Kris Aquino: Truth or Dare?

The game runs like a lie-detector test. Let’s see how the Queen of Talk fares. Will she tell the truth and nothing but?

The ending alone is worth the admission price.

It’s nice to get a good scare every now and then, isn’t it?

No wonder Kris Aquino kept reminding those she invited to the premiere of her latest starrer, Star Cinema’s Feng Shui (described by its director and co-scriptwriter Chito Roño as "50 percent horror and 50 percent drama"), to please, please, please come on time (meaning 7 p.m. sharp, at the classy EDSA Shangri-La Plaza cinema) "because you really have to see the movie from the beginning."

The event looked more like a cocktail party than a movie premiere, except that there were no cocktails but there was a movie. Leading the array of guests (a cross-section of showbiz and politics) were Kris’ mom, former President Cory Aquino, and ABS-CBN president and COO Cito Alejandro, ABS-CBN executives Charo Santos-Concio and Cory Vidanes, and Star Cinema executive producer Malou Santos.

Among those on the guest list were Senators Manny Villar, Lito Lapid (with son, Pampanga Gov. Mark Lapid), Frank Drilon, Nene Pimentel, Ed Angara, Ralph Recto (with wife, Lipa City Mayor Vilma Santos) and Mar Roxas (later joined by his "ladylove" Korina Sanchez); Regal Matriarch Mother Lily Monteverde; Lucy Torres-Gomez; Tessa Prieto-Valdez; Dr. Vicki Belo (with son, director Quark Henares); Zsa Zsa Padilla; Wilson Tieng; Ai-Ai delas Alas; Carlos Agassi ("We’re friends again," said Kris); and Mikee Cojuangco-Jaworski.

It turned out that the movie has nothing to do at all with feng shui as we ordinary mortals understand it. It’s about a housewife (Kris) who falls under the spell of a mirror (which the Chinese call Ba-gua) which brings in both good luck and bad luck. Loosely inspired by such Hollywood hits as M. Night Shyamalan’s The Sixth Sense and the Nicole Kidman starrer The Others, Feng Shui scares – and startles – without being too obvious. No, there are no mweing cats springing from nowhere in the dead of night while the housewife and/or other members of the beleaguered family (with Jay Manalo as the husband) are checking why the kitchen door is creaking when nobody is touching it.

Throughout the movie, you will be glued to your seat and, a friendly reminder, please don’t blink and/or go to the john during the last 10 minutes or you might miss the Big Jolt – what a twist it is! – which I said is by itself (the ending) worth the admission price.

Kris gives a performance worthy of the Best Supporting Actress trophies she got for Mano Po 1 and so do her co-stars Lotlot de Leon (watch out for her death scene – it’s chilling!), Ilonah Jean, Jay Manalo (as usual) and the kiddie actors. The clever play of light and shadow helps a lot in enhancing the movie’s suspense and shock effect.

Two days after the Feng Shui premiere, Conversations pinned down Kris for what I call the Truth Or Dare game (a variation of Truth Or Consequence). Let’s see if, like her movie, Kris will give you a good scare or a big jolt at the end of the game.

Define Kris Aquino in one paragraph.

"I’m a very loyal friend. I’m a disciplined worker. I’m learning to be good. I’m a very nurturing person. And, above all, I’m very generous not only with material things but also with my love and affection for the people who matter to me."

Define Kris Aquino in three words.

"Resilient. Generous. Involved."

Define Kris Aquino in one word.

"One-of-a-kind."

Okay, on with the game. I’ll say a name or a phrase and react. This game runs like a lie-detector test and the readers will determine how you will fare. Ready, get set, go!

• Joey Marquez: No comment.

• Phillip Salvador: Didn’t you know that I’m now J.Lo? That’s my new statement in life. What does it mean? Very simply this: I won’t anymore speak about my romantic life. That’s my new stand, ang bagong drama sa buhay ko. Until I find the Marc Anthony (husband of Jennifer Lopez) of my life, I’ll keep my mouth shut.

• Mark Lapid: A real friend. Nothing more than that talaga. See! Behaved na ako. I’m showing a different level of maturity now.

• The Prospect Of Getting Married: It’s a remote possibility but I haven’t lost hope. Yon lang. I continue to hope and pray that I find the right man, but I’m no longer obsessed with it. Am I having a hard time finding the right man? You know, there was a time when my good friend Zsa-Zsing (Zsa Zsa Padilla) gave me a piece of her mind and it really opened my eyes. She told me that the problem with us is that we were concentrating on the one bad aspect of our lives and we forgot to say thank you for the one million and one other great things that were happening. So I felt that whether it’s the right man or the right love or a relationship at this point, it’s the only thing missing in my life. For the longest time, parang my focus was why he (the right man) wasn’t there and I forgot to say thank you for everything good that is here. So I realized that when it comes to love and nurturing, I get all that from my family and my friends. When it comes to passion naman, I’m so passionate about my work. So now, hindi ko na be-all and end-all na may ma-in love sa akin. Not that I have lost hope, huh. I just don’t think about it.

