when he scowls and shouts and says "what the" and is arrogant, you know it's asr.
but when he smiles, light in his eyes, speaks softly, and says "bas karni hai," how do you know it is asr?
the writers knew their man well and wrote scenes that would show how such a man would tell a girl he likes her. but that would never have been enough if barun didn't know asr as well as he did.
this episode was all about his acting for me. his oneness with this character that he created as much as the writers, perhaps even more.
the days of a changed man, most clearly seen in 170 and teri meri, leading to the dhak dhak in the reflection were short. after months of won't let my guard down asr-ness, suddenly the heat is turned up by this attraction he refuses to acknowledge... oh, way back "yeh mujhe kya ho raha hai, " after the sindoor incident; even before, that undeniable need to touch her cheek in a crumbling building... later so many little hints and desires, this man has been not looking at what's happening to him for a long time now.
but now he has made the connection between a dhak dhak in his heart with a name on his lips, "khushi!" and he is the last one to sit idle doing nothing about it.
yet in all the flirting and smiling and the knee melting sweetness would asr get lost? he might have... he would have... but barun never let that happen.
way back when he had flung his arms around his di's waist and buried his face against her, feeling terrible about his mother, and later we'd seen him with tears, then helping a child buy pigeons, we'd felt the sweetness of this man. the utter clean innocence within and an ability to love big.
the context was different, but the sweetness was the same... that is the one it seemed to me he brought here.
when he loves someone and shows it, teasing them gently is a part of the deal... di is like nirupa roy every day, she hassles jja ji so much he runs away... till now, his di was the only one he loved with all his heart and was unafraid to show it.
now, there's khushi. so he teases her even as he adores her with his eyes and helps her with little understanding gestures, then outrageously flirts with her. the tenderness is so delicate yet so deep...
it speaks of a sensitivity that many don't have. a sensitivity that possibly comes from knowing great loss.
somehow barun expressed an emotion that was most asr even though there was no scowl.
and of course, his smart, sexy body language... always unmistakably asr. the way he hands the handkerchief, then takes it back, then turns, then calls out... only asr would do it like that.
in terms of serial design and storytelling, this heart melting tenderness is placed just before the exact opposite of it... terrifying anger. as intense as this very feeling of love. both absolutely asr. not generic any man.
specifically, only, devastatingly asr.
"kaise bhi le jayenge, bua ji, par khushi ki di hui har cheez ko le jayenge hum apne saath." no matter what, vows payal at the top of episode, she will take with her everything khushi has packed for her. and so are we reminded yet again of the love between two sisters. both will do anything for the other. especially khushi... the giver.
khushi has given payal an embroidered handkerchief, "aansoo poch ne ke liye nahin..." not to wipe tears, clearly lots of aansoo are on the way.
bua ji says, "chalo... chalo," rushing the two girls, and then goes all maudlin watching the sisters... "hai re nand kissore, aaj yeh gudiya jahi rahi hai... aur kal..."
hai re nk, today this doll is leaving and tomorrow...
but khushi cuts in, "aur kal bhi yehi rahegi... itni asani se sanka devi aapka peechha nahin chhoregi, bua ji."
and tomorrow too she'll be here... sanka devi is not leaving you all so easily, bua ji.
when i saw these episodes the first time i had no idea he'll drag her off to a temple soon... but all the hints were being dropped neatly and any regular serial watcher would have cottoned on.
in rm, nk comes up to shyam with camera and says, "jija ji" with a smile. shyam turns nonplussed, he's just seen off anjali, as far as he's concerned that's the end of her.
"kya baat hai? kaafi khush lag rahain hain aap," asks nk.
shyam must spin tale, he is indeed happy that his wife will die. nk gets after shyam a bit, not knowing the heart of this ugly man. he is recording everything and joking, maybe shyam wants to tell akash something about being married... a typical scene in a home with a wedding on. so much footage i wonder, surely some of this was meant to be used for the reveal of shyam... who changed the track? when? why? seems there was a shyam out there in the real world doing funny things, taking the ball bearings out of the smooth running ipk.
(where are you, asli duniya ki shyam? agar maa ka ... piya hai toh bahar aa... okay, i have been taken over by a hindi movie hero's spirit.)
ladkiwale, the "girl's" side arrive at rm.
and in walks brown suit man.
promptly her hair does fly and rabba vey traipse in...
a pretty interlude, she pulls back her lock, i wonder if she remembers him doing that.
she finally meets his eyes and he seems to acknowledge that with the slightest ever smile, my eyes miss it, my fingers can't make a cap... but the skip in my heart registers it clearly.
shyam watches them watching each other, and is alerted again to the threat to his lust story.
"sada sukhi raho..." the elders bless payal, may you always be happy, and the words bring khushi back to earth.
she watches as her sister goes in with her new family... never to come back home again... she feels the tears coming but tries to overcome them and walk in, when a bright white hanky appears. white handkerchief, classic sign of surrender, isn't it? also terribly sexy when a no nonsense cool man with a trendy sense of dressing carries it.
she looks lost... and again a man takes charge, he takes her bag, hands her the hanky, waits quietly with a little smile playing on his lips.
