Sunday 21 February 2016

farmhouse we call it















an unforgettable night and what it told us about love.






......................
fanfiction






episode 311 hello hi bye bye





"bhat say, khoon bhari tang?"
dear mami of the intolerable bad taste and terrifying colour combinations, she of makeupiya that no one can touchupiya... also gave us "bilackbuster surprije" this episode.




episode 312 incomplete baatein






why didn't she tell nani about di... and why is she talking aloud in this heavy sort of way? khushi is not feeling like herself somehow... a saviour angle is clearly in. the achhi bahu syndrome has come and attacked the writing and the character. can anyone save her? even arnav ji need not be told, instead lots of managing of laad governor.

he of course yelled. which was good.
 
the impatient man in kurta most itchy at least feels like someone i know. earlier, hp got it again... "maine kaha tha na tumse bulane ke liye"... didn't i tell you to call her. obviously time killing is going on... poor writers how they suffer.

when he sees her at last, he snaps, "khushi... what the hell! kahan thi tum??" where were you?

she tried to mollify him with some so called humour.

"apni yeh stoopid jokes bandh karo," stop cracking these stoopid jokes of yours. ah, the first stoopid of the episode. let's celebrate. thing is, our delhi boy says stoopid exactly the way i do, and for me, that was the word of this episode.

"aur kamre mein chalo. now!" and come to the room. now! okay, i would understand if khushi's knees buckled at that. 



the sequence in the dark is what i liked the most this episode. i always enjoy their scenes in the dark. they seem to touch spaces not reachable in bright light. in 64 when the power went as he walked in and he stormed to the kitchen, a glittering in the quality of those scenes, later at diwali, later still, the nights of gh, then hut, 
telepathy...
 

i wondered though why the opening on this dark scene. perhaps it was because writers knew what was to come was not quite asr khushi, so they wanted a few moments that were them.

"careful!" he yelled, of course she would have dashed against something.

then he teased in that possessive sort of way, even when the lights are on, is her dimag ki batti? then he complained about nk's stoopid idea...




his sis apparently had already been won over by the jewellery he got her, this "stoopid idea" say softly oh softly yet as i die... this "stoopid surprise" all that was unnecessary.

they fight like kids. nice... are they both so relieved to be back here in this room together that a lightness must bounce about, out of control. 

yet, the scene doesn't get all the way to the beauty it might have reached, because where they had left off at 310... needed some talk, some resolution... and it really couldn't all be done with just the giving of a pearl string, even if it said many things.




"koi kissiko issme dekhkar khush kyun hoga?" why should anyone be happy seeing someone in this, he said of the kurta. one part of you has got to agree with him. 

he tricks her into admitting it was her idea... she stares at him, to use a word from my kids world, powned. by shatir man in stoopid kurta.

rabba vey gently floats in and a moment starts getting made. i am close to tears, all this silliness, one must love it.

"look a' me!" says the man. what? how can anyone sound that sexy that tender that... you know.

then the cutest line, nice dialogue and totally concentration destroying, "jitni baar turn karta hoon lagta hai ki loose hokar yeh pajama gir jaayga."

every time i turn, i think the pyjama will fall off.

"phir bhi pehen kar rakkha hai.. kabhi socha hai kyun?" i'm wearing it still... ever thought, why?

a gentle kiss on the forehead.

"iss liye!" whisper that "this is why" yes. a lovely asr way to express love... not for di at all this kurta, it's really to make khushi happy, make her smile and perhaps to make her go slightly crazy too? 


on the other hand, the gift scene and that pat pearl string in the middle of it, somehow did not feel very asr. and khushi's reaction felt overdone. i think maybe they were rushing toward dadi and wanted to "close loops." i am not very good at this artificial closing of stories... if it comes naturally it's a blessing. otherwise, it jars. 



here the way it was done, felt too thickly sweet.

