Hua Jai Sila – Lakorn Review

Hua Jai Sila, wow. I don’t normally feel tempted to write in depth reviews for a lakorn. This time, I just had to. As you’re reading this, you’re probably thinking… OH! It must have been great! That’s why she’s writing a review for it! NOPE. I’ve been approached by many lakorn fans to ask if I have seen this lakorn. Each and every time, I am told that this lakorn was amazing. Some even described it as the best lakorn for a few years. Each and every time I just want to ask, were we watching the same lakorn?

First, it’s NOT all bad. Cast, I personally loved 95% of the cast. That is why I was excited for this. I looked forward to it even. The cast was amazing. They did a great job. My props must go out to Ferny Nopjira. She’s a new actress, but she has some pizzazz that some veteran nang’eks lack. I spoke to a lakorn subber regarding this lakorn recently. She shared some of the same opinions and something she said was spot on about Ferny. Ferny is great when it comes to using her face! Almost all her expressions were spot on. She was able to relay the emotions that her character felt, and that is wonderful. Tor Thanapob as Tor/Sila. This one is a bit iffy to mention because I personally like Tor. He fell a little behind Ferny in performance. Not to say that he didn’t do a good job, but it is very apparent that Ferny lead between the two. Let’s not forget two other great actresses, Ann Siriam and Noon Siraphun. Both were nang’eks in their own era. Both pushed out amazing lakorns. While I love both, Noon Siraphun definitely lead between these two. Her role as Aunt Mam was wonderful. I watched the previous version where another famous actress portrayed Aunt Mam, Lukkade Metinee. While I liked Lukkade’s portrayal. Her version of Aunt Mam was a bit more rustic and lacked the type of emotions that Noon’s version embodied.

Now, let’s get down to PLOT. Not the People Lacking OF T-Shirts kind of plot, but the actual story of the lakorn (hint: there were a few good t-shirtless scenes though). The main story centers around a man who has a troubled past. As much as he tried to move on with his life, he simply can’t. Some events with one of his employees set him on a path, that he can’t turn back from. He is brought back into the lives of his half-brother and stepmother. Vengeance is his goal, and blood is his name. His ultimate goal is to destroy his stepmother and half-brother. He doesn’t care what he needs to do, and how much of his new fortune has to sink into this revenge. After running into his childhood friend Mintra, he acquires an additional target. That target is Mingkwan, Mintra’s older half-sister. Mingkwan like Sawit (half-brother), bullied Tor and Mintra as children. Tor who is now reborn as Sila, tries his best to seduce Mingkwan. His target is to defile her by sleeping with her. Then, tell her who he is. He wants her to feel shame for sleeping with the worthless dog she labelled him as. The only obstacle in his plan is, Mintra. Mintra knows in her heart that Sila is her childhood friend P’ Tor. She tries to be his conscious angel and tell him to let go of the past and rejoice his new life. However, Tor’s pain and anger is too much.

I can’t say that I don’t feel for Sila occasionally. When he tries to back away from his plan, there is always some kind of catalyst that pivots him back into anger. Except, I feel that some of the revenge he sought was so unnecessary. His justification for his revenge against Mingkwan is how she treated him and how she treats Mintra. Except, Mintra didn’t want any of it and tries her best to steer him in the right path. Mintra experienced an equally bad past (minus the scar and being dropped into the lake I guess) but her heart isn’t filled by vengeance. On top of that, she lived with the people who treated her poorly into adulthood. Even sending her bitch half-sister to school abroad. So, Tor’s reason of “What they did to me in the past was bad.” Isn’t even valid. Mintra continued to live that life and turned out to be a great person. Tor got a new life, an aunt who was willing to give him everything. Even his aunt tried her best to steer him away from his vengeful plans. Now, this is what pisses me the hell off…

He claims to love Mintra, but the truth is… He loves her, but not enough to override his hatred. He got people left and right with his plan. Still, he didn’t realize it. It isn’t until he loses his beloved aunt that he began to see the error of his ways. I’m not saying those people who hurt him didn’t deserve some punishment, but Sila’s/Tor’s way of doing things was just stupid. Aunt Mam, was right. Eventually, Sida would have lost it all because she had a son like Sawit.

Now, Mingkwan. The turning point for me in this lakorn is when he sleeps with Mingkwan. Mintra was right when she asked, “What did I do to you?” He responded with, “I never thought of hurting you.” Clearly, you weren’t considering her at all. She was right when she said, “You slept with the older sister last night, now the next night you are harassing the younger sister, what is this then?” He seems to have some kind of sense knocked into him. This may be CONTROVERSIAL as a statement, but what Sila/Tor did to Mingkwan is rape. Rape by deception. People may defend his action and says she was a bitch and deserved it. Yes, she was a bitch, but it doesn’t change the fact that he raped her by deception. If this were a different type of lakorn and Mingkwan was a kind person, people would be outraged by what he did. Her character doesn’t justify the actions committed by Sila. That is why the term rape by deception exists. Bless Mintra’s heart, because as difficult as this was for her to overcome. She acknowledged it and accepted it. She showed forgiveness and learned to move on from this to start a life with Sila. Sila/Tor is lucky that she was strong in this feature. Otherwise, he would be kicked to the curbed. Had he shown the same type of mercy and ability to forget as Mintra, he would not have lost Aunt Mam. I know, we need this for it to be a lakorn. /eyeroll.

Mintra’s love for P’Tor. It is one of the purest things in the lakorn. Despite how much he put her through, she held onto her love for him. She tries many times to turn her back and walk away, but her heart just wouldn’t let her. Call her stupid, call her dumb, call her whatever. I still love her! Mintra is able to forgive her stepmother and half-sister for all the shit they put her through. On top of that she showed Mingkwan compassion til the very end. She had Sila send lawyers to help Mingkwan. After Mingkwan was arrested for arranging Mintra’s kidnap.  Finally, Mintra’s belief that kindness will win over is reciprocated. Her sister finally comes around at the very end.

The good points… As many complaints I have about this one…. I can’t deny there were some sweet scenes. I stuck it out for the leads. I adore Tor and love Ferny. The production gave us the sweet scenes we needed to make up for this train wreck of a storyline. Except, sometimes I had to push in the back of my head the fact that Tor/Sila slept with Mintra’s sister.

Written By:
Leelawadee