[Episode 97] June 28th, 2016
- "Pata nahi meri lokhand ki behen ko tu kahan chhod kar aaya! Pata nahi kya kar rahi hogi!" Dev is pacing and rambling, wondering if Rajni has eaten, bathed, and had enough water to drink. Just like a brother would be worried about his real (human) sister if she had gone missing all of a sudden. "Abbey, yeh toh gadbad ho gayi! Wahan se Rajni kiske paas gayi hogi?!" "Arrey, mujhe kya pata! Lekin ek cheez hai. Bag mein saamaan dekh. Ladkiyon ke kapde hai. Yeh bag definitely kisi ladki ka hai!" Oh, really? I had no clue! Dev counters Shaan with a potent dose of sarcasm. "Wow! Bhagwaan! Mujhe itna intelligent kyun nahi banaaya?!" He sends a glare at Shaan for good measure, but he doesn't stop there. Shaan is done with this conversation, but Dev isn't. Dev is so upset that he lets his emotions get the better of him, resulting in a stream of threats that is directed at a very annoyed Shaan. It's interesting that Dev and Shaan seem to take turns when it comes to being level-headed and emotional in crises. If Dev is thinking clearly, then Shaan is emotionally charged. If Shaan is thinking rationally, then Dev is swept up in his emotions. These guys, Shaan and Dev, are a team as much as Shaan and Rajni are. Dev and Rajni, in spite of their drastic differences in physical composition, are actually quite similar. They have similar characteristics and temperaments, for one...and they also share similar relationships with Shaan. Both are important parts of his life, but he doesn't seem to realize just how important they are. With Rajni, Shaan is gradually appreciating her value in his life more and more, but with Dev...there's still a long way to go for Shaan to recognize and acknowledge that Dev is an irreplaceable pillar of support in his life.
- Rajni is stuck in a hotel room with Shaan's ex-girlfriend. Well, she's stuck in a suitcase in a hotel room with Shaan's ex-girlfriend, to be exact. Samaira's thinking-out-loud gives hints of the sort of life she led during college - I'm taking at least some, if not all, of those memories to be linked to Shaan in some way. Because right after recounting those memories, she decides that she has to "look special" for a reunion that she hopes Shaan will attend. The Shaan that she knew might have attended that reunion (although I doubt he would have, personally, since, well, Rajni...) but the Shaan that we know definitely won't attend that reunion...because, well...
Rajni.
- Auto Assemble Mode. A press of a button activates Rajni's auto-assemble mode, which is cool. But how does a bunch of separate parts get joined together like that? Magnetic field activation? She's done that before. But biggest question - where did that outer layer and the clothes come from? Is the outer layer something that automatically spreads over her metal body when she's fully assembled/activated? Did Shaan pack spare clothes in that suitcase? I get that this takes place in a universe where technology has the potential to be incredibly advanced, provided that it is made by someone with as much engineering brilliance as Shaan. But Rajni's change of clothes, unless she got clothes from Samaira's wardrobe, is a bit of sorcery that I hoped we'd be free from in a sci-fi show!
- "Ek toh tera yeh ghatiya software bhi kaam nahi kar raha!" And we're back to Shaan getting frustrated with Dev's software. I seriously think this could be a subplot of substance for Dev's character development. Dev has been integral in developing Rajni's programs, glitches notwithstanding, but most of the time, Shaan brushes off Dev's contributions. Until he needs Dev's help for something else, that is. Some more appreciation would be nice, you know, Shaan. What I would love to see as a subplot is Dev coming out of Shaan's shadow and showing everyone how much technical aptitude and intelligence Devendra Bangdu actually has. And similarly, that line of thought extends to Shogata, too. She previously mentioned, accidentally, that she needs to look at dress collections to copy them...That was a slip of the tongue on her part - she had meant to say "be inspired by them" but the truth had slipped out...Oops. At the time, that made me think that Shogata has no actual creative talent of her own. But more recently, a glimpse of the sketches and designs in her room made me rethink that first impression. Those drawings were gorgeous. I think she could become a great designer if she wants to. In any case, we don't really know what she does all day in the house. For someone who claims to advocate being an independent working woman, she doesn't seem to be much of one herself. And Shaan was the one who pointed that out to Shogata's face a while back. Ah, that was a brilliant scene! If Dev and Shogata help each other out, maybe they could start their own fashion line or something, with a snazzy website that Dev could design. Anything that gives these two a stronger sense of self and a true calling in life!
- LOL, Dev's explanation about why Shaan left Rajni at her maayka! "Issi baat pe jhagda hua! Aur ussi ke baad phir se ek aur jhagda hua! Aur phir jhagde-jhagde mein jhagda hua, aur jo aakhri jhagda hua -" He just keeps going and going and going, haha! That sounds like something he and Shogu would do, actually. Lovers' tiff escalating into full-blown, near fatal fight? Yeah, it already sounds like something the newly-married-and-devastated Bangdus are capable of, not the newly-married-and-separated Kants!
