SARAH GERONIMO TO PLAY DORINA'S ROLE IN TV DRAMA

It has all the elements that spell success: music, drama, romance, a top-rate cast and a well-loved story everyone is familiar with.

By Aprylle Liabres (Contributor)

Published: Thu 4 May 2006, 12:41 PM

Last updated: Tue 23 Jul 2024, 10:49 AM

This is Bituing Walang Ningning, ABS-CBN's latest TV drama — they call it a sineserye,...

a word that literally means 'movie series' since it brings to the small screen all the grandeur and magic of moviemaking— which will start airing on May 15, with Sarah Geronimo and Angelika dela Cruz playing the roles made famous by Sharon Cuneta and Cherie Gil in the hit 1985 film.

Based on Nerissa Cabral's classic story published in Pilipino Komiks, Bituing Walang Ninging is about a fan, Dorina Pineda, who idolises singer Lavinia Arguelles. Dorina is the quintessential fan — she buys Lavinia flowers, watches all of Lavinia's shows and even follows Lavinia everywhere. She even dreams of becoming a singer herself to follow in Lavinia's footsteps.

But success soon goes to Lavinia's head. Her attitude and diva-like behaviour drives away her staunchest supporters, including her record producer Nico Escobar, played by Ryan Agoncillo. To get back at Lavinia, Nico joins forces with his friend and fellow producer to form a new record company, for which they intend to find a new star to build up so they can bring Lavinia down — and that star, they find in Dorina, who wins a singing contest and eventually becomes Lavinia's rival.

ABS-CBN paid Nerissa Cabral a six-figure amount to purchase the rights to the story.

According to the series' directors Jerome Pobocan and Erick Salud, there are a number of differences between the movie version and their sineserye.

Cabral didn't mind the additions to her story. She realised that the story had to be adapted to the medium of television and to the genre of the soap opera, and that things that might have worked in the movie version may not work as well when transplanted to the small screen. "As a writer, you have to be flexible. You can't be hardcore," she points out.

She only asked for two things: one, that ABS-CBN keep the basic fan-idol plot, and two, that Sarah Geronimo be made to play the Dorina role. "When I watched her in Star For A Night, I became an instant fan," says Cabral.