As I\’m suffering From Kadhal / Prema – Episode 1 – Meet the sufferers | Recap and Review | Currently Globally Web Series

Balaji Mohan\’s brain child \”As I\’m suffering from Kadhal\” is finally out and is available on Hotstar currently. We at Currently Globally feel this web series, even if it works out with everyone or not, will be spoken about, years later, as one web series that began it all and introduced/changed the Tamil industry\’s entire TV series / Web series concept.

Now, to the recap and review of the first episode \”Meet the sufferers\”.

What happened?

As I\’m suffering from Kadhal\’s \”Meet the sufferers\” is what people in West call, \”The Pilot\”. An introductory episode which introduces the characters and the base plot to the viewers and potential investors.

The introduction is in an interview style instead of narrative style and we are introduced to 4 different set of people, 

1. A divorced dad Balakumar with shared custody of his young & cute daughter Smrithi (Played by Sunder Ramu (Mayakkam Enna fame) and Baby Yuvina)

2. A couple – Badri and Divya in a live-in relationship and without a belief in customary marriages. (Played by Sananth and Sanchana Natarajan)

3. A hateful couple – Santhosh and Meera, recently married and with a grudge to hurt each other. Santhosh had an one-time affair with a Thai bar dancer \”Nee Vaa Sui\” and Meera took her revenge with a drunken affair on their wedding night. (Balaji Mohan and Dhanya Balakrishna)

4. A couple madly in love – Ragav and Tanvi – who are about to get married and in mid of marriage preparations (played by Nakshathra Nagesh and Abishek Joseph George of Adhe Kangal fame)

Above characters introduce themselves and their connections are revealed in Ragav and Tanvi\’s pre-pre-engagement party. Ragav owns a website called \”Everything Kollywood\” and Balakumar is the chief film reviewer and Santhosh is Ragav\’s cousin and Divya is Tanvi\’s childhood best friend. 

All the characters meet in the party and the episode ends with Santhosh\’s and Meera\’s crash entry into the party leading to damage to Santhosh\’s car leaving Meera bleeding.

What works?

How often does a Tamil movie or serial have bold female characters, who can use cuss words and drink and have their own ideas? Balaji Mohan and co-writer Dhanya should be appreciated for showing a boldness in having such characters and also, with actions that are natural and happening around the world without any judgement.

Sananth and Sanchana\’s characters are a bit believable and relatable to most youngsters and Sananth himself is a natural actor and he emotes perfectly for the role.

Balaji Mohan as an actor shines and his change in voice modulation is an added plus and this man doesn\’t age much and you can see same if you have seen Nalan Kumarasamy\’s short film \”Thurumbilum Iruppar\” wich released 6 years ago.

Baby Yuvina is the find of the series and she is too casual and utters dialogues with an understanding that most actors of today do not have in even their 20s. 

What doesn\’t work?

English dialogues in movies are fine and make the film/series look rich enough due to people\’s mindsets. Gautham Menon has followed this in most of his movies. But, Balaji Mohan has gone a bit overboard and few lengthy English dialogues, which aren\’t uttered with proper pronunciation too becomes a minus and the relatability and nativity of the series are lost.

Dhanya Balakrishna\’s character is a strong character and her usage of cuss words is actually a good move by the team and could stand as a testimony against male dominance. But, one might say the actor, not the character, actually overacts in few places and emotes more than what is necessary.

What we feel?

A first episode is the first episode. Things can change and character arcs may grow and we could be wrong about our feelings towards certain actor\’s acting prowess or the character itself.

All Rom-coms or sitcoms require a healthy dose of comedy and we feel it is a bit less in this episode and we wish the humor content increases with time in future episodes.

Also, add it to the hype of being the first web series in Tamil that is properly promoted and with names that are popular. As I\’m suffering from kadhal has a heavy weight on their shoulders and hence, we may be proved wrong later about mixed emotions to the episode \”Meet the sufferers\”.

Our Verdict:

A good episode to begin with which makes use of a reliable but, already seen, way to introduce the characters and with great boldness in characterization in Tamil. 

Our Rating: