Story of Yanxi Palace

I don’t usually watch dramas; there are simply too many episodes in every one of them. I do join my wife in watching the Korean varieties from time to time. South Korea’s drama industry is now a phenomenon. Millions are glued to TV and smartphones day in and day out because of it. Its formula is quite different from the others.

Bollywood’s appeal does not quite go beyond people of South Asian origin or descent. There is plenty of “lovers chasing each other from tree to tree” or “head and body twist-dancing” scenes from start to finish. The Chinese varieties tend to recast historical episodes. You know the story’s outcome, but you watch it to curse the villains who are usually being portrayed to be more evil than the truth. Intrigues that are scripted are often quite shallow or even childish. And the acting, especially on the part of the actresses, is often pretentiously irritating. I always believe what we see shapes the way we behave. And you can see such portrayed behaviours cascading down to Indian and Chinese societies.

There is also much behavioural silliness in Korean dramas. But their story lines are quite gripping. You don’t quite know what will come up next. But the quality of acting, especially by the lead actors or actresses, is certainly higher than that you find in Chinese movies and dramas.

It appears that Chinese movie and drama makers have taken note and are now trying to emulate the Korean. The Story of the Yanxi Palace is a case in point.

But only to a certain point.

Created by Yu Zheng, Story of Yanxi Palace (延禧攻略) apparently has been streamed billions of times by worldwide audiences. No doubt the cast is huge and their costumes stunning, I am the producers still have some way to go before they can be seen to be at par with the Koreans. The scenes are pretty linear, and the intrigues challenge one’s intellectuality. The acting of the female cast is, for want of a better description, still very Chinese actress-like.

I couldn’t go beyond the 7^th episode.

I have always been branded a China- and Chinese-basher. But my mission is to help improve Chinese-ness, albeit in a small way.