They were in these two international key cities for the premiere of Dubai, directed by Rory Quintos, and co-starring Aga with Claudine Barretto, John Lloyd Cruz and comedienne Pokwang. All the four major stars mentioned attended the premiere of Dubai, actually not just in Dubai and London but also in Abu Dhabi, which is a two-hour drive from Dubai.
The reception to the movie, particularly of the Filipino community, in each of the cities mentioned overwhelmed the group, most especially Aga, Claudine, John Lloyd and Pokwang. They had to literally grope for words everytime they ascended the stage to thank the moviegoers who mostly came in drove.
Most of those who have seen Dubai, which is the story of two closely-knit brothers working in Dubai and the woman who came between them, admitted they were able to identify to the characters portrayed by Aga and John Lloyd, who played the brothers, and Claudine. They even identified with the character of Pokwang, who portrayed Claudine’s best friend.
"Tumama talaga ng husto sa puso namin ang istorya ng Dubai," said an OFW (overseas Filipino worker), who works as a cargo dispatcher, the same job which the character of Aga as Raffy played in the movie. The OFW added, "Yes, we are working here for our family."
For his work, he said, he gets P20,000 a month, which is not much. But he explains: "Pero mabuti na ito kesa manatili ka sa Pilipinas na walang makuhang trabaho."
The guy is a business management graduate from a university in Quezon City.
The Star Cinema group was composed of Malou Santos, managing director, Tess Fuentes, producer (of Dubai) and JD Ching, promo department, Star Cinema.
Heading the ABS-CBN entourage was no less than Gabby Lopez, CEO. With him were Jeff Remigio, assistant vice president, ABS-CBN Global and Jeff’s assistant, Jon Dalusong.
In London, the group was well-attended by Raffy Jison, managing director for ABS-CBN Europe and Danny Buenafe, London Bureau News Chief.