Naresuan took breaks while time marched on

The finale instalment of “The Legend of King Naresuan” premiered on Tuesday, opening with the advertising slogan “The end of the wait”. Credit goes to whoever penned that, because it’s a straightforward way of describing the culmination of an epic series, which has been seven years in the making – longer, of course, if you count pre-production.
After seven long years with much waiting and several false starts along the way, it’s no wonder that the final piece of the puzzle brings much relief for everyone involved, especially perhaps the actors. Their long-captive commitment is over. Meanwhile director MC Chatrichalerm “Than Mui” Yukol and his crew are now ready to take on other projects and, finally, attend to each of them full-time.
Much happened in seven years while the saga played out. Here are a few things that changed between the beginning and the ending:
-    Wanchana “Bird” Sawatdee, who plays Naresuan, remains with the Army but has been promoted to Lieutenant Colonel over the years, and is now married with a son, Win – who he brought along to the premiere of the finale on Tuesday.
-    Teen heartthrob Jirayu La-ongmanee was just a kid when he first played Boonthing. He’s now a well-known adult actor who’s starred in many other films besides.
-    Like Bird, Taksaorn “Aff” Paksukcharern was also single when she first appeared in the franchise as Maneechan, the mistress finally crowned queen in the final episode. Aff is now married to Songkran Techanarong and announced at the premiere that she’s two months pregnant as well.
-    Winthai “Seh Tod” Suwaree had a low profile in the military lower brass when he took the role of Naresuan’s younger brother Phra Ekatosarot. Colonel Winthai is currently “the face of the coup” as spokesman for the National Council for Peace and Order, the man who reads out all those announcements on TV. And it was the movie that brought him and actress Apiradee Pawaphutanon together. They married last year, having reportedly been seeing each other for – yes, seven years.
-    Grace Mahadumrongkul, who portrays Naresuan’s sister Supankulayanee, was another singleton when the show got rolling but was married at the beginning of 2012 to screen colleague Jongjade Vatcharanunt, another officer who’s been promoted in the interim from Commander to Wing Commander. The wedding was one of the biggest of the year, thanks in part to Grace’s longstanding secrecy about the romance on the set. It was rumoured that she was even shy about sending an invitation to Than Mui.
-    Than Mui, who’s always kept busy through the Naresuan years and has much more ahead of him, including TV series and more movies, became a proud father-in-law when his son, MR Srikhamrung Yukol, got married.
-    The opening Naresuan salvo exploded onto the screen in 2007, less than a year after the last coup. Did we really have to wait for another coup before we got to see the ending?
And, finally, as we’ve noted before, the movies’ fans have grown old along with the franchise. Anyone who saw the first episode while in secondary school might now be graduating from university. Add their numbers to all the folks whose hair has turned grey in the interim and we’ve had a genuine social phenomenon unfolding before our eyes.