, not on my lips, kasi baka magsawa rin agad ang tao."

The two young stars had a sexy pictorial at the beach in Bohol for this movie, with Kris in a two-piece swimsuit and Aljur in trunks. "We promised Direk Maryo we’ll do everything na ipagawa nila sa aminfor the sake of the movie," says Aljur. "So when they said we had to do a sexy pictorial for the film’s promo, ginawa namin agad. When we got here in Bohol to shoot the movie, we came directly from our tapings in Manila. We finished several advanced episodes of ‘All My Life’ for seven days straight, kasi nga two weeks kaming mawawala sa Manila to shoot here in Bohol. When we got here, pareho kaming sobrang pagod at ngarag so Direk Maryo let us sleep muna before we started shooting."

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When we got to Bohol at around lunch time last Monday, Mother Lily decided we better have a quick lunch in a fast food resto then all of us went straight to sight seeing. It’s our second visit in this beautiful island paradise and we noticed that their tourism industry is booming. There are more tourists now, not only in the beach resorts but also in other places of interest like the four-century old Baclayon Church, the Blood Compact monument by the beach, the tarsier and flying lemur garden beside Loboc River, and of course, the breathtaking Chocolate Hills. They have American, European, Korean, Japanese and other tourists from various nations.

We’re glad that the roads leading to the Chocolate Hills in Carmen have been improved, unlike when we first went there when some portions were mere dirt roads. But we wish they would also improve their teenie-weenie airport to make Bohol a truly international tourist destination.

Mother Lily took us to dinner at the plush and exclusive Eskaya Resort & Spa on the fabulous Panglao Island, owned by Roger Lim. Several celebrities have already tried their superb facilities, including Manny Pacquiao, Kris Aquino and James Yap, Gretchen and Claudine Barretto, Paolo Contis (who reportedly came with another girl, not Lian Paz), Eula Valdes, and others. While we were waiting for our dinner to be served, Mother Lily saw a piano and showed her artistry by doing a personal recital and playing classical pieces as well as folk tunes. It was also at Eskaya that Aljur and Kris had their sexy pictorial. If you want to try their fantastic facilities and spa, call their Manila office at Ortigas, Greenhills: 726-5934, 727-4927 or visit their website at eskayabeach.com.

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We were still in Bohol when a report circulated in Manila that Aljur had a fight with Baron on the set of their movie. It was even reported that Baron killed a parrot at "inihaw ang pobreng ibon." In all fairness to Baron, he did no such thing. He was late when he reported to the set on Monday night and the visiting press people were already about to leave. He arrived with grilled parrot fish as his "pasalubong" to Mother Lily, but he was very voluble that someone said, "nakainom na yata ito."

After we left, they shot the fight scene of Aljur and Baron. One report said Aljur kicked Baron and hit him on the side so strongly that he had difficult breathing for a while. Another one said it’s Baron who just attacked Aljur simply because he’s drunk. When we asked Manny Valera later about what really happened, he said there was indeed a fight but it’s a scene in the movie. "Huwag na palakihin ‘yan," he said.

Later, the owner of Alona Tropical Beach Resort where we stayed hosted a free buffet dinner for the cast and crew and Baron came. He said "wala na ‘yun," but admitted that yes, "napikon ako kasi ang dami ko nang naka-fight scene, ngayon lang ako natamaan at nasaktan ng ganyan. Tapos, hindi man lang nag-sorry."

Aljur was a no-show in that dinner affair. He was reportedly so tired he decided to just go to sleep, but his leading lady was there and we asked Kris what happened. "I really don’t know, kasi wala na ako roon when they shot the scene," she said.

Is Baron treating her like what he allegedly did to Yasmien Kurdi?

"No. Noong una, kabado nga ako but he’s so nice to me. Mabait siya sa akin."

We asked the other cast and crew members who were there when the incident happened and here’s a summary.

"Alam ni Baron they’re shooting a fight scene that night but he wore boots na very pointed at parang deadly weapon.Kapag tinamaan ka, tiyak masasaktan ka. So when he kept on kicking Aljur, ilag naman nang ilag itong isa para hindi siya tamaan. They rehearsed the fight scene at ‘yung fight instructor pa lang, nainis na kay Baron kasi hindi siya sumusunod. Choreographed ang fight scene para hindi sila magkatamaan, but during the take, dahil siguro nakainom siya, hindi memorized ni Baron ang moves niya kaya ayun, tinamaan siya ng suntok ni Aljur. Galit na galit si Baron at sinusugod si Aljur pero naawat siya ng mga tao roon, pati ni Direk Maryo na manager niya. Nag-sorry si Aljur sa kanya pero hindi niya pinansin. Later, nag-sorry ito uli sa kanya at tinalakan niya. He told the staff, ‘Hoy, turuan nyo ‘tong artista nyo, ha. Hindi siya marunong.’ Tapos sabi niya kay Aljur, ‘You don’t know what good acting is. Hindi ko matatanggap ang sorry mo. I lost my respect for you.’ Hindi na kumibo si Aljur dahil sinabihan siya ng mga tao sa set na huwag nang pumatol. Pero si Direk Maryo,hindi pinapansin si Baron. He knows may pagkukulang din si Baron."

It’s very obvious from our interviews that the staff sided with Aljur. They’re still shooting in Bohol for one more week and we hope things will be patched up properly between Aljur and Baron so as not to disrupt the shooting as they still have a lot of scenes to shoot together.

Source: Malaya

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