Drama Queen

Monday, November 21, 2016

Sidu/ Mali 3 2016 review (with background information on other seasons)

Hello guys J I am back with review of a drama which you guys really need to watch. Of course that is only if you guys haven’t watched it alreadyJ. So the whole of Sri Lanka is down with Sidu fever. It has become a household name and every bloody cat on planet Earth is a Sarana (the drama’s cat actorJ ) to the Sri Lankans. It has come to this point where every kid and every parent is glued to TV Derana exactly at 7.30 pm every week day. Forget those crappy Indian Soap Operas; forget those 6.30 Rupavahini dramas or even KDramas because here we are talking about a drama which took Sri Lanka by a storm.

Ape Sarana:)

The drama itself is a sequel to Mali 1 & 2 where we met a family who were born with the ability to control magic and use it for the betterment of society. So let us introduce our selves to this TV series before we go any further. So both Mali 1 and Mali 2 were commercially successful and so bloody popular.

Mali 1 promotional poster

The first season focuses on Dingiri Amma and her daughter Mali. Both these characters were highly talented in the field of magic and had the ability to cure people as well as defend them. The plot revolved around Mali and her love story with the doctor from Colombo, Nirmal. They had to face a lot of life threatening obstacles and Dingiri Amma was always behind them. The stories arch villain was Ukuwa and we see Mali and Dingiri Amma joining forces to destroy him and his black magic. In the end Mali gives birth to a baby girl, however according to her horoscope Mali should never see the child’s face or be near her because it will be bad on the child’s future. So Mali’s cousin sister also acts like she is pregnant and the baby is left in her care. The story ends with Mali going to England with Nirmal and Dingiri Amma promising to look after the little girl.

Mali 2 promotional poster

Okay so I wasn’t able to watch Mali Season 2 fully so I don’t remember the names (sorry about that.). Mali Season 2 comes with the title Athamma meaning Grandmother. Its plot revolves around Mali’s daughter who now lives with her grandmother. This story follows Mali’s daughter, a powerful magician from her childhood to her 20’s (till she falls in love). The drama was sweet as well as a nail biter. In this drama an evil spirit who looks exactly like Dingiri Amma is the arch enemy and the drama ends on a happy note.

Mali's Husband/Sidu's dad - Nirmal

(All these dramas are available to watch online and at the moment Mali season 2 is shown on TV Derana in the mornings).

Mali season 3 or as it is better known Sidu follows the story of Mali’s son who comes to Sri Lanka after Dingiri Amma’s death. He is a little boy of just 8 years and is far more powerful than Mali herself. However the little guy is hiding all this power from his own mother. The arch enemy in this drama is Ukuwa who is now an evil spirit. He wants this little child to grow older and become more powerful so that he can take the power from the child and regain a human body. The kid’s name is Sidu and soon after he arrives in Sri Lanka Nandipala (Ukuwa’s son) kidnaps him. After kidnapping Sidu, Ukuwa uses black magic to erase Sidu’s memories. So Sidu is then taken to Kurunagala by Nandipala where he is brought up as Nandipala’s nephew - Malitha.

Malitha/Sidu

It is in this little village in Kurunagala where we find the little monk Soratha and his pet cat Sarana. Soratha sadhu is a mere child of about 5 to 6 years who is just simply lovable. He is cute, intelligent and very naughty. He is Malitha’s best friend and partner in crime. Sarana is the little cat who is so naughty and yet is loved by all Sri Lankans. He is so famous that he is constantly mentioned even in Sri Lankan politics. If you walk around Colombo these days you are sure to find at least a half a dozen of three-wheelers which have famous lines from this drama stuck up on them.

Nandipala

So Mali 3 is all about children and their innocent childhoods. However a love story is blooming between Mali’s younger daughter and Nirmal’s friend’s son and I believe it will be a happy one. Malitha at the moment is using his power well but he cannot remember who he is or where he is from. The temple’s chief monk is quite surprised by the fact that Malitha can read and write English well, as well as his enormous power.

I believe it is not for long that Malitha will be hidden away as the Chief Monk is having doubts as to who Nandipala real is. Malitha did remember/see his mother briefly when Soratha sadhu takes off the “magic necklace” around Malitha’s neck for a little time.

