Beyond bold scenes, ‘Nerisa’ takes stab at patriarchy

CEBU, Philippines —  Cindy Miranda is front and center in one of the year’s sexiest and most daring movies, yet the beauty queen-turned-actress is urging viewers to appreciate the film not only for its titillating facets, but for its themes of patriarchy and women fighting back, among others.

“This is not about being a sexy star. The film is more than its sexy scenes, it’s deeper than that,” said the Binibining Pilipinas Tourism 2013 title-holder.

In Viva Films’ “Nerisa”, Aljur Abrenica’s Obet saves Cindy’s Nerisa, a beautiful maiden floating in the sea. Soon after, strange things and misfortunes befall the island that Obet lives in. Nerisa is blamed for everything and is even suspected to be a mermaid because of her beauty and mystery.

Lusted by men and envied by women, Nerisa doesn’t care about all the issues thrown at her. The only one that matters is Obet, her savior and now her husband. So when Obet goes missing after an accident at sea, she committed herself to do and give everything – including her body to find him.

Written by multi-awarded and critically acclaimed scriptwriter Ricky Lee, “Nerisa” is available for streaming on Vivamax, ktx.ph, iWantTFC, and TFC IPTV.

Direk Lawrence, who enjoyed the creative freedom Viva gave to him in making the movie, gave props to Cindy for coming in prepared and for being a trooper despite untoward circumstances on location.

“We encountered a lot of problems especially the weather. And 95 percent of the shoot was on Cindy so I know nahirapan siya. She had love scenes, takbuhan, gore…emotional-wise, nagampanan naman niya.”

He added of the star who first displayed boldness in the 2019 lesbian-themed film “Adan”: “She’s passionate about her craft, seryoso siya. Before going on-location, she was prepared. I would see her on Instagram and yung katawan niya hindi pang-isla, so I told her to tone it down. She had more muscles than I had. I asked her to be more island-looking. Which she did, she ate a lot to have a more natural physique.”

This too, is Aljur in his most daring role yet. Besides getting into his character, he said his challenge was how to make his leading lady feel secure during their sensitive scenes. He apparently succeeded in assuring her as Cindy repeatedly thanked the actor for his professionalism.

Cindy said Nerisa was written with extreme emotions, which resulted to her often in the zone on set as she found it difficult to shake her off. Of the transition from pageantry to acting, she shared, “As a beauty queen they expect you to be beautiful all the time, hindi ka pwede pumangit. But I hope viewers see me as an actress, more than being beautiful. More than being sexy, I want people to see that I can act. That’s what I’m working on because I don’t want to be tagged merely as a sexy star.”

While her next project will veer away from the sexy genre, Cindy said she’s not necessarily shutting the door on flesh-baring roles as long as the material is right and the shedding of clothes is justified.

Playing the island’s notorious prostitute is Sheree, who gamely did frontal nudity for the first time in “Nerisa”, as she believed the scene was definitely necessary.

“I readied myself when I accepted the role. I told myself it’s about time that if given a good role and it’s needed in the story, why not?,” she said.

“I don’t regret it. I’m very happy to have accepted the character. May malalim pa na storya sa character niya kaya kinailanagn niyang maging sobrang sexy. She becomes a protector, so to speak, of her friends and the people in the island. I thank Direk Law for the guidance. I trusted him so much and in the character that I knew even if I shed all, it will still come out tasteful.”

Sheree said the Philippine industry shouldn’t be fearful of going the daring route, as long as story remains king.

“Others are in denial, but sex really sells. Bakit pumapatok ang international movies,” she asked aloud. “Because they’re not scared. Yun ang mas pinapanood natin. So if we can do it with our movies and have a good story, why not?”

Also starring in “Nerisa” are AJ Raval, Sean Guzman, Elizabeth Oropesa, Bembol Roco, and Guji Lorenzana.