5
1
Humble, Yet Hauntingly Beautiful.
I came to know about the existence of this series after coming across the pilot episode, which already had amassed a whopping number of views – apparently it was already based on a widely popular novel with a huge number of fans, which sets the bar really high.
9.0 is an overblown score, but this is the best that the company had made in a while. It'll be much closer to 8 or 8.5/10. The 0.5 is for the characters.
Why did I begin this? It aired right after The Next Prince and the timing is convenient enough for me to follow throughout its run.
Well, well… Khemjira is a shocking surprise as it now sits right up there with dramas such as Not Me, Triage, Something in my Room and I Feel You Linger In The Air in my books.
It's also a heavily character driven story.
There is a high chance that one might not be able to connect to the story if the characters haven't caught up with them.
So, if you are looking for a logical, character driven, yet completely heartfelt and emotional drama, this one is for you.
I'll get started.
☆ When boiled down to the bones, Khemjira, to me, is one of those classic tales I’ve heard as a child -- young males in a family are bound to fall victim to a malevolent spirit's curse: none of them would live past the age of 21. And the women are bound to suffer illnesses, passing away before reaching old age.
And Khae knew this better than anyone else. In an attempt to save her son’s life, she names him Khemjira, hoping it would hide his identity as a male child. However, when she falls gravely ill and Khemjira starts to see the unnatural, she seeks help from Grandmaster Sek, who gives him an amulet for his protection.
15 years later, with only a month left till he turns 21, Khem realizes that his protection was failing after narrowly missing fatal blows. He confides in his happy-go-lucky friend Jettana, who decides to take him to his Master, the late Grandmaster Sek’s grandson, Pharan, a seemingly cold, young shaman with whom his fate had crossed in the past.
☆ First and foremost, there are a million ways in which this drama could go wrong - with only four characters permanently on screen, one single mystery and an established backstory, Khemjira could easily be dumbed down as boring and slow.
Is the drama slow at times? Yes.
Is the script powerful? 100%.
Is it a masterpiece? Definitely no.
To me, for a story to be solid, the plot need not have to be convoluted with twists and turns or a gazillion characters to keep one entertained.
I'm used to hearing stories like these when I was a kid, so being able to pull off 12 episodes of it while establishing the past storylines, relationships, friendships and flashbacks all into 50 minutes is no joke.
☆ We basically see Khem and his college friends visit the village for their semester break. Khem has the ulterior motive to get help from Pharan, but Pharan knows that dealing with someone else's karma is not something he should be doing. Jet and his newfound ‘friend’ Charn are invested in saving Khem from his inevitable future, but drawing all this out for 12 episodes takes skill.
(I'm kind of glad that The Next Prince was released first before Khemjira because the contrast in writing is clearly visible. That too, from the same Directors and company. I can imagine the wars that would've been waged had the reverse happened.)
Khemjira proves that flamboyance and thrills are not needed to convey a good story.
The plot has a solid direction that it was heading to. I never once felt that the 12 episodes were a waste even once.
☆ To me, the real heroes are the characters.
They were realistic, relatable and logical. It was one of those times that I've felt that I was going through a journey with them instead of watching them from the sidelines.
No story can be told well without well-fleshed out characters that aren’t air dropped into existence. Or maybe I’m telling this because I know people very similar to these college kids.
I can see people are surprised that this is a Domundi production as everyone seems to keep low expectations; a good script and well fleshed out lovable characters are all that is needed to elevate a drama to greater heights.
Starting off with the seemingly weak Khemjra, the namesake of the drama. I personally know someone who is very similar to him. Although always appearing as a smiling, caring and soft spoken boy, his backstory is extremely dark. He has only a month left to live; his mother had passed away and his father had chosen a life of ordination in hopes of prolonging their son’s life.
There are moments in the drama where his emotions explode, but it’s evident that it is solely not because of his crush on his potential savior.
Namping plays the role to a tee - Khemjira might be outwardly weak, but he was mentally, one of the strongest. And perhaps one of the most empathetic characters I've seen onscreen.
