‘Love Always’ Director Madhumita on Adapting Korean Webtoon ‘Here We Go Again’ for Tamil Audiences (EXCLUSIVE)

Korean webtoons have a dedicated fanbase in India, and Tamil filmmaker Madhumita brings one such story to the screen with “Love Always.” The director, who has adapted the webtoon “Here We Go Again” into a live-action Tamil series, believes the growing popularity of Korean entertainment in India can be attributed to the cultural similarities between the two countries. However, translating a 2D graphic novel into a live-action series came with its own set of challenges.

Madhumita says, “In terms of the cultural and sensibility context, there’s quite a bit of similarity between Korea and here. Whether it is K-dramas or K-pop, all things Korean work right now, but this is a webtoon that we adapted. It’s a 2D graphic novel that we had to adapt for live action in Tamil.”

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Reflecting on the biggest challenges while working on the project, she says, “It’s quite easy to get away with being very over the top and loud in a 2D format, but when you are making a live-action show, the performances, tone and treatment need to be very specific.”

Madhumita shares that the team chose to model the show’s humor on the distinctive comedy style of legendary Tamil playwright and comedian Crazy Mohan. “We decided to adapt the show in the “Crazy Mohan” style of comedy. Tamil comedy isn’t slapstick; it relies more on wordplay. The falling-down-on-the-banana-peel kind of slapstick doesn’t work in Tamil anymore. It used to work at some point, but the Tamil audience doesn’t prefer or enjoy it. We decided to have witty one-liners and dialogues that would lend to humorous interactions,” she explains.

About the changes made to the series, Madhumita says, “We wanted to make sure that the writing had enough wordplay, wit, and sarcasm. We didn’t want to rely too much on physical humor. We have changed two to three things from a characterization perspective. We added the mother-son relationship to the story. Building the bond with the son and developing it into a full arc for the female lead was interesting.”

The series also takes a refreshing approach to romance, moving beyond the conventional portrayal of love among younger characters to explore a romantic relationship between two 60-year-olds.

Among the recent Korean shows, IU and Park Bo Gum’s “When Life Gives You Tangerines” impressed her. “I absolutely loved that show. It’s something that I related to and I thought it was very well done. I felt it was extremely engaging,” she said.