Truly, its KathNiel country

CEBU, Philippines - Teen mayhem ensued Monday at SM City Cebu’s covered parking lot and its surrounding areas – gloomy skies and all, there was an unmistakable air of pubescent excitement. Groups of kids and teenagers mostly in their school uniforms would be seen scrambling towards a certain direction, ready to elbow it out with fellow fanatics, if only for a glimpse of their favorite Kapamilya idols.

From a coffee shop at the SM Northwing where we were stationed while awaiting that day’s visiting celluloid stars, shrieks would be heard ringing out every few minutes. We had yet to catch sight of the venue, but we knew from experience that the parking lot was too dense for even a needle to pass through.

We first witnessed a mall show of Kathryn Bernardo and Daniel Padilla held at SM City Cebu’s Event Centre last year when they were promoting “Must Be Love.” The screams then were thunderous…you’d fear the upper floor railings would dangerously give way. Small wonder this next KathNiel visit had to be outside the mall’s premises, where a much, much bigger crowd could be safely accommodated. SM Marketing’s RJ Leduna estimates 10,000 warm bodies gathered that day – some, he said, lined up for a front row position as early as 6 a.m., and still not a few came all the way from Bohol and Iloilo!

Told of their fans’ extra-mile enthusiasm, Kathryn (speaking also on Daniel’s behalf)  commented, “Of course very happy! Ako, after Tacloban, isa sa mga favorite ko dito sa Cebu kasi feeling ko kaya ko dito, kasi yung mga tao palaging mababait at ang sarap ng pagkain. Cebu is a favorite, so I’m always excited every time we’re scheduled to come here.”

The teen royalties were, of course, in town to gather more support for their film “She’s Dating the Gangster” – easily another Star Cinema blockbuster , as seen by the swarms and swarms of fans the duo can command.

What distinguishes this Cathy Garcia Molina-directed flick from their past big-screen outings? “This is more exciting compared to our previous projects like ‘Must Be Love’ and ‘Pagpag,’ because this is the most serious that we’ve done. Nag-grow na kami in terms of storytelling. Hindi na siya for teenagers lang. Pwede rin ito para sa mga ka-age ni Mama. It’s for the entire family,” said Kathryn, ravishing at 18 in her ruby red lips, button down, denim shorts, and a shorter haircut.

The female teen star added that they shot “She’s Dating the Gangster” for less than two months because of a tight schedule.  “We learned that we were doing ‘She’s Dating the Gangster’ while we were doing ‘Got to Believe.’ We were given the pocketbooks to read.  After both us were done reading, we shared our comments to director Cathy. I enjoyed reading it of course, since it’s really targeted towards teenagers. When they wrote the screenplay, dinagdagan na lang nila ng konti para maging for all ages. Kaya abangan nila yung mga dinagdag namin.”

“She’s Dating the Gangster” is adapted from the Bianca Bernardino Filipino novel of the same title. It sold over 70,000 copies in paperback, with over 600,000 readerships on Wattpad. According to the film’s press release, the story revolves around the “intertwined lives of a set of young star-crossed lovers (Kenji and Athena, played by Kathryn and Daniel) with a major unfinished business to settle and an unlikely couple (Kenneth and Kelay, also played by Kathryn and Daniel) who unexpectedly finds love in their individual quests to set things right for the people closest to their hearts.”

Meanwhile, asked whether the saying “Familiarity breeds contempt” rings true for them sometimes, knowing how they’re almost joined at the hip due to work, Kathryn said, “Sa trabaho lang naman kami palaging magkasama… which is everyday nga naman pala. During our free time, we spend it with our families. We make sure na hindi lang sa isa’t-isa umiikot yung mundo namin. Yung dating mga kaibigan namin, nandiyan pa rin sila.”

“She’s Dating the Gangster” is now showing in cinemas nationwide.