Wanida (2010)

Wanida is a Thai Lakorn that came out in 2010. I just recently watched it and I loved it for many reasons.
1. I could really feel the chemistry between the male lead and female lead.
2. When Prajak, played by Tik, looks at Wanida,(played by Aff), I felt like he truly loves her. It was very believable.
3. The main lead doesn't always believe the evil characters lies blindly like many other male leads.

I would recommend this drama because it is one of the most romantic dramas in my opinion. This is a story line that has been used over and over. The man marries a girl but he loves another woman and promises to divorce and marry her. Even though it had a typical story line, I was worth the watch and I didn't get tired of the story at all. From beginning to end it was very entertaining.

Lastly, this drama is a bit more slow paced and the ending is pretty predictable but overall I loved it.

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I don't have much experience watching dramas with the older generation of actors (Anne, Tik, Andrew, etc.) but I truly enjoyed this drama. Sure, there were small things I didn't like about it, but on the whole, I came away from it smiling and glad I watched it.
STORY: Quite well-done. Yes, the nang rai (Pisamai) is a little typical, aka super possessive and crazy. But they make an effort to show you that she really is hurt by Prajak's associations wih Wanida, which honestly is understandable. Prajak made me both want to pull my hair out and grin like an idiot at the same time. I appreciated that his character wasn't perfect, because we're human and no one is perfect. Lakorns often portray either the male or female leads as perfect little angels that can do no wrong, but that just isn't true in reality. None of us are like that. Prajak's hubris was that he couldn't stand up for himself. It drove me crazy, but his character was also kind, understanding, and loyal, which counteracted his weaknesses. Wanida's growth as a character really added to the drama. She starts out as a spunky, naive young woman who gets into trouble constantly; later, she matures a woman who still has that spunk, but has a little better idea of when and how to channel that spunk.
I liked that while this was an arranged marriage drama, the leads didn't follow all the stereotypes, such as sleeping together, having to kiss at social events, etc. I also liked that Prajak didn't fall into the lakorn stereotype of the nang rai accusing the nang ek and the male lead blindly believing the nang rai. Prajak reminded Wanida that he "knows what kind of person she is," so when people talked bad about her, he would listen to her side of the story as well. The mother's "deathbed repentance" scene was a bit much, but whatever. And I had a hard time buying into the storyline with clearing Wanida's grandma's name because it just felt superfluous.
The story lags at the vety beginning and at the very end, but the pacing is good everywhere else.
Montree honestly made my life. He was hilarious and hot at the same time.
ACTING/CAST: I can't imagine anyone better than the people in the drama. Tik has got the loving look down-pat, he's on the same level as Colin Firth in that respect. Aff was simply gorgeous, and she did well in playing the naive, childish character without overacting and without becoming annoying. Wanida's father was hilarious. Prajak's brother was cute. The servants had AWESOME chemistry together, though Aunt Thom drove me crazy because of how badly she overacted.
MUSIC: Beautiful soundtrack. This is the only drama I've seen that didn't suffer from using the same music too often; the songs switched up once in a while, so you would expect the main theme, only to hear another very pretty and very fitting song. The only fault I found wih the soundtrack were the "soap opera" tracks used in a million other dramas for the dramatic moments. They felt out-of-place and a little obnoxious.
REWATCH VALUE: I would definitely watch this again, though probably just for Tik and Aff ;)
All in all, a very enjoyable drama that I highly recommend. Though it has its faults, the drama as a whole is so beautiful, any viewer will be willing to overlook its faults.

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