Fai Luang (2023)

" I should never have came back into your life. I lit that fire of vengeance which was the starting point of all lies and pain."

- Yodthian

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"Behind the Revenge" (which also has the title "Fai Luang") uses the havoc of fire to actually describe in the type of mess its plot is in for. Its remade from the original version that aired in 1998 that got very popular back then, this new version has changed a lot of important details and dynamics of the plot. Both versions however starts the same way. Our tenderhearted and selfless heroine Yodthian (starring Pimmy Pimrapa) enters the funeral of the one man she always has felt gratitude towards...knowing she will cause eruption from his family members. The reason being she is the younger sister of the man`s mistress that is hated by his wife and children. One person that gets specially furious is his son, the formidable heir Noppharuj (starring Son Yuke) and he throws her flowers to the ground and burns them to ashes...the moment is symbolic. Its that moment the vengeance starts with the storm and Noppahruj don`t back down to the end.

Who else was madly excited when the trailer released??!!! I was! I totally fell for the original version with Willie & Tao and was soooo excited when the new version would star Son & Pimmy in those roles since they are absolutely terrific actors. After its airing i got kinda dissappointed by the negative feedback it has got here on MDL, but i decided to give it a shot since i love the original story so much. We do get some romantic scenes in the new version, but the passion between the main-leads flared like instant fire whenever they were in the same room in the original version.

The character of Phonwalai (starring Bee Namthip) was the driving force of this plot. She is the Anti-heroine who craves revenge and does anything to step up the climber to get what she wants. She is extremely selfish, manipulative and ruthless when she needs to be. But she is also a bruised soul. So lonely and anxious in her sadness and grief and trauma. Not even her younger sister is able to help her. She does however stumble upon several rocks as soon as her weakness appears before her and gives way more attention to her sister than she liked. Nitan is such a charismatic villain. He is the joker and holds all the cards from the start. Nitan & Walai are like two stumbling rocks, one minute allies and the other enemies. One of the most toxic relationships i ever have seen on-screen must be between them, how they hated each other and how the other always got a upper hand. Wow, they made the episodes so exciting.

I may be generous with my rating, but the fact is that i actually binge watched this lakhorn in three days and immensely enjoyed the ride. It was a melodramatic thriller with a central love-story to the core, but absolutely fascinating with its business politics, actions of revenge and betrayals and the dysfunctional relationships that came through. I loved the way the story developed however dramatic to the events that changed everything. I never got bored with this drama.

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