By PABLO A. TARIMAN
ABS CBN’s top-rating teleserye, “Sana Bukas Pa Ang Kahapon” is winding up October 10 after 17 weeks that saw assorted lives being lived before the cameras and off and closely followed by millions of Filipino televiewers around the world.
Actor Paulo Avellino who plays the role of Patrick — the husband who sees his supposedly “dead” wife in one of the dual roles of Bea Alonzo as Rose and Emmanuelle — says what he enjoyed during those 17 weeks of taping was the close camaraderie with members of the cast.
As the cameras rolled weeks in and out, the teleserye actors admit they get to know their characters better while they couldn’t help closely observing real lives lived by their colleagues.
Avelino continued: “In between takes, we talk not only about our roles and how to attack a scene but we also talk about our lives in general. On the other hand, you can’t help but notice how your co-actors are doing. I can tell when Bea (Alonzo) is happy and raring to work after a vacation and I know when she is going through something.”
While Bea is kept busy by her dual roles, she can’t help but be curious about the state of relationship between Paulo and his rumored girl friend, KC Concepcion.
She says, “After working with him for 17 weeks, I developed more respect for him as a person. I know that he is a very private person. A good man like him deserves the right girl.”
The teleserye opened middle of June last year with the famous chocolate scene between Alonzo and a half-naked Avelino asking the former to taste his chocolate recipe.
Needless to say, the character’s philosophical quip – “Ang buhay ay parang tsokolate: minsan matamis, minsan may pait…” — set the tone of the teleserye which garnered more than double the ratings of its rival program on GMA-7, “Ang Dalawang Mrs. Real.”
Directed by Jerome Pobocan and Trina Dayrit, the teleserye brought out the best in the actors.
Pobocan said that if he were to rate the actors as a teacher, he would give all of them a grade of 1. “Indeed we are lucky to have good actors in this project. The collaboration between us was good and it made the work easy for both writer and director.”
Alonzo adds, “There is no doubt that this soap opera is an acting challenge. I enjoyed working with everyone and learned a lot from them in the process. More than anything else, I enjoyed doing my dual roles. It is not an easy role but I am grateful that I was given this opportunity to play this complex character. It is not every day that you get this chance to do that.”
Real and reel lives merge on the set when the actors wonder how they would fare if the story’s plot happened to them in real life.
As Patrick whose wife supposedly “died” in an accident only to find her in the person of another woman, Avelino admitted he wouldn’t know how to handle that situation in real life. “Yes, we figure that out on the set. If that happened to me in real life, I would be devastated.”
Alonzo rues she would probably feel the same way.
“We always ask ourselves that question: what if these episodes happen in real life? There are times when I think of my character as a real person and she would get my respect seeing her how she would balance her love life and her mission to get justice. I would credit the writers for coming up with this unusual twist in the story. Doing dual roles isn’t really that tough because I consider myself only a tool of the writer and the director. I only follow directions on what kind of portrayal will be effective to the story.”
Why the story had to end at the peak of its following and good TV ratings is explained by one of its its creator Rondel P. Lindayag. “Teleseryes are products of a concept. ‘Sana Bukas Pa Ang Kahapon’ was conceptualized for one season and it is better that we end at the peak of its following. If we over-extend and nothing is happening, it wouldn’t sit well with TV audiences. On the other hand, a teleserye like ‘Ikaw Lamang’ was really conceptualized for two generations. Yes, soap operas have their own life span depending on how they were conceived.”
