GALA SCREENING OF DIGITALLY REMASTERED COPY OF DANNY ZIALCITA'S "KARMA"

The gala screening of Danny Zialcita’s 1981 film “Karma” took place last night at Trinoma Cinema 2.  Among the lead stars, only Ronaldo Valdez attended the event; Chanda Romero didn’t show up and the main lead star Vilma Santos left for Hongkong on the same day to spend her birthday with her family but nevertheless the event was a success, attended by film enthusiasts, bloggers and notably Vilma Santos’ loyal fans from VSSI (Vilma Santos Solid Internationals Fans Club).  The organizers provided cocktails for the guests before screening time and pictorials and interviews followed with Ronaldo Valdez enjoying the spotlight and gamely posed with selfie seekers.

“Karma” is about the reincarnation of two main characters Guada  (Leila Hermosa) and Limbo (Ruel Vernal) who had an illicit affair in the past (many years ago).  Sarah (played by Vilma Santos) is forced to postpone her wedding when her scheduled flight is delayed.  At a hotel  where she is billeted, she encounters Eric (played by Ronaldo Valdez), a regular hotel guest who forces himself on her. Erik wasn't aware that the room was already taken by Sarah. The incident leaves a stigma not just on Sarah but more so on her fiancé Alfredo (played by Tommy Abuel) whose dream of marrying a “virgin” is ruined.  Sarah and Eric crossed path again at a time when their respective marriages were in shambles and both tried to rekindle their aborted affair leaving their respective spouses devastated which eventually led to a series of tragedies as both committed violent suicides.  Eric was killed by his wife Christy (played by Chanda Romero) but hold your breath Eric's character does not end there, as his spirit was presumably reincarnated in the person of Christopher de Leon who survived from similar tragedy.  The movie ends in a scene showing Christopher de Leon playing harmonica while walking at the beach and approached Sarah who was sitting on a rock.  Christopher asked Sarah what's her favorite color (the same question that Limbo and Eric asked Guada and Sarah in their past lives).  The final scene provided "kilig" to the audience but leaves the audience with the question whether Sarah lived happily ever after with the reincarnated soul of Limbo and Eric or was Sarah rewarded with good karma?

It's been sometime that Vilma and Christopher haven't made a movie together and if I am not mistaken the last movie they did was "Mano Po (My Love)" in 2004.  The two movie icons starred in more than 20 successful films making them the most formidable tandem in local cinema.   

The event was organized by Quezon City Film Development Commission in partnership with ABS-CBN Film Restoration Program.  The goal of the ABS-CBN's project is to digitally restore and remaster select Filipino Films from the archives of ABS-CBN and a list of notable films have been digitally restored including Ismael Bernal's "Himala," Mike de Leon's "Kung Mangarap Ka't Magising," Laurice Guilen's "Kapag Langit ang Humatol" and Peque Gallaga's "Oro, Plata, Mata" to mention a few.