- "Ek chhote se jhagde ke wajah se main tujhe kya maayke chhod ke aaoonga? Waise bhi tera ab maayke mein bacha hi kaun hai? Ek tha, woh kauwa ban gaya. Ab ped ke ghosle pe chhod ke aaoon tujhe?" The crazy argument between Amrish and Surili ends like this. I died laughing. A++ for dialogue delivery in this scene! So fantastic, this jodi! Also, I loved Dev and Shaan's "Arrey, yaar..." type reactions, LOL. Dev was watching Surili and Amrish make a mountain out of a molehill and I'm willing to bet he was thinking, "What kind of insane in-laws have I ended up with?!"
- Ah, and Dev is the only one who can see through Surili's lament about Rajni and actually cares to be disgruntled about Surili's motives behind finding Rajni again. I wish he could speak up without being shot down instantly, though. All in good time? I hope!
- Shaan starts to lambast Dev's quick thinking, which is ironic considering the fact that Shaan the genius could have thought of an excuse, too, but either couldn't or didn't want to...Dev doesn't take this quietly, though. He points out that it's Shaan's fault that this entire problem materialized in the first place. Which is true. And then after a little bit, Dev backs down because his worry for Rajni takes over again, and that anxiety is more overwhelming than any anger he might feel towards his negligent friend at the moment.
- "Hello. I am C431. What can I do for you?" Rajni self-activates...and her tracker begins to make warbling noises. Dev's software is working just fine. As expected, Dev brings up the blame game issue and tries to confront Shaan about it...and also as expected, Shaan brushes the matter aside entirely, because he has more important things to focus on now. As I was watching this, I was naturally happy that they'd be able to find Rajni more easily now, but I was also annoyed that Shaan has made a habit of pushing his (one and only) friend aside time and again in various ways, especially since said friend always manages to stand by Shaan in times of difficulty. Seriously, Shaan. How hard is it to own up to a mistake and apologize?
- I've noticed that Shaan is prone to being very physical when he's expressing worry, irritation, or rage. He can become quite passive when he begins to bottle up his emotions, but anger is one emotion that he can't seem to control. No filter. That's what I always think when he begins ranting about something in a fit of frustration. Shaan takes his anger out on Dev a lot, unfortunately for the latter. I don't remember Dev ever reacting so violently when he has gotten mad at Shaan...Their differences in temperament are so fascinating to me! Without Rajni here to be Shaan's sounding board, Dev becomes Shaan's punching bag and stress ball - to the point of Shaan almost throttling the poor guy. At the end of it all, Shaan rushes off to find Rajni and Dev calls out, "Mujhe phone karna!" He won't be out on the streets of Mumbai searching for his sister, but he'll be in the loop regarding the progress of Rajni's rescue mission...provided that Shaan actually remembers to call him, that is.
- Rajni is completely blank. She knows nothing, not even her name. She looks around the unfamiliar place and as she wonders who made her, we see her mental/AI screen pop up. "My creator? No data found." This immediately reminded me of Rajni's first conversation with Shaan, in which several of her initial catchphrases were established. The most significant of those was "Main aapki creation hoon, Shaan." And now, Rajni doesn't know who she is. She doesn't know how she came to be or who made her. These basic questions about her identity have been wiped clean from her memory. God, this was heart wrenching to juxtapose! What really hit me hard, though, was the way Ridhima enacts newly-reactivated Rajni's first moment of consciousness. "Who is my creator?" Rajni's eyes dart from side to side, searching her database for something, anything, that could help her answer that question. She finds nothing. "No data found..." She says this quietly, in a somber tone that is such a far cry from the tone she used to use around Shaan in their early days as creator and creation...Hearing that change in tone was enough to break my heart. But then Rajni decides to find somewhere to wait until her creator returns...and she concludes that the almari is the best place to do so. Why the almari? Could she have some traces of memories embedded in her system still? My first reaction to this moment was that she came to that conclusion based on her own logic, free from any command or residual habit. After all, her memory is supposed to be clean. But I am not entirely sure...Bonus points for the detailing here, by the way. Rajni was charging herself up while she was considering what to do!
