Ton Ruk Rim Rua (sometimes, what you look for is right in front of your eyes)

July 29, 2019May 6, 2020 ~ dramaindna ~ 2 Comments

Getting married thrice in a drama is crazy, right? But getting married to the same person in a drama thrice is even crazier!

This was the pulling point for me in drama. This thai series followed right after Kluen Cheewit. I really admired both Mark Prin and Yaya Urassaya and wanted to watch more of their dramas. This drama flashed in my YouTube recommendations. The drama has 11 episodes so I thought I would be able able to finish it very quickly.

The series name ‘Ton Ruk Rim Rua’ stands for ‘Love started at the fence’ and also ‘True love by the door’. It stars Mark Prin and Kimmy Kimerbly together for a 3rd time. Initially since I was not completely over Kluen Cheewit, so I kept thinking that Yaya and mark fit better together. But after watching this show and other shows with Mark and Kim as leads I realised that there is some easiness about their chemistry, it seems natural especially in this drama and it’s understandable since this is where their love for each other started blooming.

Ton Ruk Rim Rua Kob and Bua — Image Credit: asianfuse.net

The story is about two childhood best friends, Kasidth (Kob) and Nalin (Bua) who are neighbours and share the same fence. They are married off in their late teens as it was Kob’s grandmother’s last wish. Later on, they are divorced. Kob realises he has always loved Bua and comes back from US for her. Bua, on the other hand already has a dream man in her eyes. For Bua, Kob is just this guy best friend with whom she has spent most of her life, getting teased and finds him nothing but irritating. The story is about friendship and love, how we can mistake one for the other, and how sometimes what we look for is not far far away but close by.

Coming to the characters, I love Kob’s character. Mark himself has admitted it that he is very much like Kob in real life and it actually shows in his effortless acting on screen. What I love about this drama is that the main lead himself is providing comic relief. He is a mix of funny and romantic. He doesn’t take life so seriously until it comes to Bua. He supports Bua in all her endeavours. He is ready to do anything just for the sake of her happiness, even let her go.

Bua is a workaholic, who only has eyes for her career and her dream man. An interesting thing I observed while watching the drama was, there were many comments about Bua being selfish, blind to Kob’s love, stupid and what not. I am no PR of the drama yet I wish to clarify that you need to understand where the character is coming from. When you are best friends with a person all your life, it is difficult to take the care, love and affection they shower anything more than friendship. What’s worse is your fear of reading into something that isn’t there or fearing your friendship will be jeopardized due to your love.

Kob and Tangkwa — Image Credit: kenh14.vn

Similarly, the character of Twangkwa may seem selfish and evil (and she was at some places) but her obsession with Kob got the better of her. She did not want to harm Bua, she just wanted her to be away from Kob. In the end, you realise how vulnerable she is and her strength in finally letting him go. She is a girl who just wanted to be loved by a guy.

Tin is a character that we hardly see in real life. He is Bua’s boss and her dream man who eventually falls in love with her. He’s all goody good, very mindful and understanding. His progressive thoughts only add to the charm of drama.

One thing I really like is that Kob’s parents do not gloat of their son. They are accepting if not supportive of Bua’s decision even though it hurts their own son. They let the children make their own decisions.

The ost of drama is amazing and is definitely one of the main highlights of the drama. ‘Kon Diew Tao Nan’ has become an all time favourite. The lyrics, the music resonants so much with everything going on in the drama. Even the background music is very beautiful redefining all emotions sailing throughout an episode.

All in all, it is a light-hearted drama, there are few progressive points in the drama combined with some usual regressives. Although, the plot has it own twists that were beyond me, for instance, getting married to keep your job. It does make a compelling watch primarily because of its underlined theme of friendship and love and the chemistry between Mark and Kim. It is bound to make you blush, cry, cringe and laugh and relate it to the friendship and love you have in your life.

Why watch it?

The chemistry between Mark and Kim
If you like light hearted best friend turn to lovers drama
Amazing Ost

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Thai Drama Review: Kluen Cheewit (surviving the waves of life)

July 19, 2019August 28, 2020 ~ dramaindna ~ Leave a comment

This was my first thai drama. I actually came across it accidentally (or maybe there are no accidents) on YouTube. I saw some mini clips of the episodes in thai language that went beyond me. However, I was able to grasp what was on going on. Somehow I just kept clicking next after next until I became hooked enough to watch. I searched all the comments carefully to know the name of the drama. Then, I searched for the story and then started watching the episodes one by one.

