James & Nadine flying high on Wings of Love

MANILA, Philippines - Soap operas have unpredictable lives.

When they reach their target audiences and some deep connections happen, this will signal wider patronage and later, viable commercial revenues.

To be sure, the soap opera (or the teleserye as it is known in this country) has its unique trademarks and has produced stars who earned over a million followers.

In most cases, teleseryes extend to months and even years.

But as a network’s creative team explains it, teleseryes are now conceived with definite lifespan and are only extended if they gain fanatic followers who will raise a howl if they end just so soon.

For so long now, teleseryes have acquired their own trademarks like the slapping scenes in Pangako Sa’yo and the hair-pulling scenes in another.

Soap opera heroines acquire a following fit for saints (latest sample Nathaniel) while villains are marked for eternal damnation. This is the (soap opera) fate of the likes of Eula Valdez (Pangako Sa’yo) and Gladys Reyes (Mara Clara) and John Regala (Ina, Kapatid, Anak) to Baron Geisler (Nathaniel).

 The new face of a marked villain is Albie Casiño who portrays the role of Juan Miguel “Jigz” Magtoto in On The Wings of Love. He had only registered a few seconds of screen presence when JaDine fans started crucifying him as the imminent kontrabida in the life of the two young OFWs.

Indeed, the entry of On The Wings of Love, directed by Antoinette Jadaone, has many things going for it.

It is about the trials and tribulations of OFWs in America played by Isay Alvarez and later, Nadine Lustre.

It has the most welcome presence of James Reid, the Filipino-American disowned by his father for one reason or another.

Thanks to the creative presence of Antoinette, the teleserye doesn’t linger long on the suffering which is the hallmark of soap operas. Instead, it makes something entertaining and admirable about some characters like this durable TNT (Tago ng Tago) superbly portrayed by Cherry Pie Picache. In her hands, the new TNT portrayed by Nadine and the abandoned son (James) make stellar appearances that elicit endless kilig moments enough to keep JaDine fans shouting and cheering during the preview night.

What is immediately noticeable is the special touch of direk Antoinette in the first few episodes of On The Wings of Love she co-directed with Jojo Saguin.

While stories on OFWs are by now familiar, Antoinette finds a way to make the material fresh and by turns, entertaining. The JaDine loveteam shows remarkable improvement in acting. Pitted with the brilliant performances of Cherry Pie and Joel, James and Nadine get their chance to shine in ensemble acting.

To be sure, the teleserye is first-rate entertainment but it has something very real to say about the state of our OFWs. As one of the characters intones, this teleserye has “pusong OFW” in every scene episode.

Like it or not, On the Wings of Love has the social awareness of Ikaw Lamang.

It informs as it entertains.

With this new project, direk Antoinette will most likely change the face of teleserye. If the initial episodes are of any indication, she is telling us that soap operas can go beyond entertainment. The presence of James and Nadine is a good vehicle on which to teach the young what OFWs go through to give their families a good life.

We hope the teleserye retains its good focus and entertaining qualities in the subsequent episodes.

For now, one can say On The Wings of Love is headed for wider patronage.

It airs on Aug. 10 on ASB-CBN after Pangako Sa’yo.