but the pearls are always evocative. i wish they had connected it to that scene of pearls scattering in episode 2, not just her dream. a string of pearls... a dream... a nightmare. this is their story, beyond the payal, the key... beyond everything.. he sought forgiveness perhaps... and she would give it to him anyway... 

why did i sigh like that as he strolled up to her. i knew many shots had been taken separately, including the solos just gone by, i knew there were doubles, and yet i sighed... i listened to the strains of rabba vey and nothing felt more right. the acting always managed to rise above flaws... a subtle and deep interpretation from barun i thought. 

a boy and a girl that were never going to meet but they did. he had torn her pearl dori once, terrified her, done wrong... and he had hurt her... 

they said nothing and their story was told again... though now in a different place in their journey; when he reaches to wipe her tears, a remorse on his face, a lot is being said, no matter if doubles are there, wrong hands... but that hardening jaw that eyes intense, the girl with a vulnerable expectant air...

and he stepped forward taking her into his arms... this time as if in gratitude. she had returned to him, even if he had hurt her perhaps forever... 

he drew her close... that earnest look on his face i will remember long. she was his precious, his rarest freshest most lustrous treasure.. she was his love... he the ocean, turbulent, vast, where she would always be safe.

in the background, krishna in a tanjore painting (in asr's room? not likely. maybe director wanted krishna in this moment so plonked it in merrily). before that he was there in the name of a mithai shop... kishen lal mithaiwala. nice touch... hai re nand kissore.  

a crucial shot without doubles, she holds the pearls.

but despite all of that, something essential went missing. perhaps it was the urgency to change track, perhaps it was the idea itself.



in the morning... hey hey... a man sits looking at the woman he loves sleeping in their bed.

i remember this scene raised a storm in the forum. had they? hadn't they? had "it" been done? i think the c word, as in consummation, made its appearance then and never quite left us.

i have to say, i never thought the scene in any way hinted at them having had sex. and even if they had, never really mattered that much... till in 318 they went haywire on the issue.

i just saw a man's desire, and perhaps a woman's awakening to it. at last free of all sorts of things that held them back, they could just be a man and a woman together and revel in it. he was clearly enjoying himself hugely. along with that maybe a note of triumph too. she was back home, exactly as he had planned.

this time it wasn't hp, it was nani. he had to leave.. with that, "hamari baat abhi khatam nahin hui hai..." we're not yet done.

she thought her saansey stopped.

a lot of thought had gone into this episode maybe. perhaps too much thought. too many things to do. and really important things never got done. khatam nahin hui...









episode 311 bilackbuster surprije






the kurta was itchy, that was the best thing about it. it felt real. it allowed asr to be like himself... grumbling a bit, impatient, just doing something for someone he loves. 

"
bhaiya, kapde kyun nahin badal lete..."

the servant suggested helpfully, watching his employer pulling at his kurta sleeve, it was clearly not comfortable. perhaps hp was worried, this will have an adverse effect on the volatile temper of his employer. as it is, things were never easy. or maybe he was plain concerned and knew the man's bark is much worse than his bite. 

"
jitna kaha hai utna karo!"

that little pause and irritation, then the snapped out command. this was perhaps my most favourite moment in the episode.




ah the difference, as the song said, a day makes. on 1 august, we have one of my most favourite episodes with spectacular writing, direction, music, and of course, acting.

it was clear even there, that story was being suddenly changed. this episode is taking us in the direction of what (or should i say, who) is to come. but why does it feel like a magician did a quick sleight of hand and made away with all the inspiration and creative genius that was so apparent only a day ago.

the bilackbuster surprije was this completely lacklustre, almost pedestrian feel of this episode.

even barun in kurta couldn't change things.

there was raksha bandhan. you had to remember the beauty of the past one. and lament that nothing here came even remotely close. despite reminder by nk of papad ka tukda. he said dukhda... sadnness, somehow felt apt. and sorry rakesh bandhan was not funny.

akash came back from his mysterious bombay trip... no he would not meet the unmarried daughter of bua ji (or someone) that khushi had hinted at to the doctor. instead, we'll all meet dadi... the newly conjured up character of ipkknd. a desperate trp seeking turn.

