Doble Kara

Doble Kara
File:Doble Kara-titlecard.jpg
Also known as	Double Kara
Genre	Melodrama Romantic drama Family Comedy
Created by	Rondel P. Lindayag Erick C. Salud
Developed by	Roldeo T. Endrinal Julie Anne R. Benitez
Written by	Danica Mae S. Domingo David Franche Diuco Hazel Karyl Madanguit Liendro Candelaria
Directed by	Emmanuel "Manny" Q. Palo Jon S. Villarin Erick C. Salud Trina N. Dayrit
Starring	Julia Montes Carmina Villaroel Mylene Dizon Ariel Rivera Sam Milby
Opening theme	Ikaw Ay Ako by Klarisse de Guzman and Morissette Amon
Country of origin	Philippines
Original language(s)	Filipino English Japanese
No. of seasons	4
No. of episodes	200 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Hazel Bolisay-Parfan Maya Manuel-Aralar
Producer(s)	Erick C. Salud
Production location(s)	Pampanga, Philippines Manila, Philippines Nagoya, Japan
Cinematography	Jafet Tutanes Gerardo Jacinto
Editor(s)	Marion Bautista
Running time	30-45 minutes
Production company(s)	Dreamscape Entertainment TV
Release
Original network	ABS-CBN
Picture format	480i (SDTV) 1080i (HDTV)
Original release	August 24, 2015 (2015-08-24) – present
External links
Website

Doble Kara (Lit: Double Faced / English: Double Kara) is a 2015 Philippine melodrama television series, directed by Emmanuel Q. Palo, Trina N. Dayrit, and Erick C. Salud. It stars Royal Princess of Drama Julia Montes in her first dual role, as Kara Dela Rosa and Sara Suarez, together with an ensemble cast consisting of Mylene Dizon, Carmina Villaroel, Ariel Rivera, Allen Dizon, Sam Milby, Alicia Alonzo, Maxene Magalona, and Edgar Allan Guzman. The series premiered on ABS-CBN's Kapamilya Gold afternoon block and worldwide on The Filipino Channel on August 24, 2015, replacing Pinoy Big Brother: 737 GOLD.

Doble Kara has received multiple award wins; including a TV Series Craze Award for Best Daytime TV Series, and a Gawad Tanglaw Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series for Julia Montes.

Premise

The story revolves around identical twin sisters who grew up in a happy family in spite of being poor and whose lives will be intertwined because of love, identity, deceit, ambition, and wealth when destiny teasingly compels to separate their lives.

Plot

Doble Kara began with the story of a poverty-stricken Laura (Mylene Dizon) who had no means of acquiring money for her dying mother's medical treatment. Laura, who had no choice but to resort to prostitution due to desperation, was impregnated by a married man named Antonio Dela Rosa (Allen Dizon). Despite what happened, Ishmael (Ariel Rivera) who has shown Laura true love, marries her, and steps in as the father of her two unborn children. On the same day of Laura's childbearing, Lucille (Carmina Villaroel), Antonio's wife, too, gives birth to their child, Sofia. However, the couple's daughter died shortly thereafter its delivery in consequence of its premature birth.

As Antonio and Lucille grieve and mourn for their daughter’s early passing, Laura and Ishmael, together with godmother Itoy (John Lapus) and his brother Andy (Anjo Damiles), enjoyed and lived a happy life with their twin daughters, Kara and Sara (Julia Montes), regardless of being poor. However, when Kara was diagnosed with leukemia, the twins' parents was forced to separate the two and give up Kara to her biological father Antonio, who had the means to take care of her, because they don't have the money for her treatments. With Kara finally aware of her true origins, Laura and Ishmael decided to keep their secret away from Sara and Antonio, in fear of losing Sara as well.

Antonio brings Kara unto the Dela Rosa foundation where she meets Lucille. Disheartened by Kara's ailment, Lucille began to espouse a mother-daughter relationship with Kara as she began to consider her as her own daughter with the previous loss of Sofia. Unbeknownst to her of the existing relationship between her husband and Kara, Lucille adopts and brings Kara abroad where she recovers from her illness.