• Cory Aquino: The whole world can give me affirmation but the only affirmation that truly matters and really means the world to me comes from my mom and from Josh. After the Feng Shui premiere, my mom told me, "I’m so proud of how far you have come as an actress." Naramdaman ko talaga that, ay, at least the one person who will never lie to me was able to tell me how proud she is of me. I told her, "You know, Mom, my goal now is for my work to be what people will talk about and not me and my personal life." I added pa, "Gusto ko, Mom, matakot at maiyak ang mga tao sa trabaho ko at hindi sa pinagdadaanan ko." My mom laughed and laughed. She said, "Ay, naku, sana nga!"

• Ninoy Aquino: Would he have been proud of me had he lived? I’m sure! I think that my dad would be even more vocal than my mom about being proud of me. But then, we might have a hard time getting along with each other because, according to my mom, I am my dad’s mirror image. Since we are so alike, the possibility is that my dad and I would clash. I think my mom loves and appreciates me because she sees my dad alive in me. What would he have approved or disapproved of? Siempre, I’m sure he would have wanted me to be married before having Josh. But I think everything I’ve done, from TV hosting and now in acting, I think my dad would be so proud that he’d be a stage father. Mapapahiya sa kanya si Jun Magdangal (Jolina’s father). Baka every hour on the hour he’d be checking where I am and what I’m doing and who I’m with.

• Joshua: I’m not gonna let him watch Feng Shui. It might be too scary for him. Joshua and I only watch movies like Spider-Man and Ai Ai delas Alas’ movies like Volta. These are the last two movies we’ve watched together. But not Feng Shui. Baka magka-nightmare siya, ano! On DVD, the last movie we watched together was Cheaper By The Dozen. Joshua is afraid of the dark. I’ll wait until he’s probably 13 or 14 before I let him watch Feng Shui. And besides, everytime Joshua watches me with other children in a movie or TV show, he feels insecure. When he watches me in (the ABS-CBN soap) Hiram and I embrace Heart (Evangelista) and call her anak, I could see Joshua’s face change expression. You know, "Ano ’yan?" He cannot yet grasp that everything is just acting. He’s really very possessive of me.

• Boy Abunda: You know how it is when you lean on somebody for strength, because you know that that somebody will always watch your back and will always guide you without making you feel that he’s guiding you – that’s Boy. His gift is that he knows how to treat me right without me feeling na sinesermonan or nili-lecture-an niya ako. That’s why I respect him so much because he makes me feel that he respects me as an individual with my choices. And yet, I know that he wants me to make the right choices.

• Voice Problem: It becomes quite a problem when I get tired. It’s very obvious in the movie that my voice is hoarse and that because most of the shooting was done at night. I really have a problem when my vocal chords are tired.

• Good Morning, Kris (which closed the other day) And Her New Gameshow (which starts end of this month): I walked away from Good Morning, Kris with a lot of positive feelings because I know that I’m giving an opportunity to three girls who I know will do a great job with it. With Game KNB?, I’m excited to start it and I’m also very nervous. Why? Because there are no other gameshows now at mauuna na naman ako. What’s fearsome is that the landscape of television has changed because what’s in now are reality-based shows. I think that ABS-CBN is taking a risk in reviving a question-answer type of format. But I also know that you have to give people variety. I’m excited in the sense that it’s a risk and yet I know that ABS-CBN will not risk it if management doesn’t believe that that kind of show will work.

• Her Lifestyle (Is it expensive to maintain?): Very!

• New House: I’m renting my place now; I don’t own it. I have a three-year lease. What I’m saving up for now is to buy a beach property. That’s my dream – to build a beautiful beach house fronting the water. I’m having a hard time looking for that kind of a property.

• Free Time (How does she spend it, if any?): I sleep! I work seven days a week, so I need all the sleep that I can get. I take naps. I can sleep anywhere anytime. Hindi ako masungit kapag ginigising ako.

• Religion: I try to make it to Sunday Mass at St. Paul’s Church near ABS-CBN. Do I say The Rosary everyday like my mom does? I don’t. Talo ako ng mom ko when it comes to saying The Rosary. The other night, I went to the Baclaran Church to pray and greet Mama Mary a happy birthday (Sept. 8). I’m happy that I was able to greet Mama Mary. What do I usually pray for? I pray for Josh and to say thank you for everything. Dati, I used to have a check list – you know: Lord, please give me this; Lord, please give me that! Not anymore. I pray for my mom’s good health and I never ask anything more.

Okay. Did you tell the truth and nothing but?

"I edited na what I’ve just told you. I don’t tell lies but I no longer tell the 100-percent truth. Kung may sin man ako, sin of omission na lang ’yon."

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