To balance for his soft and slow nature is his best friend, Jet. A sprightly young man with carpe diem as his motto, his shenanigans and fanboy behaviour is one to watch. While he sees romance in everything, Charn, a psychology student, exists to counteract and provide a rational view of matters.
This perfect balance of both supporting characters along with Khem provide a wholesome experience.
Both Jet and Charn were the comedic relief of the rather bleak story and it was absolutely hilarious.
Their friendship is relatable, lively and realistic. It is what makes this drama a worthy watch.
No character is left discarded and no storylines seem unfinished.
There is Pharan. Following his grandfather's footsteps, he takes on the role of the powerful shaman of the village, respected by everyone regardless of their age. But, the struggles he had witnessed on his path towards it has made him cold and aloof. He is initially both amused and enraged by Khem's antics, and while I did feel to whack him at times, he slowly grew on me.
He was the ‘mystery' of the show. And the writers cleverly utilised it, taking the smart route, introducing characters who have already established their position in his life, through which we get to know him little by little via flashbacks at the beginning of each episode.
Honestly, I felt to laugh whenever he appeared with sunglasses on.
☆ And last, but never the least is Rampheung, the villain of the story. Her existence and presence is what makes the drama fall into the ‘horror’ genre. But, the manner in which her tale is revealed, all the while taking sweet time to seep her icy intent into the episodes cast a constant shadow throughout it. This is where the scriptwriter won.
She is not evil for the sake of it — her backstory, empathy, grief and rage all had explanations. I couldn't truly hate her. Green, the actress kicked the ball out of the park with her performance.
Every single one of the cast members were perfect for the role. I can't find a single thing to complain about.
☆ Relationships:
The very backbone of this series. The one that I find memorable is Khem's relationship with his parents. Although it's a very sad one, and easily overlooked, it was done with care and thought – we begin the tale with them. And it's only fair that we end it with them.
Khem was in constant touch with his family all through the series. His parents’ conversation in EP2 was touching, yet shed light on the fact of how tragic Khem's life truly was.
Master (Pharan) and his relationship with his mother in particular influenced his actions and decisions till the very end.
The next are the ‘ships’.
Or rather romantic relationships. Though, I did not expect it to have too many intense moments, considering how dark the atmosphere was, the writers and characters surprised me.
I don't board any ship, but oh boy, the writers knew what they were scrawling because the development of each one of them was convincing and realistic.
Initially, Khem is enamoured by Master's good looks and admits that he simply has a crush on him; it takes him one month to break down his icy barriers. Master is initially surprised and amused by Khem's acts of service to get on his good side, but as he realizes that beyond their past lives and the curse, he was a genuinely good soul, he begins to grudgingly admit that he was fighting a losing battle.
It was slow burn at it's finest, yet hit all the marks without being cheesy.
The relationship between Master, the villagers and Yai Si were some of the other golden treasures of this show.
Jet and Charn were the abrupt couple, but never once did I feel that they were out of character. The progress of their relationship was well balanced and emotional, may it be as Jin and Da or Jet and Charn.
☆ The friendship between Jet and Khem is noteworthy because it's ultimately the one which led Khemjira to meet Master. This theme of friendship and found family persists throughout the entire series, never losing focus.
Then there is Khachen. I don't fan girl over actors, but I cheered when Net came on screen because I felt sorry for him as Prince Calvin.
☆ The overall production is rather subdued without flamboyance. Maybe because the entire production is more on the spiritual side of matters? But, it fits well with the theme.
☆ OST:
Mantra sung by Keng Harit in one of the most beautiful melodious songs I've ever heard in my life. I don't even listen to melodies or slow songs, and this one managed to impress me. (The last one that caught my attention was I Trust You by Daou Pittaya for The Next Prince.)
As for the opening… honestly, I skip it all the time because everything reminds me of going to a temple. Heck, the sound of the conch is the first thing I used to hear when I used to wake up at 5 in the morning.
☆ Another cold prickly I felt was that we didn't get to see Master's side of his feelings for Khem. The plot took over most of the screen time and we got to see only Khem's slow and inevitable fall. Master had a lot going on aside from the romance aspect and I personally felt that providing a couple of minutes for it would've been fine. It felt abrupt; some of the scenes.
