As I'm Suffering From Kadhal
GenreRomantic comedy
Created byBalaji Mohan
Written byBalaji Mohan
Directed byBalaji Mohan
Starring
ComposerSatish Raghunathan
Original languageTamil
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes10
Production
Executive producersDhanya Balakrishna
Balaji Mohan
CinematographyShiva GRN
EditorsPrasanna GK
Balaji Mohan
Running time20–27 minutes
Production companiesTrendloud
Open Window Productions
Original release
NetworkHotstar
Release16 June 2017 (2017-06-16)

As I'm Suffering from Kadhal (transl. As I'm suffering from love) is a 2017 Indian Tamil-language romantic comedy streaming television series created, directed and written by Balaji Mohan.[1] Set in urban Chennai, it narrates the story of three uniquely different young couples and a young divorced father and his 8-year-old daughter, and their quirky take on the varied aspects of modern-day love. The principal characters of the series include Sunder Ramu, Yuvina Parthavi, Sananth, Sanchana Natarajan, Dhanya Balakrishna, Balaji Mohan, Nakshathra Nagesh and Abhishek Joseph George. The ten-episode series was released on 16 June 2017 by Hotstar,[2] and opened to positive reception from audiences.[3] The series was renewed for a second season.[4]

Plot

The show revolves around the lives of Bala Kumar, a divorcee who shares the custody of his daughter Smriti; Divya and Badri, a live-in couple, who completely oppose the fact of getting married; Meera and Santhosh, a married couple, who absolutely hate each other; Raghav and Tanvi, who are in the process of getting married.

The series starts with Meera crashing her car and ruining Tanvi-Raghav's Pre-pre-engagement party. Divya then tells Raghav to check on Meera, and it is later discovered that Meera cheated on Santhosh with Raghav as Santhosh too cheated on her at his Bachelor party with a girl called Nii-vaa-suin in Bangkok. Badri hears their conversation and struggles to hide the truth. He eventually tells it to Divya.

At Raghav and Tanvi's pre-engagement party, Meera learns that she is pregnant. She throws the pregnancy-kit in the dustbin that is later seen by Divya. Santhosh and his friend add alcohol to Divya & Badri's juice. A drunk Divya and Badri blurt out the truth in front of everybody and even confess to Divya's dad that they don't want to get married.

Tanvi breaks up with Raghav. Meera tells Santhosh that she is pregnant with his baby and they both reconcile. Divya's dad warns Badri to marry Divya. Bala Kumar gets extremely sad and upset because his ex-wife shifts with Smriti and her husband to Bangalore. This story ends with a lot of confusion and happiness.

Cast

Main cast

Guest appearance

  • RJ Love Guru (Vivaswan Rajesh) voiced as an Interviewer
  • Arjunan as Balaji Mohan friend
  • Robo Shankar as associate director
  • Andrea Jeremiah as psychiatrist
  • RJ Vigneshkanth as a photographer
  • Vaidhyanathan as Divya's father
  • Radha Shekar as Divya's mother
  • Vijay Varadharajan as producer
  • Vignesh Vijayakumar as assistant director
  • VJ Ramya as Sara, Divya's friend

Episodes

No.TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal release date
1"Meet the Sufferers"Balaji MohanBalaji Mohan16 June 2017 (2017-06-16)
2"Suffering for Chaos"Balaji MohanBalaji Mohan16 June 2017 (2017-06-16)
3"Suffering from Chronic Fighting"Balaji MohanBalaji Mohan16 June 2017 (2017-06-16)
4"Suffering from Perfection Deficiency"Balaji MohanBalaji Mohan16 June 2017 (2017-06-16)
5"Suffering from External Problem"Balaji MohanBalaji Mohan16 June 2017 (2017-06-16)
6"Suffering from High Expectations"Balaji MohanBalaji Mohan16 June 2017 (2017-06-16)
7"Suffering From Pressure To Perform"Balaji MohanBalaji Mohan16 June 2017 (2017-06-16)
8"Suffering From Dependency"Balaji MohanBalaji Mohan16 June 2017 (2017-06-16)
9"Suffering From A Secret Overdose"Balaji MohanBalaji Mohan16 June 2017 (2017-06-16)
10"Suffering From Kadhal"Balaji MohanBalaji Mohan16 June 2017 (2017-06-16)

