During prime-time weekend slots, thousands of Myanmar TV viewers are glued to the box to catch up with the latest instalment of Karma, a drama so popular that it's currently being rerun for the third time.
Each 40-minute episode features self-contained stories of different characters in different dilemmas, with the Buddhist philosophy of "what goes around comes around" the central theme.
One of the episodes, "Deadly Hips", depicts a playboy dancer who uses his sexually charged dance moves to lure and deflower a string of impressionable young women before dumping them. But tragedy later befalls the dancer, who becomes paralysed from the waist down. The final scene shows the repentant dancer sitting in a wheelchair.
"The audience feels the ending is justified after all he has done to the poor girls," said Kritsada Imsomboon, the series' Thai director.
Starring Myanmar actors and actresses, Karma is a production from Forever BEC-Tero, a joint venture between Forever Company, a Myanmar broadcaster, and Thailand-based BEC-Tero Entertainment, which produces several TV series for Channel 3.
On location: 'Karma' director Kritsada Imsomboon runs the cast and crew through a scene in Myanmar. Below, a scene takes place in a bedroom but the show can only hint at sex.
With a degree in visual communication design from Suan Dusit Rajabhat University, the 48-year-old Kritsada has built a strong profile at home directing music video clips for Warner Music Thailand and GMM Grammy. His first job after graduation was as a camera assistant for Dara Video.
But Karma marks his directorial debut in TV drama. When offered the job three years ago, Kritsada took the opportunity despite not being able to understand the Myanmar language. He communicates with his crew members through an interpreter.
"But I knew I could make it. I have grown up on the set," said Kritsada, who is a grandson of the late actor Suwin Sawangrat, a popular star in the 1970s.
Overseeing the 50-member crew in a cross-cultural environment is a challenging task. "There are cultural proximities between Thailand and Myanmar, but there are also differences and cultural sensitivities," he said.
Having spent three years shooting in Myanmar, he said, "I have gained exceptional experience. Myanmar people are enthusiastic and professional.
"Once we shot from the afternoon to the next morning and no one complained."
Kritsada is now in pre-production for his next project, Owner of Karma. A remake of the Thai drama series of the same name, shooting for the new show is scheduled to start in August.
WATCHED RELIGIOUSLY
Since opening its doors to the outside world in 2011, Myanmar viewing audiences have welcomed imported TV series and films from Hollywood and South Korea.
The impact of that international popular culture is sweeping through the once-isolated country, and several Thai series are also now screened on Myanmar television.
Five decades of military dictatorship has resulted in a lost generation of local talent. But the entertainment industry has picked up the cudgels and is now determined to produce home-grown content.
International producers such as BEC-Tero realised that local audience would prefer to watch familiar faces, wearing thanaka powder and longyi and speaking their mother tongue.
But to make that happen meant international producers teaming up with their Myanmar counterparts to share their experience.
Kritsada says a good storyline and decent production values will hook any audience.
The shared cultural traits also help, most notably when it comes to fundamental Buddhist beliefs. That is part of the reason why the 2013 Thai blockbuster Pee Mak Phra Khanong was also a massive hit with Myanmar audiences.
The joint venture between BEC-Tero and Forever to produce programmes for MRTV-4, or Channel 7, in Myanmar was signed three years ago. It chose Buddhist storylines for its pilot project.
"I think Karma is the first joint production of a TV series in Myanmar," Kritsada said.
French and South Korean producers have since teamed up with local counterparts to produce drama series.
"But they focus on different topics," said Kritsada. "French and South Korean producers concentrate on romantic themes."
UNIVERSAL STORY
As well as Kritsada, BEC-Tero sent four other Thais to take charge of art direction, graphics, production and switching.
Yet confidence in the show's success was not high -- when it went to air two years ago, the first three Karma episodes were broadcast in the 11pm Sunday timeslot. But the show became a hit, and Forever BEC-Tero decided to air the show back-to-back at 7pm on Saturday and Sunday.
"It's prime time after people finish their 6pm daily prayer," said Thanavadee Stityuthakarn, the writer of several Karma episodes.
In addition to Karma, which is based on an original script, BEC-Tero is co-producing two TV series in Myanmar which are remakes of popular Thai dramas.
aired last year, and Sob of Soul is being broadcast during prime time on weekdays. The two series were directed by Roongravee Maneeprem, a Thai female director.
Language barrier: The scripts for 'Karma' show the dialogue is longer in Myanmar than Thai.
Dark Palace
Karma's second season aired last year. Thanks to its popularity, the series is currently being rerun for the third time on Saturday and Sunday from 7.30-8.30pm.
"Myanmar people like the series because every episode reflects their belief that your deeds in life will come back to you," Kritsada said.
Despite the different setting, the series features the universal Buddhist concept of righteousness.
One episode, "Gratitude", stars Ju Jue K, a popular Myanmar actress who is also a violinist. The plot is about a leading lady who wants to escape poverty by trying to catch a rich man and disguising her identity as a flower vendor.