The two siblings, despite sharing the same appearance, grew up having two separate lives, and exhibit contrasting personalities. Sara, who has an extreme fondness of beauty contests and pageants, grew up ambitiously towards her own life and dream, becoming more self-centered and egoistic while fostering a street-smart attitude. While, Kara grew up to be charming, sweet, mellow, very sophisticated, and artistically inclined.

Fourteen years had passed, a grown-up Kara returned to her hometown and had made a strong resolution to herself to find her family, against her father's wishes. While Sara, on the other hand, remained ignorant of her sister's whereabouts, busy and determined to pursue her dream of becoming rich and famous, as she meets Edward (Edgar Allan Guzman). The two became a sweet couple but as days test their relationship, they stop themselves in impoverishment so they broke up and remained friends. In the meantime after several attempts, Kara had finally succeeded to meet her twin sister Sara in one of Edward's concert. Kara pleaded with Sara not to tell their parents yet of her return in order to avoid further complications in her family. Amidst of these, Laura and Ishmael discovered soon of Kara's presence when Kara worriedly visited her mother who got admitted in a hospital because of ulcer and when Ishmael got victimized in a taxi hold-up. Several situations had occurred in keeping Kara and Antonio's secret including Sara who got mistaken for as Kara by Lucille and Antonio. This accidental switching of identities later on gave Sara the acquisitiveness to share in Kara's luxurious life, much to Kara's detriment.

Edward meets Kara again for a second time and it was already known to him that Kara and Sara are twins. Edward uncertainly get his eyes on Kara and she will soon taste the bitterness of her twin sister. Rivalry arises between them with both twins fighting for their rights and ownership. But even so, Kara's love for her sister is unconditional as she gives everything to Sara to make her happy and satisfied. Meanwhile, Sara's jealousy towards Kara heightens as she unraveled her true origins - kept and hidden by her own parents and sister. Now aware of her true identity, Sara started to yearn for Antonio's affections and used her sister's identity to get closer to her real father, but eventually the truth was revealed to Antonio that he actually shared twins with Laura. In few times later, Kara uncovered her feelings for Edward and realized for herself that she doesn't see him beyond a friend. She meets her new savior, Sebastian (Sam Milby), who stopped her from committing suicide and helped her with her family problems. They became best friends and now it is Edward who seeks attention to Kara and gets envious of Sebastian. Sara later promised Edward that she will always be there for him.

After the struggles that Kara has faced, every pieces of their family's secrets are finally discovered by Lucille who had known nothing about her family's well-kept secrets. Even her mother, Barbara (Alicia Alonzo), pretends innocently and blames Kara for falling down from a stair. Lucille was saddened by these turn of events, but chose to forgive her family and wanted them to move with her to America again for a fresh start. Unfortunately, Lucille's revenge returns and aggravates when Antonio dies in a car accident and her road to revenge is nearly arriving and she couldn't stop until she finds justice for the death of her husband. It becomes worse for Lucille when another secret from her mother is about to shock her when she meets her conniving half-sister Alex (Maxene Magalona) and half-brother Sebastian.

Alex and Sebastian made a promise to get back the money which their father supposedly left for them. Alex would do everything to retrieve back what is rightfully theirs. Now, Lucille is against them as well until several circumstances will change their lives when Alex becomes even more desperate for money and she is determined to strike vengeance against Lucille. Eventually, Lucille turned the tables next to her favors when she started a connivance with Alex and assured to pay her handsomely in exchange for her services. Lucille ordered Alex to lure Sara by convincing her to invest her money to a fraud, while she deals with Kara's unwary temperament in an attempt to pester with her family. Filled with suspicions and doubts towards her mother's sudden closeness, Kara investigates Lucille's true intentions. Kara upon discovering her mother's schemes and Alex's involvement with Lucille, she told an enraged Sara the truth and finally decided to choose her immediate family. Sara is still hopeless to get back the money from Lucille since she already gave it to Alex. Sara catches Alex but she freely escaped from them but then she was kidnapped by a man ordered by Lucille. Sebastian searched for his sister everywhere and even sought help from the policemen but she is nowhere to be found until the court date arrives.