i again noticed, how pretty deepali looked and how carelessly payal was thrust aside into a non-part. payal and khushi make a great combination and she and akash were a not bad jodi, their restaurant scene and others during early days were always good to watch. some day, would like to find out who decided they would dump this set of actors.

mami ji looked deadly... but i did miss mama ji. somehow at rakhee, it all seemed incomplete minus him. as it is, no sign of op anymore. sigh.

khushi looked suddenly completely happy, as if all the angst of the contract marriage were over. just the night before, she'd called their marriage a "sauda" and now all she wants to do is see di happy... get together with nk and manipulate arnav ji. funny... was that really khushi?
even her saree and make up were not her today. there's that rather sweet scene with her favourite things and pearls coming up next episode, wish she were wearing something nice... this hard heavy look... wonder whose idea. and why.

asr wore a kurta for his sister from his unused collection, aww he sounded sweet saying that. maybe he is so relieved to have got khushi back home that he is in one of those rare good moods. and yeah, he knows di is feeling particularly wretched these days, so maybe he would do that for her. i wished it were a beautiful, loose and elegant white khadi kurta with guru collar. 

and. no. no. no. embroidery.

i suppose di would buy such a thing for him though. can't say he looked bad either. but the thought of him in a khadi white kurta causes palpitations. also, this watch, i fell for the itchiness element. nice detail.




"humey toh yakeen hi nahi ho raha... yeh tum hi ho?" i can't believe it... is it really you, asked di.

"pata nahin... not sure..." said her brother in this fabulous way of his. i wondered if barun wrote that dialogue. 

first time round i had no idea where everything was headed and how asr would be pushed around by his writers and director, the channel... maybe the actor realised only too well and his wariness prompted him to say it the way he did. thankfully, no matter how much sugary sweet was added to the khadoos, his actor held on and kept him going till 398. so no, asr... it is you indeed... we're pretty sure. hume pata hai.

every time i watch i feel the sadness. the sudden yank in this 311 that says, something is not right.. something is off... what could it be. soon enough, we found out.

anjali is acting weirder than ever, but i suppose, she is feeling more and more vulnerable each day, as the pregnancy progresses and her need for the man she refuses to be rational about gets more pronounced.

the other dialogue that had me grinning came of course from the one and only lady after my dil... our dear mama.



"bhat say, khoon bhari tang?"

hayee, the lady ij too cools.

and got to say, man in teeka never fails to bring on acidity.





irritated asr yelling at aman... sigh, i feel a bit better already.







episode 309 of huq and habits




somewhere along the way, you've become a habit. an adat of mine. and i have to hold on, i can't let you go. 

did arnav singh raizada ever think this would happen to him one day?

did khushi kumari gupta ever imagine she'd find little smiles peeping out of her at the yelling and barking and tender sweet scoldings of a rakshas. "wapas so jaao. so jaao." go back to sleep. go.


could he really not have extricated himself from the sleeping girl on the bed who'd tucked his hand under her cheek and gone home? yet as he looked at her, the slightest smile. a sense of melt. maybe his heart did a weird thing and took away all will to resist and he slipped gently onto the bed next to her. his eyes said this is what he longed to do. perhaps that's why subconsciously he had to find a way back to her tonight. for some unknown reason he'd gone home, but now he was here... and there was she.

his hand stole over hers, seeking... seeking... something only she could give him. even when she slept. even when she yelled and screamed and called him laad governor, even when she was in another man's arms.

her fingers curled over his. he closed his eyes, peace seeping in.


in the end, her leg went and settled on him. she took her huq even if she had no idea she was doing that. she slept comfortably next to him because he was her husband even if she had planned the great walk out and in just a few days all would be over.


of course, in the morning he had to ask her about her strange way of sleeping.. taekwondo queen style.

she said, it was her habit. and why should he object? she hadn't said anything about him holding her hand and sleeping.