"hum wo bas..." she's so embarrassed, all this crying in front of others, not her thing. khushi never likes to show her tears, only her smiles.
"tumhari bahan ki shadi hai... woh hamesha ke liye tumhe chhorkar jaa rahi hai, i understand..." it's your sister's wedding, she's going to leave you forever, i understand.
oh he is so gentle and yet asr as he says it. two birds, i think, with one dialogue... hints of asr as a deep lover who gets his girl, and that love for sister which will make sure this love will be sorely tested.
shyam prowls around, spying. dear boy, ever considered looking a little pleasant... all said and done the viewing audience is largely female and happy to consider even a villain if he is at least nice to look at. what is it with these expressions? "tut tut" is all i can say as i pull off my pince nez (no idea why, georgette heyer romances in my head ever since the entry of brown man and his little tete a tete with girl with long hair.)
he takes back the hanky... then out of the blue... a teasing asr... onto a flirting asr...
"par khushi... har baat pe rona zaroori hai kya?" but khushi, is it necessary to cry over everything?
he is getting after her a bit with that little leg pulling, but poor boy, her tears do him in and he needs to defend himself too i get the feeling...
she is startled by the tone change... he watches keenly, as though studying an absorbing thing... looking for a clue, a hint.
shyam is upset. so happy at the thought of a dead wife, but now this problem... oh i feel for this young man, also out to live life on his terms. just that his terms involve dishonesty, deceit, murder, lust, and such other lovely things.
flustered, she makes to leave, when he turns and calls out in husky undertone...
"khushi!"
she pauses, petrified.
she turns, her face full of confusion.
he looks at her, perturbed, thinks a bit then starts his charge with determination. a little shake of head, very asr, and "tumse baat karni hai," want to speak to you.
she looks at him dumbstruck, she can sense there's more to this baat... instinct.
tremulous is her reply, "kis... baare mein?" about what.
"bas karni hai," just want to talk... voice dropped low, intimate, an air of right, he walks forward. he wants to flirt with his girl in the hallway of his house and give her his faraq...
who is shyam to be lurking there, i wonder. he clings to their extremely private moments like an evil shadow throughout this scene.
he advances... shyam can't take it... he interrupts... "saale saab, zara yahan aaiye," bro-in-law, please come here.
asr looks at khushi as shyam approaches. shyam is insistent: duty calls, akash needs him.
a murmurous pause as he looks at her and she at him, he wants to tell her something, she so wants to hear it.
he leaves.
shyam senses opportunity and barges in, "khushi ji, hum aap se kuch..." khushi ji, i wanted to something...
she storms off.
this stalking will have her in a mess later and she will yell, "why don't you leave anjali ji then..." he is downright creepy and if this were to happen to me, i'd be equally if not more frazzled. do such things happen in real life? sadly... all the time. so many instances all around... guys just getting away with it, especially when they are sons-in-law, that prized thing.
"aap har baar aise bina humare baat sune nahin ja sakti, khushi ji," an ominous air to his assertion, you can't go away without hearing me every time. next time he will not let her go, it's clear. she's fobbed him off on the haldi day and now again... but next time... ugh.
two scenes follow showing the state of nervous anticipation in the two dhak dhak makers.
first, a sweet interlude with akash has asr looking tense but denying it of course. he is not in a rush, akash is in a rush to meet khushi, he avers. the completely in control asr is not so much in control after all. a cuteness about the whole thing. and yet brown man with a turn of head or drop of voice brings it back to sexy again and again. he is always asr.
on the other hand, khushi is going quietly, no noisily, ballistic about this "baat karni hai" as she helps payal dress up. she talks such utter nonsense, it riles payal who wonders who is the one getting married here and who should be nervous. khushi finally says nervously, "hume arnav ji se bhi milna hai..." i also have to meet arnav ji. "unhe humse kuch... baat karni hai?" he wants to talk to me about something? a little question in her voice. hands clutch and heartbeats. payal asks, "kaisi baat?" what sort of talk? khushi doesn't know.
"bas karni hai," he'd said with that look in his eyes.
in the meantime shyam is overacting and practicing for his wife's demise. even the music doesn't save him. unnecessary psychoness.
nani ji is hassled about anjali. she talks to her on the phone. the car is losing control...nani can hear the sound, "anjali bitiya, ka baat hai..." anjali, what's up?
the car zooms wildly. nani ji hears a crash.