I'm not complaining, though. It also might be because his character is restrained.
Another thing? The plot does get intermixed and sort of loses focus around EP4 or EP5. The romance aspect will inevitably appear bland if conveyed this way on paper, but the performances filled in the gaps. Or atleast attempted to.
☆ [I might be a bit biased in my rating as I watched this during certain turbulent times. And after the Next Prince, this one is leaps and bounds above it.]
Some random stuff that I'm writing down just to remember this drama by: The first thing that came to my mind while I watched EP1 was how my mother would never be able to watch Khemjira.
She grew up frequenting and studying in temples, enjoying temple fairs and used to speak about how she had witnessed possessions in real time to the point that it scared and disturbed even at the slightest mention of the unnatural. She also used to say how parents used to ask kids to not visit homes where young mothers or children had passed away. Seeing Master exorcising a lady in EP1 reminded me of that.
And as someone who is currently living in a location steeped in ancient rituals and beliefs, this drama speaks to me.
We literally have festivals where people draw designs, fast for days and summon deities.
Even Rampheung's story is similar to ancient legends that I heard when I was a kid. No ghost is simply malevolent in many of those stories.
Another thing? There are wild hogs where I live, so most of us are asked to watch out for hogs all the time, too. I found that scene with Jet and Charn funny because of this and it also brought a touch of nostalgia.
☆ I also wonder how good the actual novel was. I suspect that the original story was quite solid or maybe the scriptwriters were talented and had a vision in mind.
Domundi series often begin strong, then fall to aimless wandering plotlines and the only one that I truly liked was Your Sky as it delivered exactly what it was advertised as.
This series set the bar high for DMD stories in general.
Now, my attention is on Love Upon A Time, as it too, is adapted from a novel. Though, I'll keep my hopes low.
I feel like I'm bidding farewell to a friend, which this drama truly had been to me since August. It made the dark times brighter and brought about a strange sense of nostalgia, happiness and sheer joy. It was well written, acted and I applaud each and everyone behind the scenes for creating this.
I, for one, am definitely sure that Khemjira will indeed survive, for a long time in my memory.
9.0 is an overblown score, but this is the best that the company had made in a while. It'll be much closer to 8 or 8.5/10. The 0.5 is for the characters.
Why did I begin this? It aired right after The Next Prince and the timing is convenient enough for me to follow throughout its run.
Well, well… Khemjira is a shocking surprise as it now sits right up there with dramas such as Not Me, Triage, Something in my Room and I Feel You Linger In The Air in my books.
It's also a heavily character driven story.
There is a high chance that one might not be able to connect to the story if the characters haven't caught up with them.
So, if you are looking for a logical, character driven, yet completely heartfelt and emotional drama, this one is for you.
I'll get started.
☆ When boiled down to the bones, Khemjira, to me, is one of those classic tales I’ve heard as a child -- young males in a family are bound to fall victim to a malevolent spirit's curse: none of them would live past the age of 21. And the women are bound to suffer illnesses, passing away before reaching old age.
And Khae knew this better than anyone else. In an attempt to save her son’s life, she names him Khemjira, hoping it would hide his identity as a male child. However, when she falls gravely ill and Khemjira starts to see the unnatural, she seeks help from Grandmaster Sek, who gives him an amulet for his protection.
15 years later, with only a month left till he turns 21, Khem realizes that his protection was failing after narrowly missing fatal blows. He confides in his happy-go-lucky friend Jettana, who decides to take him to his Master, the late Grandmaster Sek’s grandson, Pharan, a seemingly cold, young shaman with whom his fate had crossed in the past.
☆ First and foremost, there are a million ways in which this drama could go wrong - with only four characters permanently on screen, one single mystery and an established backstory, Khemjira could easily be dumbed down as boring and slow.
Is the drama slow at times? Yes.
Is the script powerful? 100%.
Is it a masterpiece? Definitely no.
To me, for a story to be solid, the plot need not have to be convoluted with twists and turns or a gazillion characters to keep one entertained.
