Posted May 19, 2020 by lynlynsays Drama Reviews

Stone-Cold Revenge: Thoughts on Hua Jai Sila (หัวใจศิลา)

Hua Jai Sila (หัวใจศิลา)

(Thai Drama 2019)

The next Thai series I decided to watch was a melodrama entitled Hua Jai Sila or in English, Heart of Stone. The only reason why I watched this series is that it starred Tor Thanapob Leeluttanakajorn who is a member of Nine x Nine and he starred in other projects alongside Jannine Weigel. One of these acting projects includes a mini-series I reviewed called, My Secret Friend.

Hua Jai Sila is a 2019 Thai remake of the 2007 original series of the same name. The story is about an illegitimate child, Tor (who changed his name to Sila), who was born from a wealthy man and a prostitute. He desires revenge against his stepmother who abused him when he was a child and his childhood acquaintances who bullied him.

Tor/Sila is tactful. He strategically planned out how he was going to get revenge on his stepmother, who tried to drown him in a lake. (She assumed that he was dead despite the body not being found.) He also wanted revenge against his stepbrother and this wealthy girl from his childhood, who bullied him for being the son of a prostitute. However, his desire for revenge is seen as troubling to the people that care about him. They wished that Tor/Sila would let go of the past and let karma do its work; however, Tor/Sila argues that he is unable to move on until those who abuse their power get the punishment that they deserve and he’s just speeding up the process since karma is taking its sweet time. Tor/Sila takes matters into his own hands because the justice system is corrupted: his stepmother used her power and money to get her and her son out of illegal activity. Thus, in order for the justice system to see their corrupted ways, Tor/Sila needs to let them reveal it themselves to the public, and he does that by exposing his stepmother’s son, Swait (Kanokchat Munyadon), addiction to gambling and his domestic violence cases. Yet, even though Tor/Sila is strategic when planning his revenge, his friends and family constantly remind him to think with his head and not with his heart because if you let your emotions dictate your decisions for you, you may regret the things you do or say. Thus, we see this as a constant reminder to Tor/Sila as he continues his path for revenge.

Every single episode was pure entertainment because we get overdramatic slap-facing moments. Usually, these moments happen when the women are in cat-fights with one another or when a woman gets emotionally hurt by a man. One of the reasons why I mainly stray away from Southeast Asian melodramas is because of this overdramatic slap in the face; sometimes it isn’t necessary. We just have overemotional characters that just don’t know how to express their emotions in a positive manner and think more emotionally rather than logically. It’s unrealistic.

A man is obsessively jealous when a woman becomes acquainted with another man and so, the man ends up acting aggressively such as force kissing her. As for women, they would just end up dramatically crying, whining, or committing a foolish act that gets them in more trouble than needed. I think what bothers me the most about this drama is the amount of domestic violence in each episode. It was uncomfortable despite being aware that these situations happen in various countries. In Hua Jai Sila, the prime character that commits domestic violence against women is Swait; in which he hurts women, physically, emotionally, and sexually. Luckily, he gets the punishment he deserves at the end. If you are sensitive about these types of scenes, I wouldn’t recommend this show to you because there are many scenes with domestic violence in them. Even though I found these scenes uncomfortable, I continued to watch the series because I found the plot entertaining. I am fully aware of my lack of cultural knowledge about Thailand which has values and beliefs that are different from mine, and so that uncomfortableness may stem from our different views on masculinity and femininity.

Also, Tor Thanapob Leeluttanakajorn and Fern Nopjira Lerkkajornnamkul, who plays Minta Kanasrikul, have great chemistry. Aside from the revenge plot, the romantic storyline between these two characters is a strong point in this drama.