Rising young star Rob Deniel channels old-school vibes and classic Pinoy romantic comedies in his newest music video RomCom with special guests Vladia, BINI’s Maloi, Hyacinth Callado, and Sam Benwick.
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There’s nothing like love in a romantic comedy. Let’s be honest—which of us hasn’t formed our ideas of love based on a foundation of cheesy (admittedly, often problematic) rom-coms and classic love story tropes? There’s something so magnetic about romantic comedies, from their timelessness to toothache-inducing fluff. And one young artist embodies such notions of everlasting romance in his music and artistry.
Rob Deniel is a young singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist whose song Ulap quickly became a hit in 2020. Known for the love stories he tells through his retro-inspired music, Rob Deniel has captured the heart of many with his talent. An old soul, the artist has mentioned that he is inspired by the likes of Apo Hiking Society and Rey Valera. As a Gen Z artist leaning towards an old-school sound, Rob brings a fresh take to lyrical musings about love and romance.
And to celebrate his 20th birthday, he dropped a romantic music video for his newest single RomCom, an upbeat track referencing age-old stories about love told through film. Re-enacting iconic scenes from Filipino rom-coms Kita Kita, A Very Special Love, Diary Ng Panget, FLAMES: The Movie, Rob is joined by fellow young artists and musicians Vladia Disuanco, Maloi of BINI, Hyacinth Callado, and Sam Benwick.
KITA KITA
The music video first shows Rob as Tonyo (Empoy Marquez in the film) and Vladia Discuanco as Lea (Alessandra de Rossi) re-enacting the ramen scene from the hit rom-com-drama Kita Kita. Kita Kita is about a temporarily-blind woman living in Japan who witnessed her husband cheating and meets Tonyo, her neighbor who accompanies her as she’s navigating the new changes in her life.
A VERY SPECIAL LOVE
Maloi Ricalde from P-pop girl group BINI joins Rob in the A Very Special Love segment of the music video. The two enact the door-locking misunderstanding between Miggy (John LLoyd Cruz), a hotshot magazine executive and Laida (Sarah Geronimo), his new editorial assistant. The two leads in this film (which spawned an entire succesful trilogy) start off incredibly rocky and then come to embody the eye-roll-inducing and yet entertaining “I can change him!” trope.
DIARY NG PANGET
The JaDine starrer Diary ng Panget is a Cinderella story based on a Wattpad tale. That already says a lot, but the cult-classic also features a tense and rocky relationship between the stubborn Cross (James Reid) and the grounded and romantic Eya (Nadine Lustre). Rob and artist Hyacinth Callado perfectly channel Cross’ recklessness and Eya’s war with her feelings from the film.
FLAMES: THE MOVIE
What’s more classic than a “you’ve got something on your face” scene in a 90’s movie based on a compatibility game FLAMES? FLAMES: The Movie, based on the series, is a film all about how two young and in love couples try to find their way in the world together. It stars Jolina Magdangal and Marvin Agustin (Rob also name-drops them in the song!) as well as Claudine Barretto and Rico Yan.
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