Production

In our scenario, in Tamil films or south Indian films for that matter, a large side of reality is not shown. It's mostly about two people meeting and how they fall in love. I'm more interested in what happens after the relationship starts [...] There's so much potential and content there which I feel we haven't explored. I thought it's high time we did it...and a platform like this offers me the space to say what I believe in and a lot of people are happy to see their life being shown on screen.

—Balaji Mohan on the narrative of As I'm Suffering From Kadhal[5]

Balaji Mohan initially planned As I'm Suffering from Kadhal as a feature film, but ultimately decided it was better made as a series, saying, "as I explored the concept further with parallel storylines falling into place, it didn't make sense to fit it into a two-hour film".[6] He added that the decision to explore into a series was mostly due to the advice of Dhanush and Soundarya Rajinikanth, before he began work on Maari 2.[7] Balaji also stated that the series is a more mature and deeper version of Kadhalil Sodhappuvadhu Yeppadi (2012), his feature film debut.[6]

Balaji opined that the moral compass of the characters in the series is different from feature films, stating, "The whole audience that watches a feature film won't watch this web series [sic]. The people watching this series are also people who watch films... but I'm not targeting this for the whole of Tamil Nadu or all age groups. This is for people who've seen all this happening around them, and they understand that this is what happens today."[5] He also added about the direct digital release opining that the medium ensured a huge degree of freedom, and also due to non-availability of restrictions from censoring as compared to a feature film.[7]

The digital distribution of the series' rights were sold to Hotstar, which was owned and operated by Star India. Balaji stated that he needed a platform to have a universal approach to get a wider reach to the audiences across the world, and the decision to choose Hotstar, due to its growth in short span of time as a largest video streaming platform in the country, with the most comprehensive content library. Balaji produced the film under his Open Window banner and Trendloud, an original content studio tied up with the platform as his creative team ensured the creative freedom needed to create the show as he had envisioned.[7]

Soundtrack

The team released a song teaser in Hotstar composed by Satish Raghunathan on 31 May 2017, followed by the music video and the single on 2 June 2017.[8] The lyrics for the song was penned by Balaji Mohan and sung by Anand Aravindakshan, Balaji Mohan, Dhanya Balakrishna, Karthika Vaidyanathan, Satish Raghunathan and choreographed by Gayathri Raguram.[9]

Release

As I'm Suffering from Kadhal was the first ever Indian series for Hotstar Originals.[10] All the ten episodes of the series were released simultaneously on Hotstar on 16 June 2017, as opposed to a serialised format, in order to encourage binge-watching.[11] The series opened to positive reception from audience and followed by the response, the makers renewed for a second season during the time of release.[12] Balaji Mohan said that he had finished writing of the second season and ensured that the series will progress soon.[13]

Critical reception

Sujatha Narayanan of Firstpost wrote "The story of As I'm Suffering From Kadhal is bold with a capital B – without harming value systems or taking sides or passing judgement."[14] Sruthi Raman of The Times of India assigned a score 3.5 (out of 5) and wrote "The show loses steam towards the end, culminating in a played-out revelation. But the characters seem to stay with us till the end."[15] Vikram Venkateshwaran of The Quint wrote "As I’m Suffering From Kadhal is a refreshing rom-com that anyone living in a metro city can relate to. It comes with subtitles, so even if you don't speak Tamil or Telugu, you might enjoy it."[16] Anirudh, a critic from Behindwoods Review Board, stated that the series is "a different and bold attempt made in trying to showcase the different types of relationships."[17]