I'm used to hearing stories like these when I was a kid, so being able to pull off 12 episodes of it while establishing the past storylines, relationships, friendships and flashbacks all into 50 minutes is no joke.
☆ We basically see Khem and his college friends visit the village for their semester break. Khem has the ulterior motive to get help from Pharan, but Pharan knows that dealing with someone else's karma is not something he should be doing. Jet and his newfound ‘friend’ Charn are invested in saving Khem from his inevitable future, but drawing all this out for 12 episodes takes skill.
(I'm kind of glad that The Next Prince was released first before Khemjira because the contrast in writing is clearly visible. That too, from the same Directors and company. I can imagine the wars that would've been waged had the reverse happened.)
Khemjira proves that flamboyance and thrills are not needed to convey a good story.
The plot has a solid direction that it was heading to. I never once felt that the 12 episodes were a waste even once.
☆ To me, the real heroes are the characters.
They were realistic, relatable and logical. It was one of those times that I've felt that I was going through a journey with them instead of watching them from the sidelines.
No story can be told well without well-fleshed out characters that aren’t air dropped into existence. Or maybe I’m telling this because I know people very similar to these college kids.
I can see people are surprised that this is a Domundi production as everyone seems to keep low expectations; a good script and well fleshed out lovable characters are all that is needed to elevate a drama to greater heights.
Starting off with the seemingly weak Khemjra, the namesake of the drama. I personally know someone who is very similar to him. Although always appearing as a smiling, caring and soft spoken boy, his backstory is extremely dark. He has only a month left to live; his mother had passed away and his father had chosen a life of ordination in hopes of prolonging their son’s life.
There are moments in the drama where his emotions explode, but it’s evident that it is solely not because of his crush on his potential savior.
Namping plays the role to a tee - Khemjira might be outwardly weak, but he was mentally, one of the strongest. And perhaps one of the most empathetic characters I've seen onscreen.
To balance for his soft and slow nature is his best friend, Jet. A sprightly young man with carpe diem as his motto, his shenanigans and fanboy behaviour is one to watch. While he sees romance in everything, Charn, a psychology student, exists to counteract and provide a rational view of matters.
This perfect balance of both supporting characters along with Khem provide a wholesome experience.
Both Jet and Charn were the comedic relief of the rather bleak story and it was absolutely hilarious.
Their friendship is relatable, lively and realistic. It is what makes this drama a worthy watch.
No character is left discarded and no storylines seem unfinished.
There is Pharan. Following his grandfather's footsteps, he takes on the role of the powerful shaman of the village, respected by everyone regardless of their age. But, the struggles he had witnessed on his path towards it has made him cold and aloof. He is initially both amused and enraged by Khem's antics, and while I did feel to whack him at times, he slowly grew on me.
He was the ‘mystery' of the show. And the writers cleverly utilised it, taking the smart route, introducing characters who have already established their position in his life, through which we get to know him little by little via flashbacks at the beginning of each episode.
Honestly, I felt to laugh whenever he appeared with sunglasses on.
☆ And last, but never the least is Rampheung, the villain of the story. Her existence and presence is what makes the drama fall into the ‘horror’ genre. But, the manner in which her tale is revealed, all the while taking sweet time to seep her icy intent into the episodes cast a constant shadow throughout it. This is where the scriptwriter won.
She is not evil for the sake of it — her backstory, empathy, grief and rage all had explanations. I couldn't truly hate her. Green, the actress kicked the ball out of the park with her performance.
Every single one of the cast members were perfect for the role. I can't find a single thing to complain about.
☆ Relationships:
The very backbone of this series. The one that I find memorable is Khem's relationship with his parents. Although it's a very sad one, and easily overlooked, it was done with care and thought – we begin the tale with them. And it's only fair that we end it with them.
Khem was in constant touch with his family all through the series. His parents’ conversation in EP2 was touching, yet shed light on the fact of how tragic Khem's life truly was.
Master (Pharan) and his relationship with his mother in particular influenced his actions and decisions till the very end.
The next are the ‘ships’.
Or rather romantic relationships. Though, I did not expect it to have too many intense moments, considering how dark the atmosphere was, the writers and characters surprised me.