you've become part of each other... as lovers do... as people who believe they are in a relationship that's forever, do. even if there is a contract ending, even if you legally break the tie...


a brusque masterful man who tries not to show his love. a crazy cooky girl who is miserable without him. a strange painful poignant funny tender thrilling place in the story of their lives... a kahani that certainly couldn't be told in do lavz, two words.. mainly because you didn't want to say it in just that... you just wanted the story to go on, through every twist and turn and bend and orange printed sheet covered bed... never end.

even if she is determined to bring it all to a full stop... in just eleven days.

had we really seen a track on the divorce of khushi kumari gupta and arnav singh raizada, would their romance have ceased, their pyaar, their huq and adat?

in fact, might be nice to see a tumultuous phase in their lives again... just to know how this pyaar that is impossible to label would walk through that stage.

serials have a way of flipping to bizarre extremes, a hunger for trp making them lose their sanity and letting story go anywhere, as long as it is not subtle, fine, delicate... for the game is to appeal to a wide audience, not targeted and niche at all.. so all out chaos is the way of most serials.

here, the tycoon intent on bringing his wife back home, played an amezing game. yeah, even his suddenly revealed construction/real estate company must have the zing of z in it.

so he bought her aunt's house, just to get her back home. whatever. what absolutely zinged it though was the fantastic acting again. and that sexy in tandem thing they have. whether dancing to teri meri or destroying his office in anger. 

really, would asr tell a receptionist that he wants his tenant to come home with him if she wants a cut on the rent? at how many levels is this whole thing just not him? yeah he can drag her to a temple and marry her but will he treat her like an object and pass along an insulting proposition via someone? then go running and slap another someone for calling her his floozy?

what the. 


but he is wearing purple and looking as only he does in that tycoonish mode. and she is wearing a multi coloured tent and flinging things around in frustration, looking at him with large helpless angry won't love you eyes... and she is telling him after living with him for so long, she has started writing her own kismet just like him, he's teasing her, baiting, and saying, just come home with me and all will be well. it does sound like a proposition. there's definitely a possessive mad c'mere in it... and so is a can't live without you, taekwondo queen too.


when he swivels around and says "shadi shuda,"... married, why do i sort of stop breathing? what is it about these two actors that suggests scenarios to my gut and skin, even before words to describe them have been found.

can i help you with demolishing the machine, he asks her. he is having fun. mainly because she is in front of him. that is all that matters, all that he wants.

i love arnav singh raizada in this go get state of mind. and kkgsr... how happy you looked when you got your 24k. yeah, you want to earn... be independent, and you can do it... not just in these serial rigged scenarios, in asli duniya. because sanaya irani has made sure you are never ever limited to the confines of a substandard, popular genre, even if her writers have made khushi pretty unreal in many ways.


two actors who have the talent to find their characters, and make them come alive. two actors who can turn to pure magic 20 to 21 minutes every weekday. two actors who can take anything the script doles out and make it work...

maybe i am holding your hand and sleeping, you adat of mine.


dialogues had me giggling.



aap? aap yahan kaise aaye?
you? how did you get here?

khirki se.
through the window. (alice and her rabbit hole come to mind.)

itni mehnat humse mehnat karwane ke liye?
working so hard, just to make me work?

khushi, mujhe neend chahiye!
khushi, i want sleep!

achha? lori sunaye...

yeah? shall i sing a lullaby?

ssso jao!!

go to sleep!

nahin stop so jaao i said so jao..
no stopt i said go to sleep.

sach?

really?

instant sleep a la kkgsr.

oye.

a nice "what the f..."

pata nahin kaise soti hai taekwondo pose mein. ghar mein toh aise nahin soti..
don't know the way she sleeps here in that taekwondo pose... doesn't sleep like that at home.

'scuse me? main kab tumhara haath... i guess yeh meri adat hai.

