Tourism videos don't get worse than Ra Karthik's Made in Korea. To call it a promotional reel for a place—a country—would be an insult to that place, that country. If the movie screams anything, it's that South Korea might be the safest place for you to visit. The K-dramas were right. All a girl needs to do is board a flight to South Korea, and she will find the man of her dreams—the man who will dedicate himself to her fully. Heo Jun-jae (Baek Si-hoon) might be a videographer, but he's never seen recording anything for the people he works for. Rather, he roams around Shenba (Priyanka Mohan) like a benevolent spirit, helping her with her professional needs. No one in Seoul tries to mug Shenba. A man who looks like a goon or drug addict simply asserts that Shenba is at the correct address instead of attempting to harass her. A boy doesn't retaliate when Shenba slaps him. A police officer sees Shenba as a "dangerous woman" and praises her "angry persona" later in the film. Even an old woman, Yeon-ok (Park Hye-jin), becomes the best friend of our protagonist.
Only two Korean characters pull villainous faces, but it's impossible to take them seriously since they look very caricaturish. They are introduced for the sake of DRAMA, and this DRAMA is about as convincing as the kind found in Indian TV serials that eventually become memes. The real drama emanates from the background music that weeps and screams so loudly that my speakers started crying. I wanted to give an A for effort and almost felt sorry for not reacting appropriately. Nice strategy, Mr. Karthik. If you can't move them, make them feel guilty.
Why is this Tamil movie set (mostly) in South Korea? Ask Shenba. Her desire to go to this foreign land is ignited by Queen Sembavalam—who, she claims, traveled from Kanyakumari to Korea (if only Shenba had spent some of her internet data on basic research, she would have found this theory to be merely speculative)—and K-dramas. But a smart viewer will recognize that there is no real sense behind Shenba's desire. What she ends up doing in Seoul is what she's already encouraged to do in Kolappalur: run a restaurant. And it's not as if she does something significant in South Korea (she does help an old woman experience independence, but thunderous musical cues and chintzy soap-opera acting reduce the result to third-rate drama). Except for cooking up a dish that becomes a hit with customers—an achievement that merely keeps the restaurant running, which would have been the case even without this invention—there is little logic behind setting the story in a distant land. From a business perspective, though, the decision makes sense. Why not target the audience of both regions? And thanks to Mohan and Hye-jin Park, you get more than enough press coverage and online fan engagement to create a buzz (some Indian websites have already published stories calling Hye-jin the Squid Game actor).
Made in Korea is not the kind of film that prioritizes coherence or a unifying tone. Characters behave according to where the story happens to be at a particular moment. A mother and a boyfriend, for instance, may be rude or annoying at first but would, ahem, "melt" or do a good deed when the movie nears its conclusion because, well, the story needs to be wrapped up. Some will label such hogwash as a display of "complexity." Don't be that person. The title of this drama might be Made in Korea, but this story could have been set anywhere. All you need to do is make basic tweaks, and you can situate this plot in another location. Hell, call it Made in Kenya or Made in Coromandel. It doesn't really matter.
Final Score- [1.5/10]
Reviewed by - Vikas Yadav
Follow @vikasonorous on Twitter
Publisher at Midgard Times