epiosde 147 no getting out

a phase ended and along came another. la left, the time for dhak dhak drew nigh. and an episode that encompassed the most curious mixture of  wisdom, intense emotion and outright slapstick comedy hid in its layers the signs of a feeling that will not be denied. get out... he said to her right at the end. but really, now on, there will be no getting out. not even when they think the worst of each other.

at the beginning of episode, la said to asr what perhaps, in a line, was the message of ipk. interesting, that the shallow girl said what the deep ones just might have missed. for she had made a strange journey of her own in these months and had hit upon the truth as it were of life itself (of course, this is the perspective of a romantic, someone of a different mindset may well not accept it).

la didn't want asr to drop her.

his remorse was palpable. the whole thing with lavanya was not one he was proud of. started off as one thing, along the way, he realised he was almost using her to fend off the attraction that threatened his very core. "i'm sorry, lavanya."

"it's okay, but agar tumhari life mein pyaar aa jaaye, then hold onto it, asr... kyunki pyaar... nafrat se bahut bada hota hai... sabse bada hota hai."

it's okay, but if ever in your life comes love, then hold onto it, asr... because love... lave is greater than hate... it's the greatest thing of all.

pyaar sabse bada hota hai.

love is the greatest of all.

"and now these three remain: faith, hope and love. but the greatest of these is love."
~~~ 1 Corinthians 13, the new testament ~~~

i wondered, though, why she compared love to hate. for nafrat had never really entered their conversation. on the other hand, this might have been the creatives' way of hinting at what was coming. i hate you. mai bhi aapse nafrat karti hoon. dhak dhak and nafrat were both upon us.

after the poignant farewell a perturbed khushi came home and at the mention of the man who drove her crazy, she burst out, "rakshas... uss rakshas ko toh aisi ladki milni chahiye jo unhe seedha kar de. unki achhe se khabar le... unhe wahi sunaye jo wo sunna nahin chahte."

monster... that monster should get a girl who'll straighten him out. gives him a hard time... tells him all those things he doesn't want to here.

nice touch, writers. such a girl is sitting there and rambling her head off, of course. and making faces too. does she know it's this corny, sankapan of hers he will never be able to resist and have to listen to her bak bak even when he's thinking, "unbelievable."

"tumhari flight land kar gayi? ok... kissi cheez ki zaroorat ho toh..." lavanya has reached home, he is trying to make sure she's ok. she's obviously not in a mood to prolong the connection and says all is fine, etc. an air of finality. he feels like a heel.

"take care, lavanya."

a gripped phone, a sense of remorse in asr, struggle within.

eyes open slowly and fall straight upon a blue pink wrapped gift. reflections off the pool play on his face as he contemplates this little package. shiny, colourful, hey there chamkili.

inside the wrapping, the vahan rakhrakhav pustak.

"wa...wa... what the..." he can't read this complicated hindi word in the devnagri script. a swift tenor change, from the intensity and slowing down a moment ago, to a sudden ignition and that particular "irritation" that comes on at the mere thought of someone.

when anjali comes and says she does understand why he and la broke up, he's elated. i knew it, di... even if no one else understood, you would. but when his dear sister then takes the conversation to maybe some day just like i found your jija ji (her real handicap was blindness, wasn't it?) you too will find someone, he can't take it. this is all rubbish and hogwash to him. he says, "di please... ab phir se woh saansey ruk jane..."  di, now please don't start that talk of breath will stop kind of love.

that less than a split sec long look on his face, just a  bit derisive, can't take this, very male look. aaargh. the best shot of episode.

and when she preempts him with a don't say no, to taking akash payal's wedding card to the guptas, a delicious, "haan kahne wala tha... har cheez ke liye mana nahi karta." i was going to say yes, i don't say no to everything. a sharp line i thought that sketched asr well.

when anjali asks about the hindi book, a trying hard to be nonchalant, "kissine diya hai... pata nahin kya hai." someone's given it, don't know what it is. on hearing it's a car maintenance manual, memories of another strangely intimate day, when he almost saw her fiance, when he said she was not to blame for the evening of shesh mahal, and when she changed the tyre because he had no idea how to. so chamkili holds within her the knowledge of maintaining a car... what if he were a car... the car. my thoughts are seeking to decipher the meaning of this apparently meaningless car tyre/maintenance allusion.

zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance. a book from the '70s, quite the rage then, was really a philosophical novel. it had nothing to do with zen buddhism or motorcycles and their upkeep. was this vahan rakhrakhav pustak also really about something else altogether? perhaps the journey of life and the philosophy of pyaar?

at gh, a fabulous "maskara" scene between the sisters. sanaya is a natural comedienne i feel. sharp in her comic interpretation, a rare thing among women actors mostly. she often gets it just so right, and in this one area, i feel she's often more fluid and fluent than even barun (can't believe i just said that... see i am not so partial after all).

khushi is pretending to be akash ji and calling payal ji. just before commencing dialogue, she pushes up nonexitsent specs on her nose, delightful perfection in that gesture.

the towel scene. well it felt a bit forced to me. i mean, upon hearing her insistent clamour for attention, would asr casually stroll into her bedroom  while payal is on the phone, and then hand her a towel lying on the bed... ah now that i think of it... maybe he would. he's totally smitten after all. when she yells he has to respond, hyuk.

and so despite his what the, as she goes into the count of three... ek... do..., he quickly grabs the towel and knock knock.

of course, the girl who can change tyres is suddenly helpless when she finds herself in the bathroom with the rakshas. chaos. scream shout. jumping, spot running. the works.


 
the man realises what ails her and tries to bring calm, "khushi tumne pahle se poore kapde pahne hue hain... stop." khushi, you're wearing clothes already..., the spot run is still on. he has to yell, stop.

then a lot of funny ones around towel and card, yes i've given the towel... er i mean the card, etc. somewhere just there a smile, though he doesn't want to... poor man, how to remain aloof to the mad woman he is falling badly for.

di has him in a soup. get khushi over. ouch.

gruffly to his tormentor, "agar towel ke saath khel chuki ho toh mere saath ghar chalo..." if you've finished playing with the towel, come home with me. why does this sound so hot so sexy almost like a come home, come into my arms.

"hum nahin aayenge..." i won't go, says madam. according to her, the only reason he wants to get her into the car is because he wants to scold someone. he'll take her up to a point and then on some pretext or the other, stop the car and say, "get out." sanaya was tender and funny. barun was incredulous, irked.

in the car, he looks straight ahead. he said to her, i spoke to lavanya, she's reached, told me to to let you know, i called her this morning.

this is a private moment between them. somewhere it was not just about letting her know because la had asked, it felt as though he wanted to somewhere redeem himself in her eyes too... just a bit. and he wished to clarify once more that la was not in his life anymore. maybe my imagination but there was a subtext to this dialogue.

"are you listening!" he exclaims as he looks at her for the first time...

a most natural, beautifully managed scene. in all her rushing around and that towel in the way of everything, she's managed to mistake it for her dupatta and is wearing it, completely unaware of the mix up. he reverses the car back to gh and brakes sharply. (the towel will make a few comebacks along the way, but most memorably as an accessory to a dance.)

his darkness, her sanaka are in harmony here. exciting contrast.

"get out..." "kya..." and a reminder in me of that diwali night. that night too he'd stopped suddenly before her house and said the two little words. but he had so needed la then... not any more. maybe at last he is ready to venture out of his shell... and get out there.

that car book is definitely a metaphor. this about life and love. the love that is greater than hate. greatest of all.

this edit is for ami, hotwa in shadewa missing you dear one. and sorry, just couldn't get a good cap of sanaya's. but since after a long time barun broke his silence today and there was news of talks with big production house, thought i'd dedicate 147 to the man and wish him all the best. (wrote this on blast from the past back in july 2013. later, thanks to hotstar, along came some good caps of sanaya... as i update today, 17 may 2017, news of ipkknd 3 everywhere. a strange notion. another asr. can there ever be another one? and instead of sanaya someone else? oh, well...)

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