'scuse me? where have i your hand... i guess this is my habit. slightest stress on meri and a less than half si smile. how relaxed his face when he is sleeping by her.

achha aise lag raha hai jaise hum sadiyon se aapke gulam hain.

really? feels like i've been your slave for ages.

shut up, khushi.

chaubees hazaar rupay... chaubees gante ke liye... she earns... that smile.. that graze in his voice...

and right at the end, a dialogue from the godfather. he so reminds me of michael, at times vito.

mujhe laga maine tumhe aisa offer diya hai jo tum refuse nahin kar sakti.
i thought i'd made such an offer to you, you won't be able to refuse.

and the slightly thuggish mafia style of bringing home biwi operation continued.






episode 308 had a great fall



"hamare aga theek hain ki nahin..."
is my lord all right or not...

"aap ko kuch chahiye?" 

do you want anything?

"sarkar, aapko kuch chahiye?"

master, you want something?

"duty, sir, duty!"


"hum toh aapki kaneez hain, aapki bandi hain..."

i am your servant, your slave...

okay, i fell for sanaya today. 


yes, barun zonked me with his shirt off "
problem shirt mein nahin hai.. meri back mein hai" manoeuvre... i was left gasping, wondering how will kkgsr tackle this unfair charge on her senses... will the most mighty sanka in all north india fall?
(problem's not with the shirt, it's with my back)

she, a la obelix and the magic potion, has imbibed almost all the sanka in devi maiyya's sanka well, but he seems to have got his measure of it too from somewhere, maybe he has done a side deal with dm to win this huq giving battle. 

then he did that really mean gift wrapping thing... flirting, commanding, having fun at her expense, and ramnchi-ing too... surely titaliya would tumble?

but no... he had awakened her courage, her crazy dimaag. she may not have money or power, but, she averred:

"khushi kumari gupta singh raizada ke paas dimaag hai!"
kkgsr has brains.

ah, neat transfer of assets between spouses i thought. the dil girl is on a dimaag trip and the dimaag governor is on a winning back the girl of his dil mission.

such is love... especially this asr khushi huq faraq hamesha ajeeb infested love.

and sanaya's khushi was a riot. totally cute, sexy, mutterously angry, mayhem she planned. 

simple plan... don't let the man sleep. call, call again, and again, speak sweetly, in sanka mode. if need be wake up his staff.. well, he has not been fair exactly, so what the. though i did feel bad for that manager, wide awake and at his boss's place at 3am... but i am eternally grateful khushi was not made to say some cutesie stuff about it... sort of mitigating that extreme-ish action.

 

when she decided to keep him up through the night, the poor man had no idea what was coming his way. see, if you're sort of normal, you'll always lose before sanka... master deal maker had not yet realised what a girl angry and a phone can do to peace of mind. and so, when she called the first time,  he said,

"miss kar rahi ho mujhe?"
missing me?

in this hot sexy sort of way. i of course choked. but kkgsr is made of sterner stuff. yes, she has almost lost her mind staring at his bare chest today, yes, she has almost given in and shown her awareness when he did that eye reading thing, yes, she was all tremulous wanting to know what her eyes had said, yes, being with him in her bedroom practically the whole day has been hard...

but...

she is made of sterner stuff.

she does not give in... instead she goes earnestly into battle.

sanaya irani is such a fabulous actress, especially when it comes to comedy. she can give depth to slapstick... really. i always think she and barun would be so good in an out and out mad fun serial. also not too many indian actresses have this sense of comedy.

i loved those calls... that look of mean happy satisfaction on her face... and yes, how beautifully she uses her voice.. "aapko kuch chahiye?" oh the smile in it, an angry irritating/irritated smile.

of course, asr was a delight to watch.. without his shirt, in his tee... getting after her, being badgered by her...

the "mmm" with which he answered the phone while he lay there... okay, it's a miracle we managed to hold on top our sanity. or maybe, we didn't.