References

  1. ↑ சிபிச்சக்கரவர்த்தி, நா. (4 July 2017). ""நான் கெட்டவார்த்தை எல்லாம் பேச மாட்டேங்க" – 'As I'm Suffering From Kadhal' தன்யா" ["I do not speak bad words" – 'As I'm Suffering From Kadhal' Dhanya]. Ananda Vikatan (in Tamil). Archived from the original on 6 July 2017. Retrieved 6 July 2017.
  2. ↑ சுஜிதா (5 July 2017). "As I'm Suffering From Kadhal – இவர்கள் சொல்லும் ரிலேஷன்ஷிப் லாஜிக் ஓகேவா?" [As I'm Suffering From Kadhal – Is the relationship logic they explain okay?]. Ananda Vikatan (in Tamil). Archived from the original on 9 July 2017. Retrieved 6 July 2017.
  3. ↑ "Meet Balaji Mohan, director of the fun 'As I'm Suffering from Kadhal' Tamil web series". The News Minute. 20 June 2017. Archived from the original on 25 June 2017. Retrieved 6 July 2017.
  4. ↑ Srivatsan (19 June 2017). "Why Balaji Mohan's As I'm Suffering From Kadhal is an important step in Tamil cinema". India Today. Archived from the original on 21 February 2021. Retrieved 17 February 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  5. 1 2 "Meet Balaji Mohan, director of the fun 'As I'm Suffering from Kadhal' Tamil web series". The News Minute. 20 June 2017. Archived from the original on 29 September 2020. Retrieved 17 February 2021.
  6. 1 2 "The Series Shows The Best and Worst of Different Relationships". The Times of India. 2 July 2017. Archived from the original on 8 July 2017. Retrieved 19 February 2021.
  7. 1 2 3 Rao, Subha J. (12 June 2017). "Afflicted by love". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 12 November 2020. Retrieved 17 February 2021.
  8. ↑ "As I'm Suffering from Kadhal song teaser out". Cinema Express. 15 June 2017. Archived from the original on 22 June 2017. Retrieved 17 February 2021.
  9. ↑ DisneyPlus Hotstar (15 June 2017). "As I'm Suffering From Kadhal | Music Video". Retrieved 17 February 2021 – via YouTube.
  10. ↑ R, Manoj Kumar (26 May 2017). "As I'm suffering from Kadhal trailer: Balaji Mohan's web series is full of promises. Watch video". The Indian Express. Archived from the original on 20 May 2018. Retrieved 17 February 2021.
  11. ↑ "Now, a Tamil web series to keep you hooked". The Times of India. 18 June 2017. Archived from the original on 17 August 2017. Retrieved 19 February 2021.
  12. ↑ MK, Surendhar (8 February 2018). "Balaji Mohan on Maari 2, As I'm Suffering from Kadhal and working with Dhanush, Yuvan Shankar Raja". Firstpost. Archived from the original on 31 July 2018. Retrieved 17 February 2021.
  13. ↑ Akash (16 June 2018). "Director Balaji Mohan makes a massive announcement!". Behindwoods. Archived from the original on 21 February 2021. Retrieved 17 February 2021.
  14. ↑ Narayanan, Sujatha (21 June 2017). "As I'm Suffering From Kadhal Tamil Funnay and relatable Web Series". Firstpost. Archived from the original on 3 July 2017. Retrieved 3 July 2017.
  15. ↑ Raman, Sruthi. "As I'm Suffering From Kadhal Season 1 Review: Four shades of love". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 21 February 2021. Retrieved 17 February 2021.
  16. ↑ Venkateshwaran, Vikram (20 June 2017). "As I'm Suffering From Kadhal Series on Hotstar". The Quint. Archived from the original on 13 August 2017. Retrieved 3 July 2017.
  17. ↑ Anirudh (17 June 2017). "As I'm Suffering From Kadhal Review". Behindwoods. Archived from the original on 3 November 2019. Retrieved 17 February 2021.
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