The day of confrontation in the court is about to come and Alex is ready to unveil the truth about what really happened to her. Afraid to tell the truth, Alex made a decision not to disclose what really happened to her. In exchange of her silence, Alex was rewarded by Lucille with wealth and money. Lucille wins the case and Alex and Sara's conflict escalates while Lucille didn't stop on ruining the Suarez family and even involve other people to do her commands to watch out for them. However eventually, the Suarez ignored her causing the Suarez's happy moments while Kara is trying to fix her relationship with her twin sister. But things got twisted when one day, Sara seduces Seb and begs for his love causing Kara and Sara's big complication. They search for a way to protect their relationship from Sara. Love still prevails in Kara and Seb's favor.

One day, when the Suarez planned to enjoy the holidays, they decided to go out for a family vacation and Seb prepared for his marriage proposal, but Lucille break the moment and get the family into a tragic accident. After the incident, the Suarez had thoughts that Lucille caused the accident but they don't have strong evidence for it. Nevertheless, they arrived uninjured and safe and Seb get everything set for his surprise proposal for Kara. Sara's dissatisfaction and envy arises again and before Kara and Seb's wedding, Sara seduces her sister's soon-to-be-husband and once more begs for his love but Seb proves that his love is only for Kara.

After the scandal, Seb distressingly prepares for his upcoming wedding so as Kara and her maid of honor is her own twin sister which might proves that Sara completely reconciles with her twin sister. Sara helped her twin sister with everything for the wedding, but she is doing this to stop the wedding because she and Alex connive with planning to postpone the wedding. However, it was all too late, when Kara and Seb finally showed their true love to God. Unfortunately, another deferral bothered as Lucille showed up and annoyingly opposed the wedding causing everyone to walk away and stop the celebration. Later on, Lucille was again charged with temporary restraining order but as a wedding gift, the new couple is given lots of presents including Lucille's which is thought to be a bomb and Barbara knows this, so she protected her daughter by imprisoning her again. A deranged Lucille who keeps on seeing Antonio as an apparition continues with her agenda in ruining the Suarez and taking Kara back to her arms. Barbara, upon noticing her daughter's unstable state, persistently protects her. Sara is alone after being left by Edward and the twins, after making up with their boyfriends, are revealed to be carrying babies.

Both babies are born, christened as Rebecca and Isabella. However, Sara mourned and grieved as Rebecca shortly died after her birth and just like Lucille's daughter, it is also caused by a premature birth. While Sara is sorrowfully saddened and haven't moved on, Kara and Seb promised to Isabella to protect and support her and be good parents. Not long after Isabella's few months, she was unfortunately separated from Kara and Seb which causes a family problem to the Suarez. Nobody knows who intended to kidnap the child and not stopping to search for it, Kara later adopted Hannah (Myel de Leon) who was lost and left by her mother and then brought to the Dela Rosa foundation because there was a sudden report that the adoption center is not on balance due to Lucille's unstable state and absence. Isabella (Dayara Shane) was left in front of Sara's house under unknown circumstances and she took maternal care for her. Kara later developed some form of bonding with Hannah and adopted her as her daughter while Lucille stays in a mental hospital hoping for an acceptance from Kara and be together again.

Cast and characters

Main cast

• Julia Montes as Kara Dela Rosa-Acosta / Sara Suarez - Kara is the immaculate twin sister of Sara who excels in fine arts and lives a simple life. Sara is the twin sister of Kara who joins any kinds of beauty pageants and contests whenever there are profits, being exuberant between the two.
• Carmina Villaroel as Lucille Acosta-Dela Rosa - Kara's adoptive mother, Sebastian and Alex's half-sister. Barbara's daughter and Antonio's wife.
• Mylene Dizon as Laura Hipolito-Suarez - Kara and Sara's biological mother and Ishmael's wife.
• Ariel Rivera as Ishmael Suarez - Kara and Sara's adoptive father and Laura's husband.
• Sam Milby as Sebastian "Seb" Acosta - Kara's husband and Alex's older brother.

