The different problems that arise between couples before they tie the knot and after, the issues faced by couples who don’t believe in the concept of marriage and the complications in the life of a divorcee. This is what As I’m suffering from Kadhal consists of. A modern and a bold approach in showcasing the happy and the sad sides of various kinds of relationships is what director Balaji Mohan has undertaken in this Romantic-Comedy web series.
This web-series includes 10 episodes in its first season, and all the episodes run for around 20 minutes more or less. The core concept of the show is to bring out the rawness in the occurrences in various kinds of affinities. One would somewhere tend to feel that in the beginning, the performances from all the actors seem superficial, but as the season moves forward, they seem to show some maturity in their interpretation. Kudos to the director for making sure that he doesn’t compromise on the genuineness of relationships and in indicating the actualities in how people of that age behave and talk. To connect to the audience in an easier way, the director has made the characters talk like how people generally do, on a daily basis. It includes the use of cuss words and the mix of English and Tamil.
The series starts off on a slow note as the first two episodes fail to engage you to the best. We are introduced to all the characters in these episodes. The really comical events start to unfold from the third episode as in the beginning the comedy seems force fitted and doesn’t tickle your funny bone easily. The show has its high and low points, and it never travels on a consistent note throughout. There is love, there is hate, there is fun and frolic, and there is a lot more which teenagers and people in their 20s and in relationships can look forward to. Sometimes we may even feel that a few emotions have been handled in a very negligent way as they try to bring in a slapstick element into every point of the show.
Coming to the actors, Dhanya Balakrishna and Sunder Ramu steal the show with their close to realistic performances, Sanjana and Nakshathra look fantastic, and they play their roles perfectly. Abishek Joseph George and Sananth Reddy too, are convincing enough but Balaji Mohan’s performance could seem a little faux at many intervals. Andrea, Robo Shankar, VJ Ramya, and YouTube stars like RJ Vignesh and Vijay Varadharaj play cameos in this show. The visuals captured by Shiva GRN are pleasing while the sets and locales administered by Meevin look lavish. The music scored by Satish Raghunathan seemed redundant at many points and does work at times while GK Prasanna handles the scissors neatly. The emotional content in the show is less, but when it comes up, it does twitch your sensitive nerve a little, but one would still feel that there could have been more earnestness in handling it.
Balaji Mohan tries to bring in many clichés from how TV shows and web series usually are and many a time, it does work out. On the whole, this is a show completely aimed at entertaining a certain age group and it might work well for them. The Maari director does prove that he has a good sense of humor with his writing. The season finale also ends in a way that suggests that there could possibly be an extension of the show. But will we see these couples continue to suffer in Kadhal? Let us wait for the next season to find out!
Verdict: A different and bold attempt made in trying to showcase the different types of relationships. May work well with the young audiences.