interesting structure of episode. started with a scorpion failing at its task... anjali actually used her bare hand to brush it away from her beloved husband's back. this character has a note of hysteria when it comes to her pati dev and her brother and their well being, no doubt reminding us of her fear of losing her loved ones.
a direct result of this, asr insisted that di go nowhere, sit right there at rm, which meant, mehendi must shift to shantivan.
and so it was that a beauteous maiden in beige and pink with appropriate touches of gota, large pink earrings and hair left loose, just the way someone likes it, came to the doorway, munching jalebi; a telltale, actually tell epic sign of worry and pareshani.
her bua ji had just declared that she was coming with loads of things, in a state of "laaden phaaden". looked like most of that she carried on her mind, the rest in a few light carry bags. so what ails the lovely sister of the bride, why does she mutter early in the day and hog on jalebis and look woebegone?
as if to answer this very question, appeared a vision. brushed back hair, fresh after bath early morning look, sparkling white shirt, sleek waist coat and trousers, our man in rm has suddenly decided he needs to shut the main door... and who should he find there, but the fair one in distress.
so many times before they've met at this very place, each time at a different stage of knowing, feeling, hating, wanting, desiring each other. a doorway is a lovely place, neither in, nor out, a sort of no man's land, anything goes here.
what ensued was delightful romance, a little stalking, playing, flirting, making crazy. the essential excitement between a man and a woman, the thing that makes us sigh and want to fall in love.
"devi maiyya, rakshaa karna... hume bahut dar lag raha hai," the fearless sanka devi had just prayed to her goddess, she was very scared. scared of what? "main tumhe kha toh nahin jaaoonga," i won't eat you up, he'd said the night before... and yet she feared. i wonder what scared her really.
"matlab... dar nahin lag raha hai, lekin agar humne..." i mean, i'm not scared, but if i... she stood there, eyes closed, talking to herself, jalebi in hand.little soft breeze on hair, eyes open and... and another light gust of breeze... worrying that... big bite of jalebi. obelix and magic potion come to mind. maybe when she was a baby she fell into a cauldron full of orange syrupy swirls... maybe jalebi gives her some magical strength... she can take on the whole world, especially that rakshas, laad governor, heartbreakingly good looking dancer whom she just so wants to look at and... and dance with maybe?
and he's right there about to shut the door... face to face they stand, a sweet silence full of tease and tremble.
then the vision uttered just one simple word and devastated girl and viewer alike.
how can anyone make "hi" sound so heavenly. lethal.
the effect was apparent on miss laaden phaden. her eyes looked at him startled...
"na... na... namaste," she stammered, little smile.
shudh bhasha time. madam is not going to hi and bye.
he looked at her, a little awkwardness, the silence so delicate, then...
"saman dene aayi ho..." his voice was smooth and gentle, he wanted to look at her, he was reveling in it practically, a few moments with her, felt precious maybe.
"nahin..." she's nervous, he's pleased... "matlab... ha... an..." no... i mean yes, says she.
oh the nervousness in her... how he messes with her mind. khushi needs to find her answer to this havoc.
khushi gave giving a wide berth a whole new definition as she almost reached the border of haryana to avoid being anywhere near him as she walked past.
being near was dangerous clearly.
"khushi," an even yet urgent call.
she stopped, eyes widened... dhak dhak dhakdhak... her trouble had started.
she turned around gingerly... he was looking at her, quizzical.
he took his time to walk up to her. heartbeats and music reflected a more and more frantic state of mind.
he stood before her a moment, enjoying her frazzled state.
she couldn't bring herself to look at him.
then he held up a closed fist. intrigue, control, power, possession so many things an image can suggest.
and then once more he acted with a sense of that right, of intimacy...
without a word and never asking her permission, he took the bags from her arm, set them on the floor, with a light smile, moved in, stroked her skin as he caught hold of her wrist... ufff, she was startled, what's he doing, holding hands with her in the hallway? eliza doolittle would have had such a job saying that... bit of eliza in khushi often... today, definitely.
hey hey.. the music entered on cue, things were happening in two hearts and the tremors riffled the air.
but it wasn't what she feared, or maybe hoped for, it was her earring. he was returning it... of course flirting the h out of her in the process.
this is asr. once he is on a project, and a deal has been sighted, he will go all out to win...
i want to win you, i want to defeat you.
gold gleamed the hair on his forearm as he let the earring fall into her palm. every shot carefully taken, fully assessed for impact and heart thud quotient.
so he found it or took it or what, just to have this little game with her?
two pairs of eyes held each other in a dazed embrace... the dance continued.
a little gentle movement of the head, a playful smile, "kya dekh rahi ho?" he asked, what are you looking at? cool voice, husk in it.
