The best of friends

For a novel that’s ranked among the 100 books all Thais should read, Por Intarapalit’s “Phol Nikorn Kim-nguan” has gone through a surprisingly low number of TV and big screen adaptations over the years, with the last remake dating back to 1995.

So it came as something of a surprise when it was picked by cable provider TrueVisions as the debut series for its new digital channel True4U and in a musical form no less.

A comical epic centred on four best friends, the book recounts the adventures of Phol, Nikorn, Kim-nguan and Dr Direk both before and after their marriages as they enjoy Bangkok’s nightlife, join the army and go to war and take a trip to the spirit world.

More than 1,000 episodes of the novel were published between 1938 and 1968, the year the author passed away. The story is also known as “Sam Gler” (“Three Friends”) in reference to the original protagonists Phol, Nikorn and Kim-nguan. Dr Direk came into their lives later in the story but quickly became part of the carefree and reckless gang. And while many older Thais have read the novel, quite a few have dipped in later than the first episodes. Suwandee Jakravoravudh of stage production company Dreambox, and director of the TV series, is one of them.

“I read the novel when I was young and like anyone who grew up with the story, I only vaguely knew the beginning. So it seemed like a good idea to start the series from the very first episode and bring the entire collection of chapters to the attention of our viewers,” she says.

The value of the story is not just its timeless humour, Suwandee continues, but what it tells us about Bangkok society over a period of 30 years.

“The lives of the characters are very interesting and the writer clearly depicts the trends and even the politics of each era, presenting these through the reckless behaviour of the four friends and those who surround them,” she says.

 “Unfortunately in earlier TV adaptations, the producers have chosen to set the entire story in modern-day Thailand. Because of that, many of the more humorous scenes and jokes, while still entertaining, are completely out of context,” Suwandee adds.

The Dreambox director has therefore decided to make things right and has set her series over the same period as the novel.

It is not the first time Suwandee has toyed with the idea of staging “Phol Nikorn Kim-nguan”. She had intended to bring it to the theatre in 2004 but was forced to cancel her plans after the Boxing Day tsunami caused so much loss and destruction.

The new series, which plays out in 12 episodes, starts with the story of how Phol and his cousin Nikorn, who are still bachelors, meet Kim-nguan, the country’s richest guy, at the popular Happy Hall nightclub. The side characters too bring much laughter to the stories, especially the wives, but also the bald and chubby Phraya Pajjanuek Pinart, father-in-law to both Nikorn and Direk, and the servant Haew Horapha.

Suwandee, who is again working with her long-time collaborator, scriptwriter Daraka Wongsiri, says they decided to portray the saga as a musical to attract a wider audience.

 “While we’ve kept the original dialogue even though it’s very outdated, we’ve chosen to complement it with 38 old songs that fit the situations in each story and make it more interesting,” says the director.

Most of those songs are classics from the Suntaraporn Big Band, which won the hearts of listeners for several decades and fit well with the stories.

Daraka chose the songs then handed them over to another long-time Dreambox collaborator, composer Suthee Sangsareechon, to produce the music.

“My job was really to design the voice of each character and work with the cast to ensure they stay in character while singing,” explains Suthee, who is also the producer and a member of the jury for popular TV talent show “True Academy Fantasia”.

The actors were selected both on their singing talent and acting ability. Unsurprisingly many are “Academy Fantasia” alumni, among them Ratchaphon “Music” Yamsang who plays Nikorn and Pakamon “Lookpong” Boonyapooti, who portrays Kim-nguan’s wife Nuanla-or. Buddha Bless rapper Natee “Oui” Ekvijit takes the role of Kim-nguan and former teen idol Jitrakup “Bogie” Suntornsilpchai from the teen duo Bogie-Dodge stars as Phol.

Suwandee worked hard with her young cast in practising a style of dialogue and phrasing that dates back more than 70 years and is very different from the way Thai is spoken today. She also had to come down heavily on the production’s make-up department, stressing to the artists and actresses that she wanted fresh-faced characters not the heavily made-up ladies portrayed in modern-day series.

“The story is set in 1938 to 1939 when the cosmetics that we have today simply weren’t available. Our actresses didn’t like the idea – being make-up free really dampened their confidence,” Suwandee says.

The director adds that the series is mainly targeting audiences in their 40s as most of these will have read and enjoyed the novel.

“I hope that the series will inspire the to read it again and to introduce it to their children. They are many life lessons to be learned from the stories,” she says.

 

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