Malitha has already made some very good friends at the village. His newest friend is a little girl call Hiruni who is the daughter of the owner of the coconut plantation Malitha is at. She is suffering from an illness where she can’t go out in the sunlight because it burns her skin. The illness itself is kept hidden from her and she is only allowed to go outside after 5.30pm when there is no sunlight. Malitha’s latest plan is to get little Hiruni cured. I personally believe that Malitha would cure the little girl from her illness. If the drama does go on till Malitha grows up then Hiruni could even be his love interest.

However I hope TV Derana keeps the small children theme because it is just beautiful that way. I mean Sri Lankan television is full of Indian dramas which have teenage pregnancies, child marriage and other highly adulterated themes. However Sidu is just a drama on children’s innocence. It is a drama I would allow my younger siblings to watch. I don’t have to change channels when there are scenes with sexual tension because Sidu has no such themes. In plain words I just love Sidu and hope Derana keeps up showing such great dramas and I also want to see a continuation of the Mali series.

So overall this drama is a must watch and I highly recommend it to you guys. While you would enjoy the innocence of small children, you will learn more about Buddhism and on our very own Sri Lankan culture. Hats off Derana for this epic drama and hope you guys keep up this high standards.

Hiruni's parents

Thus we end another review and hope you enjoyed it. Please take account that some of the names mentioned above maybe wrong. This is simply because it is a long time since I have watched Mali 1 or 2 and I also have this bad habit of naming actors after characters they acted as. Due to this Kavinga Perera is always Akila to me and Saranga is Aditya. If you guys do know the right names and more about Mali 1 and 2 please email me at srilankacricket77@gmail.com. Just don’t comment below because there is a problem on my blog where I cannot read comments. So keep tuned into Drama Queen to know the latest on Sri Lankan’s TV drama mania. J J J J J

Chief Monk

WTF is happening on Wassane Premaya right now?

Janathri Weeratunga 6:59 AM 0 Comments

Hello guysJ. It’s been a very long time and I have been so bloody busy. I know I am guilty of not putting up WP reviews for a few weeks now. However to be honest I am not at all sorry about it. WP has become a sour apple in just a couple of months and it’s not quite a surprise. At the very beginning the plot was very solid and it was easier for us to understand the emotions of the characters. In just a couple of months WP has turned into just another draggy melodrama found on any Sri Lankan TV channel.

At first I thought WP would end with Astha regaining her memory and the D family getting their property back. However even after Malith is sent to prison and even after all the hardships faced by the D family, Shakya is yet the stone hearted man he used to be. I mean the damned climax of the drama was when Astha got her memory back but then the script writers just kept on dragging the drama to the point of no return.

Right now some new woman has come to take revenge from D family for sending Malith to prison. It’s just another story arc which would drag the drama on for another 100 episodes. I really don’t like this kind of “drama abuse”. I mean it is so painful to watch such a good drama fall apart. I have to accept the fact the Sirasa TV’s Sal Sapuna is a better drama than WP right now.

A few days back Aditya went through the same problems Astha went through its just

Draggggggging!!!!!

I don’t know what you guys are thinking about but I kind of getting sick of all the melodrama. I am sick of the fact that the script writers are dragging the “Malith drama”. It’s so annoying because right now WP should stop and a new drama should start. Even the A & A couple’s love story seems to be so boring. After Astha got her memory back the whole life of WP seems to have been sucked out of it. It’s just B – O –R –I – N – G!

So right now I will not be putting up the full on weekly reviews because I will be discontinuing this dumb drama. I survived through all its ups and downs but right now I feel I have gone through enough of this stuff. Either Hiru should end this drama or it should stop dragging the drama.

Therefore guys this might as well be the last post on WP on Drama Queen and I hope you guys enjoy it J. So guys, bye for nowJ. BTW I will continue my posts on new dramas entering the Sri Lankan Drama Industry and please stayed tuned onto Drama Queen for a Mali3 introductory post, Sal Sapuna Review and another new drama.

