The anatomy of Panget

The prologue must by now be very familiar to the millions of readers who have enjoyed and I must say, continue to enjoy, the adventures of Eya  “Mahirap maging maganda. Bawa’t galaw mo tinitingnan nila. Magkamali ka, hindi makakatakas sa kanilang mga mata. Ang mahirap pa, ’pag gusto mong mangulangot kahit patago… hindi mo magawa…” and so on to the opening lines.  “My name is Reah Rodriguez, they call me Eya. Isa akong sirena.  Joke lang. Isa akong normal na babae na pinugadan ng pimples at kakambal ng walis tambo ang buhok…” And thus begins the story of Eya, the Panget of Diary ng Panget.  

Diary ng Panget is a novel written by Denny who is also known as HaveYouSeenThisGirl on the web. It was published on the free literature site Wattpad and has now grown into four volumes and enjoyed a whopping over 12 million hits as of this writing. That can easily mean 12 million readers or a bit less if we are to give allowances to those who only returned to Wattpad to read the novel again. Or a great deal more if we are to count those who bought the physical book instead of reading the novel online.

And how would you count those who not only read the book and who also watched the movie. Now galloping off to a hefty P120M gross the Viva production Diary ng Panget has also become one of the very few books to film adaptations in Philippine movie history to also gain box-office success. Needless to say, this also means that the direction by Andoy Ranay with script by Mel Mendoza-del Rosario and the cast that brought the famous characters to life also proved satisfactory to the fans.

Eya played by Nadine Lustre is the panget, a clumsy, pimply faced girl who works as a canteen helper and personal maid to Cross, with whom she has fallen in love with. Portrayed by James Reid, the privileged Cross is a big man on campus, who is adored by all the girls and a bit of a bully. Eya is studying on a scholarship in the same exclusive school as Cross. Being poor and panget makes her a natural prey for class bullies and that includes Cross. The plot has an aspirational bent and the story ends when Eya gains self-esteem, learns how to put one over the bullies and wins the love of Cross. And in their dreams, so do every girl who has followed the Panget story. If the likes of Eya can, then why not them.

Interestingly, Nadine, James and the other members of the cast, Andre Paras as the sweet, sensitive Chad and Yassi Pressman as the pretty, nice and popular Lory, are only somewhat familiar faces to the fans when they were cast in the picture.

Recognizable perhaps, but not in a big way. Nadine was a child actress and member of Pop Girls. James was the winner of Pinoy Big Brother Teen Clash four years ago. Yassi is a dancer and presently an MTV VJ while Andre, also a VJ at MTV, is a promising basketball player who has detoured to show business. They have never starred in a teleserye or had a regular TV show. But because they so embodied the kids of Diary ng Panget, they now have a hit movie and a big-selling soundtrack album, aside, of course, from selling more copies of the books.

The last time that panget was a byword in show business was back in 1991 when an unknown DJ from Euphoria disco named Andrew E rapped his way to stardom by extolling the virtues of being panget. “Kung gusto mong lumigaya ang iyong buhay, humanap ka ng panget at ibigin mong tunay,” he said in Humanap Ka Ng Panget, one of the biggest-selling rap song ever in Pinoy pop music history. Andrew parlayed his success into a series of hit albums and one comedy flick after another. Two decades later, those films still generate strong viewership on television and you still hear people breaking into the beat of Humanap Ka Ng Panget once in a while.

Things are just beginning for Nadine, James, Andre and Yassi. Since they all can sing or rap, solo albums are in the offing. They are also set to go on a nationwide tour this summer to bring more of Panget music and kilig to their fans live. And best of all, they will begin shooting a new movie soon. Watch out for the announcements. Now while waiting for all those goodies, fans can check out the No. 1 selling Diary Ng Panget sountrack album. This features No Erase, a duet by James and Nadine; Paligoy-Ligoy by Nadine; Natataranta by James; ‘Di Ko Alam by Yassi and Andre; and other tunes.  The videos of No Erase and Natataranta are both in the Top 20 videos of last week’s Pinoy MYX Countdown.