Laughs that come from close to home will be launching on our screens in exactly one month's time. HBO Asia will be premiering its first comedy drama series, Sent, on Sept 17 exclusively on HBO. Let's tune in and support this work of Southeast Asian talent so the big conglomerate continues to produce stories about Asia -- featuring local talent but with Hollywood standards.
Completely filmed on location and set in Singapore, it is a tale of today's modern woes any wired and connected person would relate to. Starring a lead with the biggest doggy eyes the world has ever seen, Sent tells the story of Jay Bunani (played by Haresh Tilani), an uninteresting and timid office worker who deals with stress by typing up searing and eye-watering email drafts to anyone who has ever antagonised him. He suddenly becomes an internet sensation overnight when that draft folder is accidentally sent to all his hundreds of recipients -- but it's not the good kind. Now left without a job or even his fiancé, he turns to an old college friend, Max Wong (played by Alan Wong), who is the only person to see this as an opportunity for Jay to dream a little bigger. Set amid a world of memes, GIFs and hashtags, Jay's mishap might just turn out for the best when he gets an unexpected job offer from Zacheus Lee (played by Adrian Pang), the country's leading restaurateur and somewhat-sketchy businessman.
Sent is directed and co-produced by Singaporean comedian Alaric Tay. The ensemble cast includes actors based in Singapore, Malaysia, India, Hong Kong and Thailand. Thailand's rep includes David Asavanond, as previously seen in movies such as Countdown (2012), The Last Executioner (2014) and also the second season of HBO Asia's Halfworlds. This is the third original production to be released this year and by the looks of it, there's a lot more that's slated to come in the coming years.
-- Parisa Pichitmarn
Sent will premiere on HBO with two episodes back-to-back on Sunday, Sept 17, at 8pm. Two new episodes from the eight-episode half-hour series will premiere every Sunday at 8pm. The series will also be streaming on HBO and HBO GO on AIS Play and AIS Playbox.