and yet it felt like an episode which had a clear motive to take the viewer toward a destination. no, not sheesh mahal. remarriage.
as if everything was working to make sure we get there, without asking too many questions. i wonder when it was decided that it had to be a full blown remarriage and not a lovely private ceremony of dedicating a feeling between asr and khushi, one that took away the pain of a terrifying night from a young lovely wife and her devoted dutiful husband.
i wondered to if what asr told aman on the phone was a hint slipped in by the writer as to the situation at hand... "research pe zyada dhyan mat dena hamare figures achhe nahin hain. unhen facts batao." don't stress the research, our figures aren't good... tell them the facts. was research saying things not picked up by the facts? the trp? okay i won't dwell on that, since a very amused eyebrow might ascend and a crisp smart voice quip, "tum kitni intelligent ho!"
no,
that would not be good for the already constrained breathing, let's
dwell on the scene that established what a wonderful husband arnav singh
raizada was. for that's crucial to the design of remarriage. because he
is the way he is, because he will not let any slight touch his wife, he
will agree to the marriage... so it's important we have his character
underscored. for this payal was chosen. and she was a pretty neat
choice. i have always found deepali and payal very attractive in their
own way. payal always spoke up, and believed in doing the right thing,
no matter what. and as she spoke i wondered if payal felt a little sad
at the choice of husband she had made. one who rarely spoke up for her."dadi
ji ka chattis ka akhda dikha, lekin arnav ji jka ganit nahin dekha?"
you saw dadi's enmity but you didn't see arnav ji's reaction?khushi gave one of the first little smiles... pleased is she with arnav ji. never seen him like that, she said.
"sabke samne kaise bole the woh... khushi hamari patni hai, woh chahe jo kar sakti hai, jahan chahe ja sakti hai... hume bahut achha laga. tum bahut khush naseeb ho khushi ki tumhe arnav ji jaise pati mile," how did he say before all... payal did an asr... khushi is my wife, she can do as she pleases, go where she likes. i liked that very much, said payal a somewhat wistful note in her voice, you're very lucky to that you got a husband like him.
that last sentence had me feeling suddenly a little sad for women in our world. so dependent is our life on the man we marry, for patriarchy the way it is practiced among us, essentially robs you of your significance, your individual status in society. as long as marriage means a girl will have to leave her home and become a part of the man's home and family, this unequal terrain will remain. you are somehow always at the mercy of your pati, he holds the real power, so if he's a baddie, had it. but if he's a decent strong man, you're fine... you are lucky. wonder what would change if it happened the other way round and men went to their in laws' homes, or better still if both stepped out and made an independent unit in which families from both sides had equal place and love and honour. but for that the whole universe will have to change and i will surely not be there to see that day.
yet a man like asr makes me think, such a day may be possible... even if trp will play with his ideals and dreams.
next
in design was a spiking of physical desire. a khushi completely dreamy
and in love, touched with beautiful sanka floated up the stairs and went
to her room. where of course, a man stood at the wardrobe riffling
through his clothes. a sight that had saanse ruk jaaygi effect on many.
that lovely lovely reaching out and holding the man who loves her,
honours her and protects her, that terribly evocative pressing of a
cheek to his back, and his bemused response, wondering what''s come over
her.
but
she is here flirting really, did she know that? she had found a picture
in the store room earlier, and she has scene him without his clothes.
how instantly alert the viewer must have been.
then
came the cute play over a photograph. nothing is chosen by a director
by accident. a little baby without a stitch of clothing, legs wide
apart, and stuff visible... even in a fuzzy long shot, the viewer will
connect all sorts of things, the mind is a crazy place, before you know
it you think things. and that was wanted. then just to make sure nothing
got lost, that leap onto the bed and a breaking... palangtod... bead
breaking, again many connotations there.
this was needed if khushi had to add two and two and make jalebi pure.
then opened the whole story of saat phere. via, of course nand kissore, yes today krishna had to be part of the play, the baby too has bal gopal elements and from the moment dadi ji has appeared bal gopal is centre stage.
the character chosen to bring up saat phere and give it credence while explaining it, was nani, the beloved matriarch. it's janmashtami again, and everyone is preparing things for the prayers, akash included. of course, not asr.
nani pondered the eternal love of radha and krishna, "unka pyaar toh duniya se upar raha," their love was above the mortal world. "unki pyaar ko kauno naam ki zaroorat naahin rahi..." their love didn't need a name. a beautiful thought. did the writer slip it in unable to come to terms with where he had to take the script?
