İnadına Aşk – Turkish Dizi Review

İnadina Aşk

Rating – 4/5

A Turkish romantic comedy starring Can Yaman and Açelya Topaloğlu in the lead roles of Yalın and Defne (respectively), İnadına Aşk (meaning Love out of Spite) catapulted Yaman to fame in 2015. There is a reason why Yaman became famous after this show.

Though the English title of the show is Love out of Spite, as far as I could understand the Turkish language, here İnadına means stubbornness.

WHAT’S THE STORY?

The story follows Defne and Yalın as they gradually fall in love after disliking each other initially. Defne, after graduating from a renowned university in Tukey, is going to start working for Arass Technology. But, she is late on the first day because her brother finds her dress too revealing. Forced to wear a dress according to her brother’s tastes, she brings along her other dress and changes secretly in the parking lot of the company. There she chances upon Yalın who she assumes to be one of the company staff. Yalın is in fact the CEO of Arass Technology but he does not disclose it. He makes fun of Defne. Why? I won’t tell you. Watch the first episode. You will know yourself. FYI, the sizzling chemistry between Can and Açelya starts from the first episode itself. Watch the show to share their journey of love.

It’s a light-hearted show (which romantic comedy isn’t?) with dollops of rib-tickling humor and (no guesses!) sweet romance. Yaman, as the stubborn, spoilt, rich guy with a heart of gold and Topaloğlu, as the sweet, sassy, smart, honest and rich girl who chatters incessantly, do full justice to their roles.

WATCH THIS SHOW FOR THE CHEMISTRY

The chemistry between them is undeniable and jumps off the screen. Reportedly, they both dated each other during this show which is, maybe, one of the reasons why viewers were smitten by their romance. Let’s confess it. Even I was smitten too. Yalın’s bear hugs, his and Defne’s scorching hot kisses and their sweet gestures could melt even the coldest of hearts.

Can Yaman and Açelya Topaloğlu in İnadına Aşk

GOOD ACTING BY THE LEAD AS WELL AS SUPPORTING ACTORS

It is hard to believe this series is Yaman’s second project and his first as a lead actor. His biggest strength is his eyes – they are so expressive. In the scenes with no dialogues, his eyes convey so much. Just watch the scene at 59:59 in Episode 19 (English subtitles) and here (without English subtitles). You will understand what I am saying. The second strength is his good looks and charismatic persona.

Can Yaman as Yalın in İnadina Aşk

Topaloğlu was bang on with the portrayal of Defne. She brought out every emotion of Defne extremely well. The way Defne feels for Yalın when she comes to know about his past, the way she supports him and loves him, the way she gathers courage and stands against her family for her love- Topaloğlu portrays all these scenes perfectly.

The supporting actors need to be lauded too, especially, Nilay Duru playing the characters of Yalın’s sister, Yeşim, and Taner Rumeli portraying Defne’s brother, Toprak.

Can Yaman and Açelya Topaloğlu in İnadina Aşk

 Each Turkish dizi (their dramas are called dizis) has its own background score, unlike the Indian shows. I loved the background score as well, especially, the peppy beats for Defne.

Check out Bay Yanlış, Can Yaman’s new series in 2020.

Despite being a romantic comedy, it does feature many scenes where Defne has to persuade, and in some cases, fight against her oppressively over-protective brothers. The actors did a fine job in these scenes too, however, these might be uncomfortable to watch for many female viewers (it was for me!). On the other hand, the show has lots of comic scenes which, apart from providing relief from the afore-mentioned claustrophobic drama, also acts as a satire on the patriarchal society and how it always imposes its decisions on women.

The scriptwriters need to be applauded too. Turkish dizis have close to two-hour long episodes, and thus, keeping the viewers’ attention for so long does require commendable writing prowess on the part of the scriptwriters. Since these episodes are available on YouTube, I often used to skip forward the scenes I didn’t want to watch. (Benefits of technology. :P)

However, the last episode mars the efforts of the entire team and quite frankly, is a disappointing end to such a great series. (Well, not as bad as Game of Thrones.) Apparently, the show had to be scrapped due to poor ratings, so, the scriptwriters didn’t think it necessary to give a closure to the audience. This is the sole reason why I’m rating it a 4 out of 5. However, this turns out to be a good thing, since you can imagine your own ending to the show.

RECOMMENDED WHOLE-HEARTEDLY

If you love watching romantic comedy, you will love watching İnadina Aşk. Further, this can also prove to be a great introduction for you to Turkish dramas. Since it is available on YouTube with English subtitles, there’s no excuse why you shouldn’t watch it.

Advertisement