Impressions: Tawan Tor Saeng
A gorgeous poster done by ATM subbing team
Came across a post on baidu forum recommending Dome's latest lakorn 'Tawan Tor Saeng' and figured I'd give it a shot. During my fangirly days with 'Ruk Mai Mee Wan Tai', I had wonder if Dome would be able to hold his own as an actor without playing off his chemistry with Ploy which had accumulated in their real life relationship over a long time and now is the chance to find out.
TTS kicks off with our nang'ek Rasa (Mai) attending a friend's garden wedding which she was in charge of designing. There she sees our pra'ek Pakapong (Dome) from afar, dining with an actress and she turns her nose up at yet another arrogant, rich man. Obviously that wouldn't be the last they see of each other and fate pushes them in each other's paths by first having them almost have an accident on sea and later, Pakapong engages Rasa's services in designing his house without knowing her identity.
There's nothing in particular I can pick about the first episode, eh, except for maybe Dome's acting. The sets and overall production look good, the major characters are not stupid and/or irritating (so far), Mai is pretty and her acting is natural but the whole thing is just so generic, lakorn 101 stuff. Rich, handsome p'ek who is actually a nice guy beneath his snooty exterior returns from abroad to take over his family business. Check. Fiesty n'ek who doesn't give a hoot about said rich handsome p'ek unlike all the sane girls out there. Check. Forced to be in close proximity because of work. Check. Jealous girlfriend of p'ek finds fault with n'ek which makes p'ek appreciate n'ek even more. CHECK. I read the synopsis and seems like Pak and Rasa falls in love soon but he dumps her to hook up with his half-sister (who is unaware that they are related) in order to revenge his mom who left him and his dad. Yup, all in a day's work for lakorn p'eks.
See, for a lakorn newbie I think this would make a decent drama but it's all been there, done that for me. When the story doesn't offer me anything new, my interest in a lakorn boils down to the OTP and in this case, I can't feel the sparks between Pak and Rasa. Dome and Mai make an attractive couple but visual compatibility did not translate into the much needed chemistry and horror of horrors, even Dome couldn't get me spazzing over his hotness alone. I was like... what's wrong with me?? What's wrong with Dome?? Is it the hair, the acting or what? So in order to double-check my fangirl radar, I went and re-watch RMMWT and guess what, from the moment Dome appeared on screen, I was in this mode
Confirm, fangirl in order. So I guess the problem does lie with TTS. Feel free to check it out if the story or fan MV below appeals to you 'cos objectively speaking I think it's probably better than some of the stuff I've sat through (eg Plerng See Roong) but it's simply not for me. I do like the OST though! Dome needs to keep his day job as a singer.
Click to viewIn between my wait for new episodes of 'Qi Pao', I shall continue on my re-watch of RMMWT!