Okay, I confess. I did watch Mara Clara when I was a kid. Well, not in its entirety, but I did catch most of its episodes. So when I heard that a remake of the series was planned, I admittedly was interested in seeing it.
As a lot of people already know, Mara Clara was topbilled by Judy Ann Santos and Gladys Reyes. The show did much to launch the two actresses’ respective careers. In promoting the remake, ABS-CBN dubbed the original one the “mother of all teleseryes”, which is rather apt, since much of the local soaps that were aired from the 90’s up until now borrow heavily from its plot elements. These include the infamous baby switching bit and the “poor-girl-turns-out-adopted-and-has -rich-parents” formula which is pretty much a staple of all Pinoy soaps.
Since the basic plot of the series is pretty much well known by those who have seen the original, the production didn’t bother doing complicated story twists and showed everything in the first episode. Thus, the audience gets to see how the two main characters got switched at birth and how the “famous” diary was written. This actually is a good move, as it frees the series to focus more on the forward development of the story, and in particular, that of the two lead characters. Another interesting point about this one is that the backstory is used to provide internal conflict for some of the characters.
At this point, I must say that I am still not too keen about the baby switching bit of the plot. But this actually goes more back to the original series, wherein I was really confused as to what the point of the baby switching really is.
Anyway, since the series is intended for newer viewers, there are a lot of noticeable changes done. Some of the character names were changed slightly. However I do find some of the name changes a bit on the awkward. In particular, the character Alvira (Clara’s mother, played by Dimples Romana) has a name that sounds a cross between the original character name of Almira and Elvira. In fact, in some scenes, the audience could hear characters mispronouncing the name. It would have been better if they had stuck with the original name in this one.
On the other hand, since the new series is supposed to be running for a much shorter time (the production team said they expect it to run for only six months), a lot of minor, and some major, characters were skipped. Meanwhile, several new ones where added for the series’ run.
The two main characters were also updated for the new series. Mara still is the poor girl. But rather than being the shy and meek character popularized by Judy Ann, the newer Mara is presented as being more confident and assertive. She is also rather quick witted and still much of a positive thinker.
On the other hand, the character of Clara receives the biggest change for the series. Instead of the all out bad (even somewhat frighteningly sinister) villain ably portrayed by Gladys, the Clara in this version is actually a rather nice girl (though she still retains a bit of her bitchy side) who is seeking attention from her somewhat eternally busy parents. In fact it was shown that much of her initial antagonism towards Mara is more a product of peer pressure than hatred. This makes her a likeable character. Also it actually puts more emphasis on her role as the other lead character, rather than being the main antagonist.
The interaction between the two lead characters has also been greatly revamped. Unlike the original series, which had Mara and Clara doing catfights in almost every episode, they have more of a love-hate relationship in the new version. In fact, in the early part of the series, they actually become good friends with each other, with Clara becoming Mara’s staunchest defender in school. This, in turn, provides an interesting setting for much of the conflict that would arise between the two characters later on.
Another interesting part of the series is the teen/tween romance angle between the young characters, which is quite popular in Pinoy TV nowadays. The original also had such elements, though it was added much later when both Judy Ann and Gladys were older (remember that the first series ran for five years). Unlike many of the shows being shown today that focus on this, the tween romance doesn’t feel as being a hard sell in Mara Clara, mainly because the young characters here are not presented as being too giddy and overly lovelorn kids (with matching cheesy lines).
Nothing much can be said about the veteran cast, except that they really play out their parts pretty good. On the other hand, the teenage cast is also laudable in their performance. Since a lot of the young cast are actually graduates of the highly successful kiddie gag show “Goin Bulilit”, they have a rather good background for the soap.
Worth mentioning, of course, are the two leads. Kathryin Bernardo, who plays Mara, has already shown her acting prowess early, being cast as the younger version of female leads in a lot of ABS’s soaps. In particular, she portrayed the young Gretchen Barretto in Magkaribal, where she showed a significant depth in acting. On the other hand, Julia Montes may have probably been chosen for the part of Clara primarily for her strong facial features (which would suit the character). However, she also proves a worthy pick, as she gives much depth to the character in terms of acting.
In closing, it is unlikely that the new version of Mara Clara will surpassed the achievements of the first. But it was able to breathe new life to the story. And with the way it is going now, it definitely has shown that it is a great series in its own right.
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