Supporting cast

• Allen Dizon as Antonio Dela Rosa - Lucille's deceased husband and Kara's biological father.
• Alicia Alonzo as Barbara Acosta - Lucille's mother, Kara's adoptive grandmother.
• Maxene Magalona as Alexandra "Alex" Acosta - Sebastian's younger sister and Barbara's granddaughter from the father of the Acosta siblings.
• Edgar Allan Guzman as Edward Ligaya - Sara's ex-boyfriend who later became the father of Sara's baby.
• John Lapus as Ninang Itoy Delgado - Laura and Ishmael's bestfriend and the godmother of the twins.
• Anjo Damiles as Andrew "Andy" Delgado - Itoy's younger brother and the twins' third "twin brother".
• Gloria Sevilla as Yaya Anita - The maid of the Acosta family and close confidant of Lucille in times of hardships.
• Krystal Mejes as Isabella Acosta / Rebecca Suarez - Kara and Seb's real daughter, Sara's niece and Laura and Ismael's granddaughter.
• Myel de Leon as Hannah Acosta - Kara and Seb's adoptive daughter, Sara's niece and Laura and Ishmael's adoptive granddaughter.

Recurring cast

• Alora Sasam as Camille Rose "CR" Sanchez
• Patricia Javier as Chloe Cabrera
• Loren Burgos as Ms. Olivia Ou
• Michael Conan as Emilio
• Jason Fernandez as Jhayson
• Chrisha Uy as Jessica
• Chiqui del Carmen as Lourdes
• Joe Vargas as Elvis
• Yesha Camille as Mikay
• Amy Nobleza as Bebeng
• David Chua as Nestor Magdalang
• Kathleen Hermosa as Andrea
• Mickey Ferriols as Cynthia
• Rayver Cruz as Banjo

Guest cast

• Maritess Joaquin as Kristina Valera
• Dexie Daulat as Vianne Valera
• Ramon Christopher as Dante Ligaya
• Frances Ignacio as Susan Ligaya
• Shey Bustamante as Zen
• Maila Gumila as Lorena Acosta
• Eslove Briones as Eric
• Jerry O'Hara as Sara's Attorney
• Mikey Caffrey as Company Assistant
• Hannah Ledesma as Apple
• Markki Stroem as Frank
• Ryonda Bernardo as Blessie
• Alberto Rejalldo as Nordemon Magdalang
• Arisa Suzuki as Mikasa

Special participation

• Irma Adlawan as Esmeralda "Aling Esme" Hipolito
• Avery Balasbas as young Kara Dela Rosa / young Sara Suarez
• Marco Pingol as young Edward Ligaya
• Harvey Bautista as young Andrew "Andy" Delgado
• Trajan Moreno as young Sebastian "Seb" Acosta
• Alyanna Angeles as young Alexandra "Alex" Acosta
• Jacqui Leus as Body double of Julia Montes

Episodes

Main article: List of Doble Kara episodes

Season		Episodes	Originally aired
			First aired	Last aired
	1	55	August 24, 2015 (2015-08-24)	November 6, 2015 (2015-11-06)
	2	50	November 9, 2015 (2015-11-09)	January 15, 2016 (2016-01-15)
	3	68	January 18, 2016 (2016-01-18)	April 22, 2016 (2016-04-22)
	4	27	April 25, 2016 (2016-04-25)	TBD
	5	TBA	TBA	TBA

Production

Casting

In April 2015, it was announced that Julia Montes got the first title role of the show. Hazel Parfan, the executive producer of the show, said they concocted the project with Montes in mind. Created as polar opposites, Montes had to change clothes, change makeup, and switch personas several times for her respective roles as Kara and Sara. Afterwards, more castings were confirmed, including Mylene Dizon, Ariel Rivera, Allen Dizon, Edgar Allan Guzman, John Lapus, Gloria Sevilla, Patricia Javier, and Alora Sasam. Bing Loyzaga and Enchong Dee were originally part of the main cast for the role of Lucille Dela Rosa and Andy Delgado. They were later replaced by Carmina Villaroel and Anjo Damiles.

In November 2015, it was announced that Sam Milby and Maxene Magalona would also be joining the cast as one of Kara's (Montes) love interests and Sebastian's (Milby) sister, respectively.