"phone cut hui gawa," she exclaims. the phone is disconnected.
on this terribly tense moment, khushi reaches the meeting point. lovely direction. we start with tenderness and romance, then a sense of evil... onto light fun interludes centred around this feeling building our anticipation. then more evil, followed by a scary moment. and the most entrancing dose of romance enters the scene.
she has reached the meeting point. it's right before a mirror, oh the story of reflections again.
dhak dhak dhak dhalk starts, or is continuing...
he comes by... in the mirror they are reflected, standing together. ting ting... rabba vey fades up over the heartbeat. he is about to turn to look at her. what a moment.
he does turn.
a lovely young man and a woman in their private space surrounded by mirrors. a mirror on the wall, a curtain of mirrors hanging to one side. mirrors that have seen heartbreak, once in a shop, today they witness another dimension of love.
he turns to walk toward her, people pass by, a little hesitation.
he looks at her.
she's excited, nervous, her lips move a bit as though she looks for words to utter but can't find them.
the dhak dhak is in undertone through out.
his eyes soften, as though sensing her plight.
trembling lips say "aap," soft gaze looks at the man who makes her feel so different, like no one ever has.
"humse... kuchh..." to me... something... you...
husky and straight to the point is he... "baat karna chahta hoon," want to talk to you. there's some sort of somersault marathon in my stomach.
and he comes forward and she retreats. ethereal.
"khushi, main tumse..." soft soft voice with a smoky trail running through it...
he is walking forward, she back, his tone is creating havoc in her... "aap humse..."
and "hi" a little shadi time interruption by guests... er, asr, why didn't it occur to you to call her to the poolside for this chat? out here, in public? what were you thinking? ooops sorry, you were not thinking... how could you, so so in love that you are.
sanaya had said in an offscreen video how strange she felt doing all the heavy breathing and sighing during this scene. really, to muster up this sense of crazy longing and nervous anticipation for a man you are not desperately in love with can be most most difficult. sanaya did a brill job i felt, never seemed corny or forced. a little cuckoo, but in the cutest way.
he is perturbed by these interruptions...
a funny decision in his eyes then. again he steps forward... music is getting more tempo, a happiness.
and holding her gaze again he walks to her, she moves back, but eyes are locked. she's against the wall, he's still coming...
he looks down.
he looks perturbed.
she says, "kya?" breathless.
he looks at her.
he stalls for something, the intensity is killing her, her eyes close... the tension getting the better of her.
he watches her... his arm comes up and he is still staring, eyes never stray from her face. she manages an "arnav ji!" he has definitely a smile in his eyes, and the most concentrated gaze.
"aap... yeh... kya..." talking is impossible in this state.
"arnav ji," again she whispers.
"hmm," a maddeningly sexy reply.
the phone, of course, rings just then.
khushi is trying to speak but no words seem to emerge... then, "aap ka phone..." your phone.
he ignores the call and stands smiling at her... his flirtatious get-the-girl smile.
he looks at the phone and he is being called by a waiter, "aapko nani ji ne bulaya hai," nani ji has called him.
he looks at her, she's too turned on, she looks away, music has a riff of guitar?
he stares at something, thinks a bit then turns to go... but then he wheels around suddenly as if on a decision again... his music picks up.
"kya?" she's so full of a desire to know... she wants this man so much, the first time ever has she had such feelings, she possibly has no idea what one does with them...
he tilts his head and points to the mirror.
a little confused, she looks and finds his bindi. placed at the right height.
this is wooing asr style. my name on your hand, my haldi on your skin, my kiss on your cheek, my bangles on your arm, my choice of saree yours, baat karni hai... bas karni hai, my bindi on your forehead... bit by bit i woo you, till all of you is mine and you know every bit of me is yours. there is no holding back in this feeling, instead a heady complete convulsive ownership of each other.
the ocean was rushing to meet his shore and submerge her and be submerged in turn.
but duty called again.
and had he not been asr he might have made nani wait while he told his girl what he felt, but then he was asr, and being responsible was what he did no matter what. nani has called, he must go. his lover would always have to understand this side of him, maybe that's what will make her love him more. "hamari baat abhi khatam nahin hui," he'll say months later, again responding to his grandmother's call. then too will mayhem enter their lives.
he turns and leaves and right at the end a final satisfied palat looking at his girl who's got his message in a bindi... hey hey sing the winds.
they stand staring at each other... i love you... you think? i know, nonsense, what's all this love and things...i just can't stop looking at you.
i seem to hear the silence talk.
sir, nani ji calls, all are waiting for you, says the waiter who's again.
"ok..."
he almost goes back to her then, but with immense effort holds himself still and then walks away.
the last time they will be like this in the longest time. the next time he'll see her she would be in another man's arms.
she turns to look at the bindi, tender music, she reaches out and touches it gently... almost caressing.
then she picks it up and wears it... there is so much joy, tenderness, wonder, and acceptance in her gaze, in her smile, in her act of putting his bindi on her forehead.
has love really not been confessed yet?
his bindi... mehendi, haldi, churi, sari, bindi... what more...
one can't help but sigh at what is to come next. nor not be completely thrilled by what just transpired. it is honestly the most romantic scene i have ever seen... the joy, innocence, excitement, sensuality, anticipation, haq, havoc, beauty, fecundity, delicateness, tenderness, headiness of this scene was unmatched.
there first encounter had a sense of flight but was still on earth, this second one, certainly in another realm, free of the bonds of gravity... uplifted, uplifting.
writing, direction, and above all acting, absolutely wonderful. can you imagine if the acting had lacked in any way how lame this whole thing might have been.
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