humpty dumpty sat on a wall
humpty dumpty had a great fall
all the king's horses and all the king's men
couldn't put humpty together again


first she fell into his arms. then he fell into a faraq, and it was a hard fall. she tried not to fall into acidity, but he went and fell into a trap. she fell in nafrat and so did he, he fell on gobar and it was her turn to fall off the cliff. he fell to pieces at that... just when falling was becoming the most important thing for two people, he went and flew... off the handle. now he is falling at her feet while pretending he is doing just the opposite. and in the middle of all that, this beautiful fall.

it's all about falling in love... "achha hua hum gire," said he. good we fell. 

yes, asr... so did we.


such a cute opening, rattled laad governor and wife lie intertwined on floor, bua ji of magic fingers walks in loud and bustling... the won't fall for you biwi and her oh please fall for me aga get up looking embarrassed. really, you kids have turned bua ji's home into a merry mating dance arena, haven't you?

and why is asr looking so cute. that now bua ji wants to massage his back. what? garima ji and indi ji start. khussie bitiya is all set to hand over the reins to hai re nand kissore, when garima ji, who had earlier looked rather cute in a mother kind of way and said, she knew why damad ji kept coming back, saves the day...
"khusie bitiya hai na... oo kar legi maalis.
khushi is there, she'll get the massage done.   

there was something endearing about garima's attitude toward her son in law. as a middle class indian woman of course she is taught to believe that a son in law is a precious thing and must be put up with even if he's obnoxious. but here, she senses, he is a decent good man, she also knows he feels the loss of his mother deeply and a maternal emotion takes root somewhere in this giving woman, she who has brought up two girls as if they were her own though she didn't give birth to them.

and she can see that he is quite besotted with her daughter. it sort of tickles her i think, to see her girl happily married. he after all is the husband who will bring the moon and stars for her sanka girl should she ask for them. piyumori mehta was very good i thought eat xpressing shaded full bodied emotion... i wish later on during the dadi days they hadn't reduced her role to a sham.. and even later... there was scope to look at that relationship between her damad and herself.

for now, she rescues him. and off the two go into khushi's bedroom.




tum smile kyun nahin kar rahi ho? why aren't you smiling? maybe because she is swooning, hello hi bye bye.


bedroom.

almost the entire episode was in bedrooms with the bed used not only for shameless flirtling by a shirtless man, but also for sundry things like wrapping gifts. there was this intimacy in the choice of space... they are pati patni, their domain is that room... where they can be exactly who they are with each other.

"tumne mere bare mein kuchh bura kaha kya?"
did you say something bad about me, he asked her in that lazy, you're mine voice. a set of ephemeral and gorgeous expressions flitted across her face. 


okay, that flip by mr raizada. how is anyone supposed to think dammit.

and so cute the look on his face when he's buttoning up and baiting the biwi.

the game of gift wrapping... did it mean anything? symbolic of something? no clue. i also didn't understand why he went back home after telling di he'd be at bua ji's. was story changed last minute? 


i only noticed the play and the grain in his voice when he said, 


"tape ki zaroorat idhar nahin... idhar hai."
the tape isn't needed here... but here.


the completely careless use of the double was the only thing i disliked in 308. otherwise, loopy, fun, intimate, clever, smart, frothy, and lovely was it all.

i am also glad they fell.



thought
what is with this bizarre kheer eating all the time, and why so many shots with the double there? story i do think was pushed around last minute.






what the!

what the nahin, sarson ka tel.
not what the, mustard oil.
loved this what the, and that answer.





episode 307 don't add love





i have no idea how many times i have seen this episode or parts of it, (actually i can never stop, i go and watch the whole thing always...) but it never feels predictable, expected. there's a freshness about it, and every time i seem to find something new... something that takes the mind in another direction and makes the viewing interesting all over again.

this time i thought, oh, so like holi, khushi again breaks her gullak. she's always determined to be self reliant about money, but it never happens that way... come to think of it, money can't buy love but in her case, it was a major part of the programme to take khushi in the direction of her true love. 