Kluen Cheewit Poster — Picture Credit: mydramalist

Left to Right (characters): Daraka, Jade, Sathit, Jeerawat, Piak and Chayan

Thai drama are usually almost 1.5-2 hours long. With a drama generally ranging from 15-20 episodes. So it took me 5 days to finish watching. I made it in time to watch the finale with the rest of the world.

Kluen Cheewit: Jeerawat and Sathit — Picture Credit: facebook

Tradegy strikes within the first episode of the story and that forms the basis for the rest of the drama. The female protagonist (Jeerawat) is a successful actress who gets involved in a clear hit and run case. The victim of this hit and run case is our male protagonist’s (Sathit) girlfriend. She passes away and then revenge comes into picture and then Jeerawat.

The story plays around as to who to blame for, who is really at fault and how everyone is somehow a victim of something. It also sends out a message that life can give you second chances to love and to live. The waves of life will hit you in ways you don’t want and aren’t ready for, it is upto you how you sail.

Cast fits their roles perfectly, it’s the characters I have a bit of problem with. The thing with thai dramas is a lot of them are slap-kiss kind. A lot many times force and violence is romanticised and rewarded which is something I don’t really like. So it doesn’t top my favourite list but undeniable made an interesting watch primarily because it was my first step into Thai culture and the amazing chemistry between Jee and Sathit. Even with simple guy meets girl stories, you can’t argue the fact that they are not at all addicting. I feel the strong chemistry between the lead and the beautiful ost are the most favourable factors for thai dramas. This drama makes for a strong story if you place it in list of other thai dramas.

Kluen Cheewit Sathit and Jeerawat — Picture Credit: Pinterest

The thing I like about this one is that characters are not so much of black and white as is the case with most thai dramas. They are somewhere in between not only in their behavior but also their wishes for themselves and others. The leads have done some amazing acting and tried their best to justify their parts.

The character of Jeerawat is played by Yaya Urassaya commonly known as Yaya. She has put in her very best here. Her expression are all on points, her emotions very vivid. The character’s life seems to have it all but is actually filled with a lot of sadness. From being a diva on the outside, to being a next door girl on the inside who just wants to have a genuine love. It is an actual parallel to life that one can seem to have it all but be genuinely sad. You can see clearly what the character is going through. Both her resilience and her vulnerability are portrayed well and that is what I admire about the character. She is vulnerable in front of those she loves but equally determined and head strong in front of those who wrong her.

Kluen Cheewit Jeerawat — Picture Credit: Tumblr

The character of Sathit is played by Mark Prin. Many considered it his best one till date. However, his character Kob from Ton Ruk Rim Rua is still my favourite. Yet you can’t miss him here. He makes his ‘mark’ in every shot he is in. The thing I like about Sathit is that he is not all hero and righteous. He makes error in judgements, does wrong deeds and repents them. At no time I feel a hero/lead should be justified for doing wrong deeds but all I am saying is that his character is not far from being a ordinary human who is prone to making mistakes. Initially his beliefs are entirely based on what meets the eye. It is only later on when his heart wavers for, he brings perspective both wrong and right into the picture. This was so because he is blinded by getting the due justice which takes a bad turn for revenge.

As for rest of the cast too, have done a great job in terms of acting. Louis and Toey’s character of Chayan and Piak also manage to garner your attention as good as the lead because of their seemingly natural acting.

The direction is good as well, the storyline keeps you on your feet. The opening and ending ost are beautiful and make so much sense to the story. The background music fits in right places as well.

In the end, the drama depicts how people survive the ‘waves of life’. And try to live on even with scars and wounds of their own.

The drama explores the dynamics of friendship, love, revenge, guilt and redemption. It makes an interesting watch be it because of the chemistry, story, ost or being a remake of popular drama/ novel of the same name. If you are someone who likes slap kiss dramas, you won’t regret watching this one.

Kluen Cheewit End — Picture Credit: asianfuse

Why watch it?

The amazing chemistry between Mark and Yaya
Good Acting by leads
Good storyline (in terms of thai dramas)
Amazing Ost
If you like cliché revenge- love stories
Remake of popular thai drama, based on novel of same name

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Kdrama Review: My Love From The Star (Who loved a star)

June 23, 2019June 23, 2019 ~ dramaindna ~ Leave a comment

‘My Love From The Star’ or ‘You Who Came From The Star’. I looked into this drama primarily because of the hype around it.