- "Rajni...!" Shaan has traced his robot all the way to the room she is currently resting in. I found his "Kaun idiot darwaaza khol ke ghoomenge?" to be amusing, given whose room he has just ambled into. He called Samaira an idiot just then - and rightly so. I mean, really, who leaves the door open like that? Anyway, Shaan ends up face to face with Samaira after years...and he's more than a bit dazed. He doesn't move away from her until she demands that he gets up off of her bed. "Utho! Idiot, utho!" He called her an idiot without meaning to, earlier. And she calls him one now. But it doesn't end here. She calls him "Weirdo" and "Stupid" too, later on. Affectionately? No idea...but still, that's not the nicest way to greet someone after being out of touch for so long. During this reunion, I felt like Samaira and Shaan were happy to see each other...They seem to be on the same wavelength at first, when they both exclaim, "What a pleasant -" but after that...that's where they diverge. There was something...off...something not quite clicking between them. Shaan is excited and awkward and a bit of a rambling, nervous wreck...but Samaira is cool and seems to have a dry, deadpan sense of humor in her reactions to Shaan's spontaneous comments. She also looks at him very strangely. Like he's strange to her. And that is what made me uncomfortable watching this exchange between these two people who were once so close to each other.
- "Shaan, stop! Go there! Go there! I'll be back." "Yeah." Okay, just a tiny point to make here. For some reason, I saw this and was oddly reminded of Dev and Shogata. I think it's the way Samaira commands Shaan to stay back and not follow her. It reminded me of the way Dev told Shogata to stay where she was when she followed him into Shaan's lab not too long ago. In Shaan-Samaira's case, I think it's interesting that their relationship broke off not because they didn't love each other (presumably) but primarily because they had different aspirations and priorities in life. I'm assuming that there was no lack of love between them, just that Shaan's workaholic nature created an obstacle to Samaira's plans to settle down and lead a nice, simple life with him. They know each other, loved each other, are happy to see each other after so long, and yet...they're not on the same wavelength. Shaan fumbles for words and remains dazed until Samaira steps out of his line of sight. It's been a while, it happens. But then, in contrast to that, there's the curious case of Dev-Shogata. They know each other extremely well, disliked each other since childhood, and in their first encounter after what I'm assuming has been quite a long time, they clash in a verbal battle that ends with Shogata challenging Dev to stay 10 steps away from her. "Ab itni hi door rehna. Isse aage mat badhna...Stop!" Oh, and she also calls him an idiot. But there's a familiarity between these two. No awkwardness at all. And their relationship seems to be on equal footing. Although Shogata believes herself to be out of Dev's league, status-wise, in terms of emotions they're both equally invested in besting each other. They couldn't be more different in nature at first glance, but that doesn't put Dev in an awkward position. He's definitely not rendered speechless by the woman in front of him. If anything, she makes him say things he wouldn't ever say to anyone else.
- Shaan jolts back to normal for a moment and scolds himself for behaving so pathetically. "Aise koi baat karta hai ladki se?! THE ex-girlfriend hai woh! Control yourself! Kitna cheaply behave kar raha tha tu! *surprised tone* I feel like Dev now! Bechara kaise feel karta hoga roz!" Ah, so when Samaira isn't with him, Shaan becomes the Shaan that we know. He criticizes his own odd behavior, and I'm just glad that even if only for a minute, he recognized that this is not how he should be acting around his ex-girlfriend. But hey, what's with the jibe at Dev? Is Dev really that hopeless when it comes to talking with women? Come to think of it, I can't imagine Dev in a romantic relationship...but he's really sweet and compassionate and doesn't have a massive ego! What's not to love about Dev?
- Shaan, Samaira, and the orange dress. Umm...Shaan? What happened to the "control yourself!" command? He gets distracted by a pretty face from his past and shifts focus from where it should be. Idiot. I don't know if I'm the only one who picked up on a slight difference between the Samaira in Shaan's daydream and the Samaira in Shaan's reality. I thought the former was more passive, almost mannequin-like...and the latter can't be described that way at all. Why orange, though? Of all the colors out there...why orange? Sigh.
- Shaan and Samaira are out of sync. There's no other way to describe it. He wants a handshake, she expects a hug. They can't get it together, so Samaira takes control. She takes the lead, commands him. And he complies. I can already sort of see why their relationship didn't last. "Hold on, Shaan! Wait, wait, wait." She gives him a look. "Stupid." And she wraps her arms around his middle and hugs him. Shaan doesn't respond at first, immobilized with his hands awkwardly in the air...and that expression on his face is one of confusion. I wondered if he was a bit put off by the way she called him 'Stupid' as well...He doesn't move until Samaira tells him, happily, "You can hug me!" Umm, okay. The look on his face, basically. But he eventually relaxes (a bit too much) into the hug...Ugh. The best thing about this scene, hands down, is the fact that Rajni has been watching the entire reunion play out in front of her eyes. And what she says at the end took my breath away. From her vantage point, she sees a man and woman embracing after so much strained conversation..."Humans." That tone and the way she looks at them...A hint of disapproval there? Or did I just imagine that? All that's missing is "Complicated!" That bit of the combined catchphrase Rajni created based on Shaan's constant use of the the word...And that made me wonder...Has Shaan left an imprint on Rajni, somehow, without intending to...?
Edited by MelodiousDreams - 9 years ago
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