i also noticed that happy ji spoke in rocky's voice in the voice over, or it sounded like that.

i have always loved these episodes. that more entrenched, huq filled pati patni thing in them. i have also really enjoyed the game, the baiting, the sexy banter and the palpable sensuality.

but this time i kept on feeling the tender and torrid love of a man for a woman. 

yes, he was seemingly in control, out to win, pushing her to a point of acceptance. he teased and flummoxed her. but it was really so much about that need he had for her, the one that made him want to play, the one that made him want to stay at her home with her tonight. he'd been without her for a night, he just didn't like that any more. sleeping next to her had started becoming his habit even maybe. he couldn't leave her by herself, not when she was down. and he just wanted to be with her... his biwi, his mate. how simple that longing, how beautiful.

of course, he initiated it all with an asr offensive. 



 

"3... 2.. 1..." said a dashing tycoon, arrayed on his office chair with a snazzy red file (he can make a cheap plastic file look sort of exciting, how how how)... and she floated back up to his castle, looking tremulous. she was in a fix as he had known she would be.

"hi..." said he, not even looking up.

"so khushi kumari gupta singh raizada.. tum wapas yahan.. what happened?" so, kkgsr, you came back, what happened?... he enquired feigning innocence, she knew he knew of course. 

she'd sworn she wouldn't ask him for help and so she stammered. khushi never asked herself why she went straight to arnav ji after being denied a loan by shukla ji and happy ji. (a stray thought: both the house owner and and the caterer were called shukla ji. why, i wonder, no shortage of names out there, this seems deliberate... two essentials of life, food and shelter, are called shukla... a word that means fair/white. shukla paksha is the phase of the waxing moon, a sense of positivity in it, of growth.) 

a sense of a homing pigeon i got. and a wife who was exercising her huq without even realising it. isn't that how it should be?




"hu... hu..." she stammered.

"hu... happy singh.. kaise hain woh?" hu.. happy singh.. how is he, exclaimed her tormentor with a smile.

when khushi tried to say the rent was what had brought her here. he made fun of her. 

"kir... kir...? oh... kirana store!" 

he was out to goad her today. get her to accept that she had a huq over him, and she couldn't live without him.
"batane ki jaldi nahin hai... mere paas bahut time hai... relax!" no need to rush, take your time, relax... knowing full well she did not have time, just twenty four hours.

"aaw..." he pretended to suddenly realise... you don't have time.

they fought, they wrangled. she was hurting, she felt perhaps even more riled seeing he was quite amused... you must be finding it entertaining watching this happen... how can you not care knowing the plight of bua ji...




he cut in and said, but that is exactly what he was doing... caring.. taking responsibility, paying the rent.

then he said,

"buchyoudid'nle-me... so!"

i had to go a bit crazy at that dilli amriki accent, that cool, that chaotic word... buchyoudid'nle-me. uff.



and then came a question no one had expected him to ask... asr always says things the way he sees them, he's sharp and he notices things. he understood, her whole attitude indicated a certain kind of ghamand/arrogance and ego too. 

in a set of refreshing profile shots in close up, an intensity in them, he asked her,

"tum kahti ho ki mujhme bahut ego hai.. ghamand hai! kabhi apne baare mein socha hai? tumme ego nahin hai kya? agar nahin hai toh ask me for help..."

you say i am egositic, arrogant. have you thought about yourself? don't you have plenty ego? if you don't, ask me for help.

it was such an out of the blue thing to get into. and again very husband wife like this face off. only he could have said this to her perhaps, sensing her much more, reading her much better than others. lovers seep into each other maybe as time goes by, a knowledge in them about the other the rest of the world can't glean.




"zor se bolne mein sharam aa rahi hai toh mere kaan mein whisper karo...
tum mang sakti ho... wife ho tum meri... huq banta hai tumhara."
if you're feeling shy to say it out loud, whisper it in my ear... you can ask, you're my wife. this is your right.

how badly he wanted her to claim her right. claim him. never leave.