# Hiru Tv # New Posts

Friday, September 16, 2016

Memory Back – Wassane Premaya – Weeks 56 & 57 review

Janathri Weeratunga 10:45 PM 0 Comments

Week – August 29^th 2016 – September 9^th 2016

Howdy guysJ I know it’s a long time since my last post and I am sorry for being this late. I paid to University of London and my books haven’t yet arrived. To add to this the text book prices are so bloody expensive. So I am in a bit of a soup right now. I believe it will be October by the time everything settles down and then it will be 6 months of “working my ass off” to get a good grade for the second year. Anyway let’s not talk about my problems. Let us all move on to what is happening in the drama right now.

So these two weeks were quite a rollercoaster ride. I mean every bloody thing we have been waiting for, happened in theses two weeks and trust me the director left nothing out of the script. In the end we had annoying mothers, wife robbers, heartbreaks, confusion, love and friendship all packed up like a TV dinner, right in front of us in a matter of 10 episodes. I know most of you were very annoyed at the latest story track about Astha’s lost memory and yes I have been reading your Facebook comments on the WP fan page. However I have to say I kind of enjoyed the whole scenario. I mean Astha and Aditya’s love story wasn’t without its obstacles but we really needed to spice it up a bit, so that they had a memorable love story. All throughout the drama it has been Astha who had been patiently proving her love to Aditya in many scenarios. In all these situations Aditya had been an annoying and frustrating hot headed husband. As soon as Astha lost her memory Aditya has become patient and loving. While the new Aditya would patiently put a plan together to get Astha back the old Aditya would have shot a bullet through Malith’s head and that just shows how much he had changed. I believe now is Aditya’s chance to prove his love to Astha.

So this week we had Malith taking away Astha’s links to Aditya/ Aravinda. She is left utterly helpless as she believes she is losing a good friend when in reality it is her husband she is losing. Malith’s mother too puts ideas against Aditya in Astha’s mind and now she doubts whether he is really a friend. Sumudhu on the other hand is trying her level best to make Astha remember Aditya but it all comes down to nothing.

It is in this kind of helpless situation that Aditya decides it’s time to take a risk and make sure Astha remembers her past. I mean this poor guy cannot wait 50 or 60 years till Astha’s memory comes back, right? So our dear Romeo calls his Juliet and tells her to come to one last place before she cuts off all links with him.

Meanwhile, Manju has been put in by Malith to follow Sumudhu wherever she goes and this time it does look like she is in serious trouble. Manju sees that Sumudhu is spending time with Akila and thus calls up Malith to inform him that Sumudhu is actually Akila’s spy. So when Sumudhu arrives home she is put into a dark room by Malith and thoroughly questioned. During this questioning (which Sumudhu faces very well) Astha comes near the room and she too feels suspicious as to what Malith is up to. Going on this basis she decides to go to the place Aditya mentioned with Sumudhu just to see what he has to show.

So that night, Astha and Sumudhu arrive at Aditya’s place (where they used to live when all their money was taken by Malith). Inside is one of the sweetest things that I have ever seen. Hanging from the walls and from balloons are pictures of Astha at all ages. There were some cute couple photos and the A&A couple’s wedding video was being played through a projector. While Astha is going through all this, out of the blue Aditya and Mr. & Ms. D arrives just to tell Astha that they were the Danthanarayanas and that Astha was Aditya’s wife. Astha on hearing this just turns around and runs out of the house much to Aditya’s disgust. On the way home Astha is in tears and she calls Malith and tells him everything that happened. On returning home she just runs into Malith’s arms (much to my disgustL ). The next morning Astha is very cool with Malith and it actually surprised me. Malith just calls up Aditya and tells him that he had lost Astha forever and the game is over. Even though Aditya sounded strong against Malith on the phone as soon as he hangs up, he just falls apart.

Astha however is feeling strange and suspicious. This leads her to go check the Dunusingha’s storage room. Here she discovers Malith’s wedding photo with his real wife and discovers that her wedding photo is a fake. On the other hand Aditya is falling apart and thus ends up thinking about committing suicide. However halfway through he abandons the plan and throws his gun away. On his way home Aditya suddenly starts to feel dizzy and meets with an accident.

However soon after the wedding photo incident Astha starts to get her memory back even though it doesn’t look clear. Now as the audience we have a quick run through the A & A couple’s love story. Through the shock of the memories Astha faints in her room where she is later discovered by Malith’s mother.