I don't board any ship, but oh boy, the writers knew what they were scrawling because the development of each one of them was convincing and realistic.
Initially, Khem is enamoured by Master's good looks and admits that he simply has a crush on him; it takes him one month to break down his icy barriers. Master is initially surprised and amused by Khem's acts of service to get on his good side, but as he realizes that beyond their past lives and the curse, he was a genuinely good soul, he begins to grudgingly admit that he was fighting a losing battle.
It was slow burn at it's finest, yet hit all the marks without being cheesy.
The relationship between Master, the villagers and Yai Si were some of the other golden treasures of this show.
Jet and Charn were the abrupt couple, but never once did I feel that they were out of character. The progress of their relationship was well balanced and emotional, may it be as Jin and Da or Jet and Charn.
☆ The friendship between Jet and Khem is noteworthy because it's ultimately the one which led Khemjira to meet Master. This theme of friendship and found family persists throughout the entire series, never losing focus.
Then there is Khachen. I don't fan girl over actors, but I cheered when Net came on screen because I felt sorry for him as Prince Calvin.
☆ The overall production is rather subdued without flamboyance. Maybe because the entire production is more on the spiritual side of matters? But, it fits well with the theme.
☆ OST:
Mantra sung by Keng Harit in one of the most beautiful melodious songs I've ever heard in my life. I don't even listen to melodies or slow songs, and this one managed to impress me. (The last one that caught my attention was I Trust You by Daou Pittaya for The Next Prince.)
As for the opening… honestly, I skip it all the time because everything reminds me of going to a temple. Heck, the sound of the conch is the first thing I used to hear when I used to wake up at 5 in the morning.
☆ Another cold prickly I felt was that we didn't get to see Master's side of his feelings for Khem. The plot took over most of the screen time and we got to see only Khem's slow and inevitable fall. Master had a lot going on aside from the romance aspect and I personally felt that providing a couple of minutes for it would've been fine. It felt abrupt; some of the scenes.
I'm not complaining, though. It also might be because his character is restrained.
Another thing? The plot does get intermixed and sort of loses focus around EP4 or EP5. The romance aspect will inevitably appear bland if conveyed this way on paper, but the performances filled in the gaps. Or atleast attempted to.
☆ [I might be a bit biased in my rating as I watched this during certain turbulent times. And after the Next Prince, this one is leaps and bounds above it.]
Some random stuff that I'm writing down just to remember this drama by: The first thing that came to my mind while I watched EP1 was how my mother would never be able to watch Khemjira.
She grew up frequenting and studying in temples, enjoying temple fairs and used to speak about how she had witnessed possessions in real time to the point that it scared and disturbed even at the slightest mention of the unnatural. She also used to say how parents used to ask kids to not visit homes where young mothers or children had passed away. Seeing Master exorcising a lady in EP1 reminded me of that.
And as someone who is currently living in a location steeped in ancient rituals and beliefs, this drama speaks to me.
We literally have festivals where people draw designs, fast for days and summon deities.
Even Rampheung's story is similar to ancient legends that I heard when I was a kid. No ghost is simply malevolent in many of those stories.
Another thing? There are wild hogs where I live, so most of us are asked to watch out for hogs all the time, too. I found that scene with Jet and Charn funny because of this and it also brought a touch of nostalgia.
☆ I also wonder how good the actual novel was. I suspect that the original story was quite solid or maybe the scriptwriters were talented and had a vision in mind.
Domundi series often begin strong, then fall to aimless wandering plotlines and the only one that I truly liked was Your Sky as it delivered exactly what it was advertised as.
This series set the bar high for DMD stories in general.
Now, my attention is on Love Upon A Time, as it too, is adapted from a novel. Though, I'll keep my hopes low.
I feel like I'm bidding farewell to a friend, which this drama truly had been to me since August. It made the dark times brighter and brought about a strange sense of nostalgia, happiness and sheer joy. It was well written, acted and I applaud each and everyone behind the scenes for creating this.
I, for one, am definitely sure that Khemjira will indeed survive, for a long time in my memory.
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