After she marries the rich man, she fails to take care of her poor father and karma comes back to haunt her at the end.
Another popular episode features a couple who take drugs and gamble. They finance their bad habits by robbing road accident victims. In the end, the couple are haunted by the ghost of one of the victims.
"We feared the episode would be too graphic and heavy for the audience. But it was another big hit," said Kritsada. "People love to see bad deeds come around to get the bad person."
A SLIGHT REWRITE
All the scripts were originally written in Thai and later translated into the Myanmar language.
Thanavadee, who wrote Dark Palace as well several Karma episodes, said it was a challenge to pen television scripts for an unfamiliar audience.
"I had never been to Myanmar before," she said. "Then, I had to imagine how to make the audience connect with the plot of the series."
When it comes to connecting with Myanmar audiences, every detail counts -- starting with the names of the leading characters.
"Once I chose a name which translated as 'sun'. I thought the sound was beautiful and the meaning was good. But Myanmar people think such a name is too old-fashioned," Thanavadee said.
Usually, each episode of a Thai drama of a comparable length requires 24-25 pages of script. But transforming the script into Myanmar version, the writer has to shorten the lines to keep the length at 16-17 pages when translated.
"Myanmar actors' line delivery is slower than Thais', " she said. "Besides, the Myanmar language uses longer sentences than Thai. If the line is too long, the scene can be too long and boring."
For logistical reasons while filming in Myanmar, the scriptwriter has to restrict the scenes to fewer locations than she might if working on a Thai project.
"It is not convenient to move around the country," Thanavadee said. "You need approval from the local authorities to shoot at certain places."
The Karma series was shot entirely in Yangon.
"The local authorities have been very friendly, though," Kritsada said. "They are curious. Everywhere we go, there will be crowds of people and authorities watching the shoot."
Thanavadee said the writers have had to adjust some details to accommodate the local culture.
"Although guns are common in Thai dramas, it is a taboo in Myanmar drama series because Myanmar people, except for military officers, do not carry guns," she said.
The series should also avoid touching upon the topics of beggars, monks, nuns and the military. "Once, I had to change the script from people shooting each other with guns to people hitting each other with clubs," she said.
DIFFERENT, BUT THE SAME
Overseeing a full season of a TV drama takes a heavy commitment for the Thai crew.
Prolific: Scriptwriter Thanavadee Stityuthakarn is working on episodes for several series.
"I have to stay and work in Myanmar for 23 days per month," said Kritsada, who spends the remaining week in Thailand to brief his bosses and report on the progress of the shoot.
The Thai crew members stay together at a rented house in Yangon. The size of the production crew is the same as it would be on a Thai show, and they have brought some of their more advanced production equipment with them.
Each season begins with about five months of pre-production, when the director and crew scout for potential locations and work on translating the scripts.
The director said the crew had to pay special attention to the translations. "We have to go through the script word by word with the translators to make sure we are on the same page. A slight misunderstanding in the translation can mean something totally different."
For instance, once a "chair" was mistranslated into a "horse". Luckily, the misunderstanding was detected during a review of the material.
The director also has to take into account traditional beliefs. Like Thais, many Myanmar people are superstitious.
"Once we drove outside Yangon with nine passengers," said Kritsada. "The driver stopped along the way and picked up a rock on the side of the road and put it in the car. I was wondering what happened. The driver later explained to me the rock symbolised a 10th passenger. Some Myanmar people believe it is bad luck to drive with nine passengers."
Another time, Kritsada was told by his Myanmar crew to adjust the script.
"The original one had a character taking a shower in the afternoon. But one of my Myanmar crew said it was not possible because no one in Myanmar would take a shower at 3pm."
Love scenes cannot be explicit.
"We cannot have a man taking a lady to have sex in a hotel because would be deemed illegal," the director said.
"We cannot show actors locking their lips. They can hug, though. If it is important to tell the audience that the actor and actress were having sex, just put them on the same bed and fade the camera away, that's enough."
REWORKED CLASSIC
Kritsada is now working on a remake of the Thai hit show Owner of Karma. The 40-part series is scripted by Thanavadee, who also penned the original Thai series.
This time, Kritsada is more confident about finding new shoot locations outside Yangon.
The crew are currently working on translating and tweaking the script to make it more suitable for a Myanmar audience.
For instance, the original script has a leading man forcing a monk to defrock. But it is unacceptable in Myanmar for a person to force someone to leave the monkhood.
"The leading man cannot force a person to defrock. It is an unforgivable sin. We have to change the script," said Kritsada.
He said although the producers are sticking to the same theme of good-versus-bad, the series does not aim to preach to the audience.
"It does not work that way," Kritsada said.
"The storyline has to be entertaining. Otherwise, no one will watch it. Every viewer wants to watch something fun."
What goes around: Thai and Myanmar cast and crew film one of the most popular and graphic episodes of 'Karma', in which a couple finance their gambling habits by robbing car crash victims.
Bout of inspiration: Several Thai directors and crew members are helping Myanmar's TV industry, but while there are cultural similarities not all stories can be translated directly.
