On the way to the Feb. 6 SM Megamall premiere of Ikaw Pa Rin ang Pipiliin, a first-time team-up between Aga Muhlach and Julia Barretto, the driver asked me, “What roles are they playing this time?”

“Is Aga playing Julia’s father now?”

I left him to his own mental devices as I let my own curiosity get the better of me over this unique partnership separated by a few decades.

In this film written and directed by Denise O’Hara, Aga plays a musical director to Julia’s choral group soloist in a campus setting. Sparks fly as they stare at each other eye to eye, prompting the liberated Julia character to make a fast first move on her mentor.

“Ang pogi kasi,” she retorts during a school investigation over their affair.

The film takes on a rom-com vibe, though on limited, confined grounds. Hesitation on the married-then-separated mentor’s attitude compels the storytelling to slow down, which naturally takes its toll on the finished product.

It is only when the final sequence unfolds that the movie livens up to a crescendo. Julia performs her modernized rendition of a George Canseco classic, Gaano Kadalas ang Minsan. Although not a singer per se, she levels up to the demands of the song that Basil Valdez perfected on record. Of course, with a little help from modern technology.    

Opened on Feb. 7, Ikaw Pa Rin ang Pipiliin is still showing in cinemas.