The ‘other world mystery’ on the story contributed to my decision to watch it. When I first started with the series, I was not really into the old/backstory scenes. I wanted to know about the love story of the current time. And it isn’t a hidden fact that I take time to develop my interest in first few episodes, this wasn’t a exception. It took me a little more because in the initial episodes a lot of backstory was in the development.

The story is about an alien who is much like a human who has been stuck on earth since 400 years, because he doesn’t age he has to change his identity every few years. Now that he has a chance to go back to his planet enters a girl, an actress that gives him some hard time by landing him in troublesome situations but also a reason to not go. The plot is certainly different and is one of the reasons of popularity the drama has. Because of many elements that were patiently brought out, the drama keeps you curious until the end.

Characters from left to right: Lee Jae-Kyung, Lee Hee-Kyung, Cheon Song-Yi, Do Min-Joon, Yoo Se-mi, Cheon Yoon-Jae

Talking about the characters, Do Min-Joon (Kim Soo Hyun) was kind of poker face but I realised why he needed to be so. He was able to deliver relief in a scene even with his sincerity. Cheon Song -Yi (Jun Ji Hyun) is strong, she almost comes off as arrogant initially but slowly you realise how vulnerabilities surround her and how far her life is from being perfect. I didn’t realise before why Jun Ji Hyun is a hallayu star but her acting like crazy and expressing what she feels secretly to herself all in the apartment made me laugh off and at the same time presented her great acting skills. This kind of craziness in a female lead I did not observe in any kdramas I have watched so far.

Her acting seemed natural and effortless. I found the pairing quite unlikely in the first go. Maybe it was their personalities or the supposed age gap between characters, something was putting me off. But this obviously changed later on. Slowly I started rooting for them. But at the same time I was feeling really bad for Lee Hee-Kyung (Park Hae-Jin), he didn’t deserve what he went through. He sincerely loved Cheon Song-Yi and his brother but never was his love truly reciprocated. Mr. Jang’s friendship and this fatherly figure he was to Min Joon was really touching considering Min Joon didn’t have a family of his own.

Some of the characters weren’t really required according to me because I felt they were not doing a lot to the story. (For instance: The mother of the Lee Hee-Kyung.)

Initially they were a lot flaws I found like when he has superpowers why can’t he erase people’s memory when he has revealed himself, if he is a different species/alien why is he bleeding, where did he get his clothes from, how does he know korean? How was he born? Some of these were answered to me one by one, like that fact that he did not have a family, the people on his planet are similar to the people here (in terms of body, looks etc), he cannot erase people’s memory among other things. I was surprised and happy that some of my curiosity was answered and some wasn’t. (I realised then it is just a show and I analyse elements of drama like a scientific thesis). I really liked the concept of fillers they provided at the end of every episode. It rested the suspense and at the same time kept me curious till the end as to what filler will they provide. Some of the fillers I could predict and some I was surprised by.

Slowly I realised, Min Joon is more human then we think. He feels jealous, insecure (tiny bit), and he cries! Dammit!

This drama was different from others in the sense that I saw the guy cry more than the girl which is progressive and I wanted to cry with him and I did in the end.

When I read the synopsis for the last episode I was like hell! (Spoiler alert!) They will not have a good ending but when I saw I was a bit relieved that it was not exactly a sad ending and it gave a beautiful message.

The Ost was good. ‘My Destiny’ and ‘Welcome to the earth’ are my favorite from the album.

All in all, it was a good drama to watch, which I wanted to finish quickly because I was curious but didn’t also want it to end quickly.

Why watch it?

To not miss out on a drama that is on every kdrama fanatic’s list (there’s a reason)
To witness a fantastic effort by Jun Ji Hyun and her comic self
If you like an emotional love story along with some mystery and alien theme then this is for you
To explore the offbeat but good chemistry between Kim Soo Hyun and Jun Ji Hyun

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Kdrama Review: The Innocent Man (To love was his crime)

June 14, 2019May 18, 2020 ~ dramaindna ~ Leave a comment

This was right after DOTS, I was still hooked onto Song Joongki so I looked for more of his dramas. The title got to me. There are many shows where it’s a usual to see female being potrayed the good and innocent (especially in korean dramas). However, a man being showcased as innocent and the victim of destiny (and the women) was the attracting point.

