Amaya - Ep. 1

Premiere Episode



Kabanata 1 - Ang Mabagsik na Rajah
(Chapter 1 - The Fierce Rajah)

The drama's opening scene is that of boats -- caracoas-- coming in to shore, while a woman standing on the prow of one of them chants the exploits of Rajah Mangubat, who grew to manhood in a day after he was born, and who in his first full moon of life went out and conquered another village or banwa. Mangubat [Gardo Versoza, who has come a long way from his Machete days], stands in the prow, flanked by his warriors. A map shows the villages he captures, overlaid with battle scenes, until a big area is indicated to be under his rule.

About Amaya

Amaya (Marian Rivera) is the daughter of Datu Bugna [Cebuano, "blessing"] (Raymond Bagatsing) and the slave-maiden Dal'lang (Lani Mercado). As a princess, she is a binukot [lit. "cooped up" or "caged"] who is hidden from the eyes of men and forbidden to set foot on the ground. She was born with a secret -- she has a twin who is a snake [a nod to the urban legend?]. To her people, this is the sign of a great destiny. They believe that she was born to end the reign of the cruel and oppressive Rajah Mangubat [Hiligaynon, "to go to other lands in search of conquest"] (Gardo Versoza), the chief of all the datus.

And so it begins...

Why did we put up this blog? In what way is it intended to be different from other recap and entertainment blogs?

Anticipating Amaya

[Cross-post from Simpleng Kaligayahan]

I haven't blogged about this before because I heard there were production problems and feared that it might not be aired after all. You know, kind of like wishing so hard for something that you're afraid you might jinx it if you mention it. But now I'll say it: I'm really really excited about the upcoming GMA-7 drama Amaya.