No political talk at Mano Po 2 premiere

So what happened when former President Cory Aquino and Presidentiable FPJ (and his, ehem, first lady Susan Roces) met – and sat beside each other – at the premiere of Mano Po 2, Regal Films’ 2003 Metro Filmfest entry, at SM Megamall last Sunday (Dec. 21)?

There were lots of speculations, of course, especially when Sen. Loren Legarda showed up and guests started guessing if she’d be "it" as FPJ’s running-mate.

"There was no talk about politics between Tita Cory and FPJ," said somebody who sat close to them. "Maybe that was not the right place for it."

Tita Cory was there for daughter Kris who, like Susan, is a member of the Mano Po cast. Mother and daughter haven’t openly talked about who their choices are in 2004 but their "secrets" may not be kept for long.

But one thing is sure: Tita Cory, FPJ and the SRO audience enjoyed the movie as evidenced by the rapt silence throughout the screening.

A standout in Mano Po 2 is Zsa Zsa Padilla playing the second (pure Chinese) wife of Christopher de Leon. Zsa Zsa’s role is the same one "rejected" by both Dina Bonnevie and Lorna Tolentino who publicly fought for the third-wife role (Lorna got it).

Zsa Zsa’s absorbing performance showed one and all that what counts is not so much the role as the manner the actress plays it. Zsa Zsa turns the role into a brilliant acting piece. Before the shooting, Zsa Zsa asked her Chinese friend to "coach" her in her dialogue, the most memorable of which goes, "Si Belinda kabit ’yon, ako legal wife." (Belinda is the third wife.) That now-quotable line was reportedly uttered (verbatim) by the legal wife of a business tycoon with several wives.

Mano Po 2 is more compact than the first one (cheers to director Erik Matti, scriptwriter Roy Iglesias and acting motivator Boots Plata), minus the subplots that cluttered Mano Po 1.

I forgot to ask Tita Cory how she felt about Kris’s acting which, I must say, has improved considerably. She’s better in Mano Po 2 than she was in Mano Po 1. See it to believe it.

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