from crooner 89: seize-fire... my thoughts on the elements (vm)

anjali, your setting of direction is perfect in your main post. fire, water, earth, air it is all about the elements here. while you have mainly explored the first two, would like to share thoughts on earth and air too.

...sieze-fire...

as the ceasing of one fire that never started is signalled by two little matchsticks, a conflagration is about to commence. and it will blaze to burn everything in its path. a wild fire triggered by a little too much love.
poignant, isn't it?

as we laugh at the stupefaction on the faces of mighty lallan and thrill to the pride in arnav's, the ocean's, eyes, his inimitable smile on "khushi kumari gupta singh raizada," we are feeling the heat of anjali's illusions about to combust before going up in smoke.

there is no running away from it. it is upon us now. the ocean must sieze the fire if it is to be doused and calmed. if agni is to finally give blessings and not annihilate all.
perhaps it is no accident that the ancients appeased fire before any other god; that agni is our sakshi when we wed; our tests are agni pariksha.

fire in all its connotations is here now, oh that red saree of anjali's.

"i laud agni, the chosen priest, god, minister of sacrifice,
the hotar, lavishest of wealth.
worthy is agni to be praised by living as by ancient seers.
he shall bring hitherward the gods.
through agni man obtaineth wealth, yea, plenty waxing day by day,
most rich in heroes, glorious.
agni, the perfect sacrifice which thou encompassest about
verily goeth to the gods.
may agni, sapient-minded priest, truthful, most gloriously great,
the god, come hither with the gods.
whatever blessing, agni, thou wilt grant unto thy worshipper,that, agiras, is indeed thy truth.to thee, dispeller of the night, o agni, day by day with prayer
bringing thee reverence, we come
ruler of sacrifices, guard of law eternal, radiant one,
increasing in thine own abode.
be to us easy of approach, even as a father to his son:
agni, be with us for our weal."

~~~ rig veda book 1 hymn 1 ~~~

...the ocean and its shore...

water water everywhere. pani da rang. pani hai, plan barbad ho gaya!

a witty, daring, literal take on the oft quoted "pani fer diya" phrase. it was a stunning moment when those matchsticks went phooosss. the ocean took not too long to decipher his shore was nearby and probably taking risks on his behalf. we took note of the water effect on the perfect bod of mr raizada, as we had a couple of times before along with mrs ocean of optimism and crazy guts. i refer to public bathing, gobar, akhada of the gh days.

swimming pool, rain, water being flung from mugs and buckets, water saving the ocean's life, water has always been a part of this love story; an element embedded in the protagonist's very name. he represents the largest body of water known to us: the ocean. 

will arnav be able to fight the agni that is consuming anjali even as he is saved? or will the ocean become a reminder of the other endless body of salt water in the universe: tears.
i hope not. let's play "water of love," and send them tears on their way.

...earth...

we met this element before all others in this episode. as the earth swayed, quaked, and slipped from under shyam's feet in the very first scene. it was delightful to watch his composure shatter, his swagger stumble. i so wish he had taken the scene to the level he was offered. interestingly, a scream and a single searing eye shot paralleling the same in the 15 february post terrace scene of arnav on the road. later in the episode, many visual similarities in the shyam-khushi face off with the arnav-khushi bridge scene. interesting device exploring contrasting relationships and personalities.
a creature of the earth, mud at its basest, is our shyam. and why not, he slithers on it after all.

the milk crashed upon the earth, the curse is upon me she cried, anjali of her myths.

in a more literal sense, earth featured twice: when her batua fell on it and when there was a sudden as yet inexplicable shot of her slippered foot on uneven terrain. the batua fall will probably have something to do with the papers inside. no idea about the foot, but knowing these creatives...

...air...

i lauded :) the air rushing out of snake's punctured love plot.

under this element i'd like to speak about the environment created by the invisible element: sound. i absolutely love this dimension of ipk. no other serial, nor too many films, handle/s this with such finesse, even funkiness, again without wastage or verbosity.

particularly in my ears that irritating percussion layer in the arnav and goons scenes. the background score is thoughtfully layered, with several elements; kept clean and simple or densely packed depending on the scene. today reflecting the tumult in the other elements, the track was dense, loaded with meaning and message. the shot of the matches being lit, thrown, fizzling out: so much drama with minimum movement, not a single word, just sound and expressions on two faces, ending on that asr smile beginning to appear. beautiful.

the background was rarely silent today, yet it kept its place: elegant, supportive, coming to the fore only when needed. i really enjoy raju singh's sense of his material, there's a certain, for the lack of a better word, sexiness to his scores. bravo to the creatives who take care of this aspect of the show. 

anjali's "yeh aapka bhram hai," had a chilling sense of foreboding. and its pitch was perfect.

add to these four elements, those of the previous crooner: belief, faith, test, triumph, and the element of timshel or choice that we as humans have and it's clear next week is going to take us to another planet. 

wrote this soon after seeing episode 287 the very first time on 2/3 july 2012 midnight. i used to write on a a most active and snazzy thread on india-forums, called crooner, those days.

watch the vm "tenderly" here



naturally, no copyright infringement is intended. this is a fan appreciation video and there's no commercial transaction involved. thanks to all at ipkknd, the beatles, and the original owners of the material.

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