Scheduling

The series was initially meant to be part of ABS-CBN's Primetime Bida evening block as announced on Bandila news program, declaring that Montes will be coming back on primetime. However in a last minute change, the time slot was moved as part of Kapamilya Gold afternoon block, replacing Pinoy Big Brother: 737 GOLD, which is the schedule time after It's Showtime.

Music

Dreamscape Televisions of Love (Volume 1)
Soundtrack album by Various artists
Released	September 26, 2015 (2015-09-26)
Recorded	2015
Genre	OPM
Length
Label	Star Records

The theme song, "Ikaw Ay Ako", composed by songwriter Vehnee Saturno, was sung by The Voice of the Philippines runner-up Klarisse de Guzman and semifinalist Morissette Amon. The song was originally composed for the television series Doble Kara. A second rendition of the song was covered by The Voice Kids grand champions Lyca Gairanod and Elha Nympha for the series' second book. The songs, from different Dreamscape Productions such as Ang Probinsyano's "Wag Ka Nang Umiyak" and "Basta't Kasama Kita", On the Wings of Love and And I Love You So's own title musics, and Nathaniel's "Lupa Man Ay Langit Na Rin", were compiled into one album.

The soundtrack album was released by Star Records on September 26, 2015 during It's Showtime's Kapamilya Day, held at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Dreamscape Televisions of Love (Volume 1)
No.	Title	Performer(s)	Length
1.	"Lupa Man Ay Langit Na Rin"	Erik Santos	5:00
2.	"On the Wings of Love"	Kyla	4:34
3.	"Wag Ka Nang Umiyak"	Gary Valenciano	5:11
4.	"Ikaw Ay Ako"	Morissette Amon and Klarisse de Guzman	4:06
5.	"Basta't Kasama Kita"	Daryl Ong	4:30
6.	"And I Love You So"	Angeline Quinto	4:40
7.	"Wag Ka Nang Umiyak"	KZ Tandingan	5:00
8.	"On the Wings of Love"	James Reid and Nadine Lustre	4:30
9.	"Basta't Kasama Kita"	Coco Martin and Maja Salvador	3:32
Total length:			39:83

Marketing

On August 1, 2015, ABS-CBN released the first teaser trailer for the series on YouTube, featuring Montes. Another teaser followed on August 5, and once again featuring Montes. Later that month, ABS-CBN released a series of exclusive posters and cast portraits on the show's website and Twitter. On August 14, 2015, the first full-length trailer was released. On April 22, 2016, it was publicly disclosed by Julia Montes and Sam Milby in their promotion and interview that the series got extended for another book because of its consistently increasing ratings which have been unprecedentedly high for an afternoon cable series, beating its rival program and a rumor surfaces that the series might get extended until August which will run for totally a year. The trailer for the second book shows the new life of Kara and Sara as mothers, having daughters of their own. On April 29, 2016, Montes, with Alora Sasam and Markki Stroem, visited SM City San Jose del Monte and served a thanksgiving concert to everyone who watches and supports the series. A promotion about the extension for the series was also included.

Broadcast

Doble Kara airs on Mondays to Fridays at 3:00 p.m. Philippine Standard Time (PST). ABS-CBN pushed the series to an earlier time slot of 2:45 p.m. on August 31, 2015, right after FlordeLiza ended its series run. The time slot was then again pushed back to a later time slot of 3:20 p.m. on April 13, 2016.

The series had its world premiere on The Filipino Channel on August 25, 2015. In the Philippines, it premiered on ABS-CBN on August 24, 2015. The premiere also debuted via livestream on TFC’s official online service, TFC.tv, and via its video on demand (Internet Protocol television) service available which is subtitled in English for its worldwide viewers from United States, Canada, Europe, Middle East, Australia, New Zealand, and Japan.

In Africa, the show airs on StarTimes' Novela E1 at 8:40 p.m. Central Africa Time (CAT) every Thursdays to Sundays which premiered on May 28, 2016.