So this is what happened in these two weeks on WP. It was quite a memorable ride I have to say. Of course as all of you would have already guessed WP is ending and let us hope that the new drama is as good. So keep tuned into Drama Queen to get to know the latest on Sri Lanka’s Television mania J J J J J

# Hiru Tv # Wassane Premaya

Saturday, August 27, 2016

A Tort it is – Wassane Premaya – Weeks 54 & 55 review

Janathri Weeratunga 4:42 AM 0 Comments

Week – August 15^th 2016 – August 26^th 2016

Howdy guysJ. So campus starts in a week’s time and I cannot wait till I get my hands on the new books. I came to Colombo and went stationary shopping and now everything is ready to goJ. Hope you guys are also doing well and are enjoying the August/Summer holidaysJ. Okay now enough of the chatter; let’s get down to businessJ.

So today I am going to start off with Nandini’s dumb work. This week we see this woman running to the D family and telling them to keep away from Astha. She tells them that Astha is living happily with Malith and that Aditya never actually loved Astha. When Viraj shouts at her telling her that ASTHA IS MARRIED TO ADITYA NOW, she even has a dumb answer for this. She tells Viraj to shut up and tells him that he is the one who sold off all D family property and that if not for Astha they would never be able to get all their wealth back ( Hello woman! Aditya played a vital role in getting back the wealth too!).

After Nandini the bitch leaves the D house, Mr D calls Mr. J and tells him that Astha is Aditya’s and that no matter what the J family wants at the end of the day she will have to return to where she belongs. Of course Mr J knows nothing about Nandini going to the D house and is thus angered.

Elsewhere we see Sumudhu has entered Malith’s house as the new servant. She tries to calls Sneha, Astha but Sneha just tells her that she is not Astha. However with Sumudhu in the house Aditya and Akila are having a constant source of information on Astha. Sumudhu puts out the plan when she hears that Malith is going to go abroad for a few days. Akila too gets involved and is seen as a friendly driver. The plan itself is to get Astha away from the house so that Aditya can try to get her to remember something. Aditya himself is posing as Aravinda and totally fakes the fact that he is Malith’s best friend.

Aravinda tells Sneha over the phone that Malith is hiding a lot of things from her. He tells her that if she wants to know the true facts then she should come to meet him. So the date is fixed and Sumudhu is to join Sneha. Sneha just fakes that Malith gave her permission to go out to buy a sari which she liked. Akila joins the plan as the friendly driver who has come to drop Sneha at the meeting place.

Half way through Akila fakes that the vehicle has stopped and tells Sneha to go into a nearby forest which is near to the meeting place. Here Sneha meets up with Aravinda who to her utter astonishment is no other than the guy she slapped at the cloth shop. At the end of their long conversation its night time and they both fall asleep.

By this time Manju (Akila’s former minion) has got suspicious and called Malith to ask whether he gave Astha permission to go out. Everyone in Malith’s family is freaked out and to make things worse Astha has lost her phone.

While all this is happening Sumudhu and Akila are having a romantic time all alone in the vehicle. I am calling their thing romantic because they are a couple who are never left with time to call their own. Sumudhu however is very worried as neither Aditya’s or Astha’s mobiles are working. However Akila just points out that Astha is with Aditya and that nothing bad will happen to her.

In the end both of them go to Akila’s house. Akila’s mom is kind of forcing Akila to open up about Sumudhu. She is of course suspicious as to what Sumudhu and Akila are up to and she tells Akila to watch out. I am just worried that this woman will contact Manju to get to know what is up with Akila and then giveaway the whole plan.

Mr. D is also worried about Aditya and so calls and talks to him. The next morning Astha just tells Aditya that she is Sneha and that she is the mother of Malith’s kids. Aditya was very patient in this scene and it was wonderful to watch. Great acting SarangaJ. Aditya simply listens to her and just takes her home as she requested.

Now we have a cozy bike ride and some “alone time” for Astha and Aditya. Halfway through the journey Aditya’s bike breaks down which forces both of them to walk. With the passing of time Astha and Aditya are getting closer and closer and it’s very visibleJ. In the end Astha is dropped off at Malith’s place. During this entire hullabaloo Malith arrived from abroad only to see Aditya dropping off Astha. The final blow was when Aditya sneeringly tells Malith to look after Aditya’s wife till he comes and takes her awayJ. Astha just gives Malith a long, hard, cold stare.

