all in the family

khushi's brothers.

khushi's brother... not.

......... 

office episodes
........

episode rambles
fan fiction

about kkg

(part of a chat on india forums)

she was lovely. i resisted watching ipk for months because i did not, could not believe a hindi serial could have anything of real excitement in it... i was not being a snob, till then no serial of these days had really appealed even those with decent stories.

i used to lie on my bed with my back to the tv while things carried on giving me a sense of india... i needed that after many years away...

also i was resisting barun.

as hard as i could.

huh some silly boy, so what i get that funny feeling every time i see him... something about him says my mind... but really he's just a useless serial hero... who does he think he is... as you can tell maine bahut koshish ki... sigh.

i remember one afternoon i turned around and there on the screen was this crazy looking girl with tight choti, tight weird pompom infested churidar, bizarre colours, and mojri and jhola, talking 3456734 to the dozen, and i said uff another ridiculous serial heroine, how crazy looking is she, what's with the costume...

but i kept watching.

she was such a delight.

naturally truly strange. a real girl, with all sorts of thoughts and things, and a different turn of phrase, view of life.

in fact, in 80, just before the hot arm twisting, her speech on marriage... never have i ever heard such a beautiful defence of marriage, such a real heartfelt understanding... sanaya took her dialogues and made them real feelings of a young girl with innocence, strength, genuine cookiness, lots of guts and plenty happy jhalli. a character who became a person with her.

the loss of this girl hurts. yes the make up is heavier... an accent on prettifying... such a reducing of a genuinely funky person, her light lipstick, her tiny jhumkas matching, her teda choti, her khushi from within, as pagal par cute as her aankhen, her baal, her (imagine break in voice) smile. above all, her mind and its crazy connections, its gentle sweet faith in life, its light flowing touch that healed, its refusal to take it lying down, so ingrained that when it showed it felt normal, not like some writers had written her character. (the other day, my husband noticed a scene from another serial by chance while i surfed, he said, oh they are trying to make her do a khushi... this is a man who did not watch ipk... just a few early episodes and yes the august 1 fight.)

post the decision to marry again, the look went even more strange. her dialogues became duller, she had true sanka, not shrill voiced ott, who forgot that.

but we shall always have the khushi we love right up to the wedding... dm is much thanked for that. 

n i s h a n a   e p i s o d e s

.........

episode rambles

fan fiction

episode 18 khushi's bros

"ye chappal hai ya padosi ka kutta... jab dekho kat.ta rahta hai." is this a slipper or the neighbour's dog... bites me all the time.

this khushi is the one i lau. 

and such a nice opening on tu hi bata; four people, young, with their own dreams hopes desires fears sadness, on a balmy evening of breeze and some showers. beautiful break from all the helter skelter of life.

tu hi bata mere maula, tu hi bata mere rabba     

                     

.................................

 lovely episode. khushi finds long lost brothers. :)

meanie

                                                                        

she really brought out the worst in him, didn't she? something about her was just too much to take. he was of course unused to defiance and anyone meeting him straight in the eye and taking him on. but it was not only that, it never was. how delightful this meanness of the man. he has sized her up, he knows she can't win this challenge, laughter bursting inside him. 

buffy (the one that slayed vampires)

but he doesn't know madam. she ain't budgin'. then one look at the ganjeedhari hunks and madam's hawa is phus. "khushi kumari gupta!" he calls out for the first time, and again offers her escape. what? never. off trots the vampire slayer into the den of men, armed with measuring tape, dhaga, and a sweet sisterly spiel. how wily she is in choosing THE ONE.  wouldn't you say the second one from the right had some chance of being hero, poor boy. 

you know, this khushi in those awful clothes, funny choti, mojri, not too bothered with her looks, truly sanka, that's the one i'll never forget. she said she will do and not die if she fails, but do some more. attitude. 

what did she say: zalim zamaane ki chhoti behen dushman duniya? wicked world's younger sis unkind universe (i went for the alliteration rather than exact meaning in my translation). where did they take all her wondrous dialogues and hide them? she was weird, crazy, sometimes very passionate and idealistic, but never foolish.

goofy

 love shows another colour the other side of episode. sweet akash sits clutching chutney pink dupatta, smiling vacantly, day dreaming about "her". only akash could be this silly and not invite a tight slap from me. of course, appeasing sharp cookie mano is another thing. what a deadly scrutiny by motherwa. no falling in love, no letting go of power over bitwa. aw she wore a georgette i think, just this once a break to the gold adorned banarsis, paithanis, et al. the contrast between the rakshas and his human cousin was always fun to watch. good acting, how rare, and how much i am missing it these days. hope akshay lands a nice role somewhere too. all ipk cast i felt had loads of talent. in this episode, the expression on payal's face when she remembers a marriage broken is just a small glimpse of deepali's range.

sis

"aap mujhe bana rahe ho," you're pulling my leg, easier to make a couture dress out of that dupatta, bhai. anjali, laughing, joking, sweetly interfering, happy. no damn idea what's happening in her life. in that context, her belief that "banaaoing" her is not easy is sort of sad, almost cruel.

stories in many lives are taking shape through dialogues, meetings, layer by layer. shyam has come to stay at bua ji's. bua ji makes the biggest mistake of her life carried away by affinity to a city and one act of kindness from a total stranger. he manipulates her innocent trust, perhaps there was a hint of a mother who never had children, specially a son, in that unquestioning trust she gives him. a lonely old widow that yearned for a son to turn to, just what shyam knows what to do with. he fooled everyone, even asr. but just look at payal here, some antenna up. she is not buying into him and his story. will watch keenly to see if she ever got taken in completely. 

 what a girl moment

this scene has a relationship, an intimacy, a freedom, and a sense of happiness that's just lovely and lifelike. never had a sister, but that fall back into bed and day dream with a person close to your heart... a girl... with whom you can speak of your deepest fantasy... nice. in a way that's what i'm doing half the time here with all of you.

might be an oft used technique: the slow dissolve across faces of similar magnification, but in this instance was apt. my eyes paused and so did my hand on the mouse. look at her merging into him almost. laughing, free, windblown. while he, silent, inert, intense, looking upward, thinking of his mother? so many layers and connections i felt here. in another universe where lovers meet, you don't see with just your eyes, your spirit observes things the eye never caught.

the happy virus
i caught the happy virus last night
when i was out singing beneath the stars.
it is remarkably contagious -
so kiss me.
~~~ hafiz ~~~

had so much fun watching then wondering about this episode.

......

"kabhi kabhi to nahin par abhi abhi mere dil mein yeh khayal aaya hai,

ki kash tumhara job mera hota" hyuk hyuk.
 
 

office episodes
........

episode rambles
fan fiction