"kya kar sakti ho tum mere liye..." what can you do for me, he asked, his voice rife with insinuation. she glared at him, but had to step back as he came forward. lovely point to bring in that asr khushi signature forward retreat.




it was decided she would work for him for 24 hours to earn the required rs 24,000. kkgsr was not going to take handouts, she'd slog and make the money. though the presentation was comedy oriented, light... there was always an undertow of moving feelings and that uncontrollable attraction.

action shifted to bua ji's, asr having decided he didn't want any "natak" in his office. the most frothy and funny exchange between an irritating but doting husband and a girl most sad and angry and frustrated and in pyaar followed.

can i think of anyone else, any other pair of actors, who could have pulled off that biwi nahin ban sakti par tv toh ban sakti ho segment with such a light and irreverent air. and so sexily. many might have been able to express the humour. but that raging, riveting sensuality?

and just before that, a call to di. after making sure all is well with her, with a slight smile and a gentle air he asked, "
also, di, main yeh check karna chah raha tha is it okay agar aaj raat main yahin stay back karoon, i mean, i'll be back tomorrow morning."

i was also wanting to check if it's okay if i stay back here tonight, i mean, i'll be back tomorrow morning.

why am i falling for this man again. how sweet is he... just wants to hang around with his jhalli for a while...


fabulous the way barun and sanaya executed the sequence in her bedroom. he buzzes around ignoring her. she follows him around, but not meekly, making faces and cursing under her breath instead.

"oait..." uff the asr "wait!" command is given.

ek do rules are spoken about. smiling is mandatory. and khushi can't get angry, then the deal is off.

she asked archly what she should call him. maybe laad governor.

"actually, arnav is fine!" came the simple response. this man never wanted a seven steps behind wife, he is too much of a man for that.

when i'd seen this sequence the first time, i'd thought as with the "shoshan" scene, all that khushi was saying, making up... it had some meaning, part of back story. but that was not the case.

he badgered her, pushed her, perhaps his way of begging her to surrender, who knows.

when he told her to dance, she protested before accepting the inevitable.

"s..salman khan wala step dikhai.. ah ah"
see the s...salman khan steps... ah ah.

a funny nuance there... the moment she names another man that she likes, her ankle twists. was that arnav singh raizada's subconscious explosion at the mention of another man... the sparks sort of came careening out and caused destruction? one will never know.

"khushi!!" what one will, however, instantly know is how much and more than that this man loved and wanted this woman.

khushi is coming apart, it's been a tough couple of days, she doesn't want to leave him but she's decided she must, the very thought is painful, the burden wears her down. and then this new friction caused by her husband... and that heartless kidding around of his...




"khushi, i'm sorry i hurt you..." the voice has lost all play. asr is remorseful. he really can't see her hurt, can he.

rabba vey plays as a payal comes into view and fingers touch the part hurting, almost reverentially placing her foot on the bed.

an quiet simple conversation... one minute thrust and parry of a deal being won and then suddenly this beauty.

"tum ye hamesha pehenti ho..." you wear this always, don't you. i thought, there comes hamesha.

"hamehsa..." said khushi. now a wondering evocative look in her eyes.

"hamari amma ka hai..." it's my mother's payal, she said as if explaining to him... including him.

"yaad hai.. tumne ek baar bataya tha... they're beautiful."
i remember... you'd said it once... they're beautiful.

no game... suddenly just no game.

just an interlude in rabba vey. with memories of diwali and murmurs of love right here. she is again in red and he in his dark suit.

my heart sort of lightened as he lifted her up in his arms.

then that slip and they fell.

she'd been willing to go to any hadd to bring him back from a terrifying kidnap. he is determined to do anything and everything to bring her back from a decision that would part them forever. 

a thought

barun sobti looked totally handsome of course, but who looked really deadly today was asr. that feeling which guided him and illuminated his actions, it certainly added to his already formidable good looks today, making him even more irresistible. a man so beautifully in love.







and remember... no sugar.