Dreaming of visiting South Korea since her school days, Shenbagam, aka Shenba (played by Priyanka Arulmohan), finally gets to fulfill her lifelong dream, but at a cost too dear for her to accept. Betrayed by someone she trusted wholeheartedly and left stranded in an unknown city with no one to turn to, she comes across a kind stranger named Heo Jun Jae (played by Baek Si Hun), who is willing to help her, seemingly out of the blue.
Supported by the warmth and kindness of strangers and centuries-old cultural ties to her home, Shenba sets out to find her purpose and build her life amidst the dazzling but cold lights of Seoul city.
Movie: Made in Korea
Where to Watch: Netflix
Cast: Priyanka Arulmohan, Park Hye-jin, Baek Si Hun, Rishikanth Rajendran
Screenwriter: Ra Karthik
Director: Ra Karthik
The Plot
The plot of the movie follows the life of the protagonist Shenba, a small-town girl from the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Shenba is shown as a young girl with a strong liking for Korean culture and media. Consuming K-content and practicing the language in a village where it was hard to even get a mobile signal, she is shown to have a lifelong dream of wanting to visit South Korea. Her ambition is not hidden from her family; however, her family’s circumstances do not allow her to pursue her dream.
Apart from her love for Korea, young Shenba is also shown to have a crush on her classmate Mani (played by Rishikanth Rajendran) since her high school years, who later goes on to become her romantic partner. Unlike Shenba, with her specific life goals, Mani is shown to have not ‘accomplished much’ in terms of building a career. Despite the young couple’s devotion to each other, Mani’s lack of accomplishments garners the disapproval and wrath of Shenba’s father regarding their relationship.
In a spur-of-the-moment, impulsive act of defiance, Shenba, trusting Mani, leaves with him to pursue better job opportunities in Korea. However, problems arise when, on the flight departing to South Korea, Shenba, fretting over Mani’s lack of contact, realizes his betrayal and breaks down.
Stranded alone in an unfamiliar country, unable to speak or understand the language and having no source of income, Shenba drowns her pain in soju. However, through a twist of fate, she meets a kind-hearted stranger named Heo Jun Jae, who lends her a helping hand by finding her a job as a househelp/caretaker for an elderly woman.
During her time as a caretaker, Shenba discovers that the elderly woman, Yeon Ok (played by Park Hye Jin), who was supposedly bedridden, was faking her illness. In cahoots with each other, Shenba and Yeon Ok, along with Heo Jun Jae, establish a small diner to help Shenba earn her living and repay her father.