"main janta hoon tum kya soch rahi ho..." i know what you're thinking.
oh no, what does he know about her thoughts... does he know? "hum... s..s..soch..." me... think... she's in no state to answer properly. this alpha male courting with its power control possession thrill thing she has never ever ever been exposed to. it is indeed too much to handle
and he tells her, do not think you've won...
"hum jeet gaye..." she's incoherent. things still not registering, she's drowning... if a little hand holding gets her to this point, strange to think a whole awakening in a farmhouse leaves her so brassy and unmoved.
the talk of win lose seems to give her back her resolve... khushi loves a battle... just like her friend in white shirt.
and so they war over who won and who didn't... felt like foreplay again.
battle time begins. advance, retreat... an animal grace in our man.
"tum jeet gayi par sirf meri vajah se..." you won, but only because of me.
seriously? she has won the pratiyogita, natraj ji is sitting in her home, so who has won? she didn't need him to win... would have won even without him.
ah the confrontation, the fight that excites... friction divine.
"hum khud sambhal lete, samjhe aap?" i would have managed myself, do you understand?
attagirl, give his own lines back to him.
"aap ko kya lagta hai, aapke hone na hone se hume faraq padta hai? aap nahin bhi hote na toh bhi hum jeet jaate. aap hume itna pareshan karte hain ki kabhi kabhi hum devi maiyya se prarthna karte hain ki aap hamari saamne hi na aay..."
and then the classic faraq padta hai moment... you think it makes a difference to me your being or not being there? in fact you bother me so much, sometimes i pray to dm that you don't come in front of me.
there's a hysterical edge to her voice. sanaya takes it to the perfect pitch... something endearing in this girl who is reaching an unknown, never before visited place within her.
she has no idea that love comes with its own power play, especially when things start getting hot. and on dhak dhalks she runs off.
but she does look back at him once, somehow mesmerised by this pareshan making devil. and he's right there looking back, his sure smile says he knows exactly what's happening to her and he's enjoying it...
but he did look a little perturbed when she said she prayed he wouldn't appear before her. involuntarily did a part of him hurt at that? the invincible one has a tender heart, if only someone would see it.
if our hearts fluttered with khushi at this interlude at beginning of episode... at the other end sat love that creeps one out. shyam stood on the gallery and stared beguiled, besotted at khushi ji while planning to kill his wife for the sake of his "love."
second time i noticed that the director chose to portray shyam's perusal of his object of lust through a dreamy camera. close ups that caress, she smiles in slomo, she is ethereal... what a sick fantasy an essentially unethical and amoral creature builds. how easy it is for him to consider murder the moment even the slightest desire of his is thwarted or threatened. asr, though, never sees her through this saccharine haze, he sees her with a direct gaze, bold, straight forward, and he sees her for who she is. as she is. and he likes what he sees. i always enjoyed this detailing by creators.
a scene from the mehendi. akash has just been caught trying to sneak in. a gentle but firm "akash... no way," from anjali. adroitly handled reaction shots from all present, each character true to her/his feelings at the moment. no over acting, camera is light... and an atmosphere of wedding is created.
and once more the bua ji nk connection... payal asks bua ji to put some mehendi for her nand kissore, put an "n" on her palm for him. this cheeky little "romance" between nk and bua is intriguing writing i feel. something funny in it, something cognizant of reality perhaps, our inexplicable secret desires maybe, and something sort of sad here too. it isn't easy to be a lonely middle aged woman with no husband and no children. and be considered too fat and past your prime to be desired.
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