"na kabhi unhone saath phere liye..." they never did the saat phere, the seven sacred circles around the fire at most hindu weddings (i must point out, not all).
instantly, khushi remembered her wedding, "phere nahin liye the... matlab shadi bhi nahin hui?" didn't do pheres... means they weren't married?
this is stretching it a bit. khushi who knows so much about krishna, as we all know from last janmashtami, doesn't know radha and krishna weren't married?
she does, and here she is reacting to the saat phere idea, how marriages are incomplete without it... which means her marriage too is incomplete. but i thought she knew all along that certain things had not happened at her wedding and had now come to accept him as her husband. in fact, she was delighted at the way he was defending her right as his patni, she was hugging him, flirting with him, desiring him. hmm, i am confused by this writing.
sanaya chose a highly sanka inflicted khushi to convey her confusion. which was further compounded by mami ji and hp conversing about a broken bed... haan, what was being done on the bedwa that it broke? was cricket being played on it? say cricket and i think fair play... alas nothing is quite cricket at the moment.
the man winked at her.
she turned to puddle and whizzed off, he looked at her as she passed him. a story just there.
"okay... kya nahin hua..." only barun's asr can be that droll and heart attack giving. khushi is in frenzy... um so she just now remembered the circumstances of her marriage, i really am shaking my head... that marriage none of us could forget but she did. strange. and having remembered, she instantly went to the high drama conclusion: our marriage isn't complete... what exactly is a complete marriage? either it is a wedding or it is not. writing struggles to make sense of this whole thing and fails.
but what the, eyebrows are shooting up at "hum dono pati patni ki tarah rah rahe hain..." and one has to stop thinking.
we are living like husband and wife.
"that's because hum pati patni hain?" that's because we are husband an wife, a voice rises and falls setting off heart beats racing.
"aur yeh ahsas tumhe achanak kyun hua?" and why did you suddenly have this feeling? shatir asr, same question as viewer.
"sabse mahatwapoorn phere nahin hue hain..." the most important thing, pheres aren't done, so shadi ain't done. like that, magic, it was brought in and made into a central angst.
"ek pati patni jo bhi karte hain humne kuch bhi nahin kiya..." we haven't done all the things a pati and patni do... what does that line even mean?
anyway, he decided to play a bit... yeah, time to do what pati and patni do... i have to smile and gosh, that intimate teasing.
as she reeled off the many rituals of a wedding, he waited. at suhag raat he went "yup."
while asr played havoc into kkgsr and me with all the murmurs and suggestive pauses and pounces... a part of me wondered was a wrecked suhag raat the only way to take story to remarriage.
"that's it... tum kitni intelligent ho!" no one can forget that moment, and that indulgent sexy very male flirting. condescending devil is this pati, but he elevates you practically with it, you know you sit bang in the centre of his heart and he'd do anything for you. ah such contrary communication.
"suhag raat..." she repeated.
"yeah... that one. but we'll start backwards... shuruwat suhag raat se karte hain..." we'll start with suhag raat. i had giggled hysterically the first time. smart writing and of course super acting. think writers wanted to have some fun while the painful process of reworking track went on. and nothing is more pleasure giving than writing a classic asr khushi moment.
this was absolutely that.
she was so so flustered. that desire rising up again and the trepidation at the very thought of the wedding night. and he had to get after her a bit.
she walked backward, he forward, now he knows that is what will happen.
"haan matlab nahin matlab suhag hag raat..." yes means no means suhag raat, said she incoherently.
"c'mon khushi main tumhe kha thodi jaaonga?" i'm not going to eat you... oh how they pushed the desire angle. the second time he has said this to her...
"it's a deal! kal raat hamari suhag raat hai."
"nahin!"
on the first watch, i had really thought, they would work out the issue of pheres differently and there would be the most wondrous suhag raat.
thoughts
~ that opening scene, there was so much of a brother, an intense emotional man there... i particularly loved his urging his sis to forget the past as she often told him to... something so asr in the way he said, "di, jo kuchh bhi hua... bhool jao usse."
~ "bhashan nahin bhasha!"... nice touch. even dadi ji is not immune to nk our very own nand kissore's ways. he gets through to her and frazzles her too.
~ please note manorama listens to bhajan and not trashy songs with her earphones on...
......................
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