Seo Eungi (left), Kang Maru (Centre), Han Jae-hee (right)

So the story starts off at a tragic note. It is a melodrama. There is so much sadness from the beginning so it makes it kinda hard to go on because tragedies usually strike in the middle, right? So I try my best to watch it. I kinda linger on for like first few episodes it takes an effort to watch and I almost stopped as well since it was dragging a lot. I liked the synopsis when I read, it was deep which persuaded me to watch it. It was also different from the cuteness kdramas are known for. But just when I felt like the story was getting somewhere a confusion and irritation would again cloud up. It was around 10-13th episode I became hooked and watched on. There were some happy moments but quickly spoiled by the overall tragedy of the plot. However the end has still left me puzzle. Spoiler alert! First the girl (Seo Eungi) loses memory then she tries to pick herself and then again loses memory and then gains it back. In the end, the guy loses memory and comes back to her years after and proposes with the same rings he bought earlier. Did he gain his memory back or not? I am really confused. I get he sort of prayed for a new life and finding ordinary love with the girl which he got through the memory loss but did he gain his memory back? Why propose with the same rings? Both don’t say anything they just smile and it ends. Did he get his memory back?? I want to know. He did so much for others, why did bad stuff happen to him? Will they live together with all the memories or not? Urrghhhhhh I am left with a lot of questions. The ending could have been better and clearer.

There’s some good acting. There is certain chemistry between the guy and the girl. The opening theme is also good. However, unnecessarily certain twists have been added to the plot which could have been easily sorted out had any of the leads come clean or said some truth. Instead of being made to a 20 episode, the story could have ended in 16 as well.

Image Credit: Pinterest

Another good factor of this drama is that no character amongst the three leads (The guy, the lady and the girl) is pure and goody-good. Each comes with their own shortcomings which have been put out in the open. Each of three character’s behvaiour is projection of their past. The guy (Kang Maru) is crazy in love to choose his lover over his sister because she has been with him since childhood. His lover (Han Jae-hee) is selfish enough to save herself, wanting power and a lavish lifestyle because she had a abusive and difficult past. The girl (Seo Eungi) is depicted being heartless because of her mother leaving her at a young age and having a father who is never happy by whatever she does. All the characters go all out to protect what they want. Initially the guy protects his lady love and then the girl. The lady protects her power and position. The girls tries to protect her father’s business empire.

Image Credit: Pinterest

The drama potrays how the innocent young guy whose only crime was to love deeply goes at lengths to protect his love for the lady only to realise she loved power and wealth more then anyone. Calling his love for her young and foolish would be wrong. If you watch the show you will realise it ran deep into his childhood. However, he soon realises the reality that you can grow out of your love for someone and that you don’t have to only have one love for life. Love can strike you a second time as well.

Kwang Soo’s character was a good friend, his acting seemed real. I guess his real life love for Joongki showed up (Both are best friends in real life). The love Maru’s sister and his best friend have for him, Han Jehi’s child and his affection for Eungi as a sister are the purest things you will find on this drama.

Don’t expect a lot of emotions from Song Joongki’s character as he has tried to turn himself to stone and has lost meaning in life. However his portrayal as someone who is suffering from life threatening illness is commendable. The lady’s behaviour gets on your nerves but also garners some understanding and reasoning from viewers. Turns out Jae-hee is not all bad, she manages to garner some sympathy for her actions. Moon Chae-Won’s portrayal as fierce Eungi and as meek Eungi with no memory is so stark in the same story and frame. It’s deserving of audience’s attention.

Image Credit: Pinterest

In the end, everyone is able to move from their past somehow. One thing I noticed in both Song Joongki’s dramas is presence of strong female lead. (Is that a thing? Let me know in the comments!)

Image Credit: Asian Wiki

Honestly, it was a bit of work for me (Maybe tradegies aren’t my thing), it did not have many scenes that made me hold my breath. I wouldn’t recommend this as first Kdrama for anyone. Maybe when you have experienced atleast 4-5 dramas, understood a bit of their style and portrayal, it would make more sense. I would choose Song Joongki as Captain Yoo over Song Joongki as Kang Maru anyday.

Why watch it?

If you are a Song Joongki fan and can’t get enough of him
To witness the friendship of Lee Kwang Soo and Song Joongki in reel life
If tradegy/crime/thrillers/revenge plot are your thing
If you want something different from the ‘cuteness overload’ of Kdramas

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