So this is what happened in WP these few days. The drama is a bit on the draggy side and a bit boring but not 100% bad overall. I will just advice you guys to be a little patient with this drama. I myself am enjoying this drama and I have to admit it is one of the few dramas I watch right now. So until next time sayonara! Keep tuned into Drama Queen to know the latest on dramas shown in Sri Lanka.

# Hiru Tv # New Posts

Monday, August 15, 2016

Et tu Nandini! – Wassane Premaya – Weeks 52 & 53 review

Janathri Weeratunga 12:57 AM 0 Comments

Week – August 1^st 2016 – August 12^th 2016

Howdy guys J I am back and I feel fantasticJ. So I wasn’t able to post in awhile (aka 2 weeks) because my results were to come on the 10^th of Aug. I wasn’t in a sane mind these two weeks and therefore I choose not to write. I am sorry for that, but guys I ended up getting a Merit for my first yearJ. I am over the moon and I have to say that I never expected such a big result :). I just feel fantasticJ. Anyway now let’s get to the review and see what happened in these two weeks:) .

So this week was quite a shocker and I quite enjoyed it. First of all Aditya is slowly becoming the old Aditya and all the family members are feeling it. I have to say Saranga is a bloody good actor and he is doing wonders to this aggressive role. His acting really takes all those emotions of a heartbroken and helpless husband to a new level. I really loved this scene where Aditya calls Astha just to hear her voice. He is of course way to emotional to actually talk to her. This scene really showed the depth of the relationship between the A&A couple. When Aditya finally does speak, he just says he is Aravinda. I thought that the name would act as a memory trigger to Astha but it didn’t happen. However dear little Chris Gayle aka Hiru recognises his name and jumps up and down with excitement.

Elsewhere Mr and Ms J decide to come and talk to Astha and to see whether she can remember them. Of course our dear little gal doesn’t even know who Mr. J and Nandini are and she is clearly confused when Nandini does her annoying and dramatic “Anee Astha oyata mokatha uneh” line. However Malith’s mother comes to the situation and pulls Astha into the house and tells the J family to get out.

Some days later Malith and his mom decide to go and meet the J family and try to set them up against Shakya. Malith just goes on an on slaughter of Shakya’s character and tell the J’s that Astha came to Malith on her own will. Nandini first hand believes this and even takes Malith outside to talk to him in private. Mr. J is of course pissed off and he clearly shouts at Nandini is a very angry way. I believe Nandini believed all those lies Malith simply because he hates Shakya’s family as much as she does. She is unknowingly destroying her daughter’s life because of her hatred.

I personally believe that the fact that the J family even doubts Shakya’s word is a joke. Firstly Malith came to them with this story after 6 months and that is quite a long time. Secondly Astha couldn’t recognise her mom and dad when they came to meet her. Of course if she went to Malith on her own will why would she ask her parents who they are? I don’t know about you guys but I think Nandini is a bitch and a bad mother. Her betrayal to her family is why I choose the title “Et tu Nandini”.

On the other hand the D family is planning on sending someone close to them to the Malith’s family. Aditya is way too hot headed to listen to Shakya and just storms away. However Shakya does try to tell Aditya what’s in his mind but Aditya never does listen. We do see the Dunusingha family servant being taken out of house and I believe Shakya is going to put a new servant to Malith’s house and try to make Astha remember things...Rani does seem like a good choice J.

While all this is happening Akila finds his minion betraying him. His minion was spying in front of the former D family house and when Akila asks him on the phone what he is doing, the minion lies to him. Sumudhu on the other hand goes to Aditya and tells him she will help him get Astha if he helps her. I don’t know exactly what she asked but probably to help her get Akila away from Malith.

So right now Astha cannot remember a thing yet and Malith is just brainwashing her away. I believe Astha’s chances of recovery are just reduced by Malith’s brainwash sessions. So let’s see what happens in the weeks to comeJ. Keep tuned in to Drama Queen to get to know the latest drama news in Sri Lanka. BTW just be on the watch out for 3 new drama reviews. Two of them would be on Indian dramas going to be shown on TV1 this Monday and the other is of Sindu on TV Derana.