Reception

Critical response

Doble Kara has been met with largely positive reviews from critics since its premiere, with most praising Julia Montes' performance. Walden Sadiri M. Belen of Manila Bulletin praised Mylene Dizon's dramatic prowess during the episodes of its pilot week and the veteran actress' addition to the series, saying, "Mylene’s acting, well-supported by the performances of seasoned actors Ariel Rivera and even Allen Dizon, beefed-up the first week run of Doble Kara. Although, Julia Montes would appear on the fifth episode, Mylene and her co-stars have already built the anticipation and eagerness of viewers to the next journey of the twins as adults. Anchored on Mylene’s strong performances, Doble Kara is an afternoon soap opera filled with an ensemble cast that will succeed in luring viewers for weeks to come." Furthermore, Belen said that despite the long wait before Montes' grown-up characters appear, he can already feel the young actress' different range of acting, adding, "The first starring role of Julia Montes, Dreamscape Entertainment Television went all out to make the series a success. In the short scenes of Julia, viewers can already see the different range of acting she possesses. Playing the insipidly weak, California educated Kara and the ambitious beauty queen and commercial model Sara."

Elvin Luciano of PEP.ph finds the character of John Lapus's Itoy as "innovative", saying, "It’s refreshing to see a character like Itoy, played with subtlety and control by Lapus, the gay kumare who is oftentimes the voice of discord and not there as the token comic relief." Luciano also commended Carmina Villaroel's performance and said that she also effectively grabs attention for her portrayal of Lucille, the ambiguous and struggling character who can either be adored because of her maternal love or sympathized for her growing need to seek justice. However, "praises also goes to the fine young discovery, Avery Balasbas, who convincingly plays two different people girls with both skill and maturity," stated by Luciano.

On the other hand, Rocky Chua of TV Series Craze gave a positive review, writing, "Julia can effectively portray both the bida and the kontrabida roles which makes the story of Doble Kara more interesting and exciting. It even leads in the afternoon teleserye lineup of the Kapamilya network. And yes, the story of it is unpredictable!" On an added note, he said, "Unique story, unexpected twists, and best performance of the lead cast, Julia Montes, who is playing bida and kontrabida at the same time, makes Doble Kara one of our favorite teleseryes today. Viewers were truly hook to it!"

Ratings

Doble Kara's premiere episode, "Ang Simula", debuted on a high note on August 24, 2015 and scored a national TV rating of 16.9%, compared to its rival program in GMA's The Half Sisters which registered 15.6%, according to data from Kantar Media. Aside from winning the ratings game, Doble Kara also won the hearts of audiences as the #DobleKaraSimula quickly became a nationwide trending topic on Twitter because of the positive tweets posted by viewers about the show.

On April 12, 2016, Doble Kara received the highest national TV rating of 18.5% with its episode, "Kara vs. Lucille – Part 2", placing 5th in the most watched program of that same day based on Kantar Media. On April 19, 2016, the series beat its previous all-time high rating, and garnered a national TV rating of 19.1% with its episode, "Sakuna ng mga Suarez", placing 4th in the most watched program of that same day. On April 22, 2016, Doble Kara surpassed once again its previous all-time high rating and set a record for receiving the highest national TV rating of 19.3% of any afternoon television series with its season three finale, "Ang Kasal", placing 4th in the most watched program of that same day.

On May 24, 2016, the second book and fourth season of the series conquered once again the afternoon programming and hits its new all-time high national TV rating of 19.8% with its episode, "Hanap Isabella", as it won the hearts of the urban and rural viewers and sustains its lead over its rival shows.

KANTAR MEDIA NATIONAL TV RATINGS
(3:00PM PST / 3:20PM PST)

PILOT EPISODE	FINALE EPISODE	PEAK	AVERAGE	SOURCE
16.9% (3:00PM PST)	TBD	19.8% (3:20PM PST)	17.5% (April 2016)

Awards and nominations

Year	Association	Category	Recipient(s) and nominee(s)	Result	Ref.
2015	6th TV Series Craze Awards	Best Daytime TV Series	Doble Kara	Won
2016	14th Gawad Tanglaw Awards	Best Performance by an Actress (TV Series)	Julia Montes	Won

See also

• List of programs broadcast by ABS-CBN
• List of telenovelas of ABS-CBN