recently, on the forum, started chatting about ipk with someone. la came up. i am sure i've written about her somewhere, can't find it. but here are some thoughts. la was important... even asr knew it.
i have always liked la and have marvelled at the way ipk writers presented her, even if yes, there was some unfairness flung at her just to keep either story going or up the image of main lead.
la was not stupid. so making her seem so was irresponsible writing. i can understand adding nuance to a character, but this was ham handed messing with a character. perhaps having created a character that indian soap had really not seen before... or perhaps worried by the chemistry between la and asr, for there was plenty of that... or perhaps on some days they just needed some filler scenes, they were pretty unkind to her.
but really, la managed to handle all that and still had us feeling terrible for her at that moment when he said, "bahut bura lagta mujhe... par main kuch kabhi jaankar nahin karta, khushi, main bas aisa hi hoon, shayad main..."
(i feel really bad... but i never do anything knowing what i'm doing, khushi, i'm just, i am like this, maybe i...)
la heard khushi's name and seemed to freeze. he still had no idea what he's just said... he carriesd on, la can't stop him.
but then, la had to make him stop. for her sake. for his sake. she put her hand on his shoulder.
broke my heart. for la, for asr, for khushi, for this thing we call love.
i think sana got la. and she enjoyed being la, she interpreted her with emotion and integrity, and so no matter how much you tried to make her less, she remained relevant, touching your heart.
i used to seethe at the idea of la being "trained" to be more "bahu" like. the whole moving of la to shantivan and so kkg too, was done to get the romance out of the office to the home... i think i heard somewhere that for the general entertainment channels with their sort of audience, things have to happen in a "family" set up, so no cool ar office, and yes, the shadi must take place within six months, otherwise palpitating aunties of the world wouldn't be able to take it. this is the condescending and shallow target audience reading of most of these channels... so we had the forced wedding.
while they handled the coming of la to shantivan fabulously i just couldn't get over that whole asr saying, i'm leaving... haan, ussi ke paas jaaonga (words to that effect), and finally the solution worked out by the wily shyam and the live in girl friend scenario that "training" of la though made my hackles rise, as it did asr's.
again, it was la's character and sana's portrayal that made it work... she would eat egg which gave her allergy, because she's willing to do anything for him. from that perspective, knowing how much his family means to him (though he says only di matters and the rest don't), also wanting so terribly to be part of his life, i guess one could argue she'd agree to be "trained". thankfully, she rants angrily before giving in.
i was grateful la did not lose all of herself... her deciding she'd give kkg her kind of clothes had me grinning. yeah, la was willing to learn stuff to get what she wanted, but no, she wasn't walking out on herself. she also said very clearly what it was she had learnt and why it was precious.
la was refreshing. she never played "good girl". if she wanted something she went after it. she admitted to her own feelings. she was what she was, and there was a generous, not petty side to her... that paying for all the pizzas casually in an early office episode when sim and pam were out to rag kkg, and she didn't even like kkg.
la also loved asr more than he knew or perhaps even she. which may be one reason why she seemed to miss all the signs of attraction that asr was merilly exhibiting. he had called her khushi back in 80 (was it?), he had over reacted to kkg even earlier in 25 calling la for her phone number at night... la had pointed it out.
"tumhe nahin lag raha tum uss chhotey se employee ko kuch zyada dhyan de rahe ho?"
(don't you think you're paying too much attention to that junior employee?)
"enough, lavanya... number!"
but they say, the wife is always the last to find out about a husband's affairs... could it be that when we love someone too much and want them badly in our lives (or are so used to having them in our lives as happens with wives/spouses), we just don't see the obvious because we subconsciously do not wish to?
anyway, she finally did acknowledge what was going on. she went beyond. she understood exactly what this was about... it was about that sabse bada thing. it was about pyaar. this was pyaar.
she had been there... she knew what it was. even if her clever handsome astute and beautiful boyfriend didn't.
writers ultimately couldn't deny la her her place in this love story. or her compassion and the depth of her character.
how many women would walk away with such grace at the moment that la did? and without any rancour, wishing her friend and the man she loved the very best.
oh that scene with khushi... take care of asr.
that was la.
she could call you chamkili. she could be nasty as hell. she could disrespect an elder when drunk and call her gabbar. she could order you around. she could get allergy for you. she could long and agree to change for you. she could apologise. she could go for a party on her own. she could give what mattered most to her to you because she knew that's the way it had to be.
she always had a fear that asr would not be hers, didn't she? for perhaps she knew she never reached beyond a certain layer within him, and she knew there were many many layers beneath that and it was a matter of time before someone got there.
it was not that la didn't matter to asr. just that someone came along and slipped in even deeper. he had not planned for it. and he did all he could not to let it happen. he knew finally, he had not been fair to la... perhaps ever.
when they let la go... the writers seemed to be in a hurry. in a hindi serial evoking such positive and tender emotions for the "other girl" is rarely done, perhaps never... maybe they were scared, it might affect the main love story... i don't know. but la was lovely.
i would have liked to know what happened to her later. i really would.
you're right, asr would have never had such strong feelings for a bimbo. and their relationship had a touching quality to it. so very sweet (and predictably tycoonish) that sending of a bag to say sorry to la... months later, another bag would come along trying to win over another girl he'd really hurt. asr had that obvious side to him, which made the other, less readable side oh so so very absorbing (i am being very circumspect with my words here hahha).
wrote this in my episode 12 take: i grew to really like this character. mind of her own, many shallownesses, yet a loving side, and extreme wisdom when she realises that the one she loves, loves another. her parting scenes are some of the best i've seen anywhere. also like the slowly growing friendship between her and her opposite, khushi. both girls were special. not stereotypical. each was human, filled with the aspirations of girls their age, time, and place. real people. as long as women are bound and gagged by so called tradition - because, sorry, indian tradition is very very far from what saas bahu serials will have us believe - we have no chance of respecting ourselves or being respected by society. strong words perhaps, but had to be said.
......................
office episodes
episode rambles
fanfiction
i have written about lavanya on many of my takes. in episode 58/59 two girls and an attitude, i am quite irritated with her but right from her first appearance i'd taken to her as is evident in episode 12 look it's la. in episode 78 veil of truth, you'll find my thoughts on this not easy to dismiss girl just below this visual.
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