Anandi through the eyes of three actors- My POV - Page 2

Felt extremely glad to read your POV.

You have shown us all the essence of Anandi's character irrespective of the actors that have come into the picture.

The transition that you are wanting to watch., may still be addressed thru' T ., b'coz that is where the connection we have to feel in her initial interactions with Shiv now.

It is extremely important to impress our sensibilities and cannot be abrupt.

I really hope., we will get to see this.

and I agree with your view point that T's A will be different from that of P's...which is actually needed to avoid any comparison between the actors and appreciate them based on their individual protrayals of the character Anandi.

I feel., this difference is clearly brought out in the AnSh pic that has been posted in their website today..

As soon as I saw the pic., I could only think of this.

Anandi is going to enter a new phase in her life.

She is looking at us with Pride & Happiness to be in Shiv's arms...

Shiv is just the same...looking adoringly at his Ajee...😳

I loved your reply ...concise, precise, and specific and absolutely to the point 👍🏼

This is exactly what I wanted to convey in my long- winded reply😳

EDITED

I feel like it would've been a lot easier to just like everyone else's comments instead of reiterating them 😆

I started watching the show recently and caught up with everything after Sid's entry...I have watched some OLD episodes here and there...so I am generally aware of Avika's performance and Prats' performance pre-Sid...but I'm still not as aware as everyone else to be able to make such detailed comments...so I'm really sorry if I don't make any sense at all from here onwards! 😛

What I really like about Avika's performance is her ability to act SO WELL in front of SO MANY senior actors (I think you already mentioned that anyway!)...it's one thing for Darsheel to act in front of Aamir Khan for a given schedule...but for Avika to act every single day in front of Surekha Sikri...now that's a feat in itself! 👏 I honestly don't think child artists get their deserved due..because Avika wasn't just your ainvayi child artist playing a daughter to some bade beta and bahu of the family...she was Anandi, The Anandi..and being The Anandi (like teacherjee said today) is not easy!

As for Prats...she was given Anandi when Anandi literally grew up (I think you already said that as well 😳)...so that transition is fairly normal on television and hence easier to digest for viewers. For her to takeover from Avika was not all that difficult either because naturally, Avika could not play an 18 year old Anandi...so fair enough. And of course...she did full justice to Anandi and really brought out the mature, calm, composed, disheartened, abandoned, and soft-spoken phase in Anandi's life...I think in essence, she almost became a typical rona-dhona type of a bahu...but of course she could not be labelled as that because she is The Anandi (and she was also given a much better script and dialogues that brought about even better opportunities for Anandi...so of course she was not your average cry baby of an average saas-bahu saga). However, when Shiv came into Anandi's life...Anandi was still under damage control so it took time for her to emerge as a happy, fun-loving, "chidakili" ...finally, when Shiv's love and respect taught her how to once again smile from her heart and show it on her face and in her eyes, she did so...I loved her as a vivacious yet mellow Anandi as opposed to whatever the hell she became because of Jagya. And just when I thought things were finally going to be a bed of roses for her (and that happened when she actually started seeming happier and happier by each episode)...I was proven wrong all thanks to Jaggu Bhai MBBS...whether this man and his problems followed Anandi or not, she seemed to find her way to them EVERY single time!!! For someone who is a recent follower of the show, it became awfully difficult to tolerate that! 😡 What also had been getting to me in the past couple of weeks were Prats' eyes (I find them adorable...after all that I've watched of her in this show..I think her eyes and her lips are SO CUTE and SO attractive and expressive!)...with all due respect to her as an actor...I felt that despite all the costume and make-up..her eyes were seeming very tired and forlorn! For whatever personal and/or professional reasons...her eyes were not having the same effect on me...even during their dream sequence...her eyes were expressive but not fresh 😕 For me that wasn't a turn off...but it was setting something off because I felt that here's Anandi all in love with her husband...but her facial expressions are not entirely conveying that...again just my opinion, anybody who reads it is requested not to kill me for it! 😛

Then stepped in Toral...who initially I was unhappy with, then figured that I don't have a choice but to accept her because I love Sid as Shiv WAY too much to give up on the show and on AnSh (especially because I recently started watching it!!). I think Toral is definitely trying her best to fit in the shoes of Anandi and her face and eyes seem like she is not tired...so she is definitely bringing that "fresh" aspect that was lately lacking for me. I do agree though that the transition from Prats to Toral was not smooth...all the news surrounding this whole mess came as such a blow to the viewers that the hungama seems almost unavoidable! I don't know how the CVs could've treated this situation differently... because as you said, they showed Prats as Anandi slowly returning to her bubbly self and with Toral's entry, that "slowly" became "suddenly" ... but I wonder if they really had another option. And no, I'm not referring to all that happened between them and Pratyusha...but I wonder how else they could've shown an actor replacement in a subtle manner 😕 Maybe if they showed Toral's Anandi still slowly accepting her present and forthcoming happiness then I guess the change would've been less noticeable..but then they wouldn't have been able to give Toral a significant entry (i.e. meeting her teacherjee and the reconnection with her childhood).

Once again, like you and many others already mentioned, disecting the phases of Anandi's life and putting them in context with the actors who were/are playing her definitely helps me put the story and Anandi's character as well as her relationships with the other characters into perspective...and I'm all for organization!!! In fact, just this morning I was reading an OS about how AnSh found Mannu and their interaction with each other and teacherjee after that...and believe it or not (well..I personally had trouble believing it) but I actually imagined Toral as Anandi in my head as I was reading that OS (sorry, can't remember the author's name!)... so in my head (and hopefully heart), Toral is slowly, but surely falling into place as Anandi 😊

All in all, Anandi is a brilliant character and thanks to you we had an opportunity to re-recognize that and appreciate her strength as a character as well as all the actors who have been fortunate enough to make her a part of their daily life! Hats off to them for their hardwork and to you for such an interesting discussion! 👏 😃

I completely agree.

It certainly put things in perspective for me.I am one of those who watches the show for it's story and it's characters but yet get attached to faces of these characters so find the transition difficult.It is easier if look at at it as three different phases of Anandi rather than Anandi played by three different actors.

Initially I found the transition from Avika to Pratyusha's Anandi I found difficult because I was looking for an older version of Avika but I finally managed to connect with her when I saw how as an abandoned and much humiliated wife wife how she conducted herself such dignity and grace and the strength she showed in picking up the pieces that her life has been reduced to and moved forward to make life for herself without letting any bitterness creep into her that was the time I was able to make connection with Pratyusha's Anandi.I cried with her when she found solace while trying to educate people around her I felt happy for her.She was somebody who was wounded by life but never went for revenge instead buried her pain in trying to bring happiness to others around her.All this made me feel so connected to Pratyusha's Anandi.She was some one who was tested by fire and emerged purer.

But all these have left some effects on her.She did not trust love and happiness to be of something lasting.She did not feel that she had any love left in her to give. So she refused to embrace the happiness and love that came her way but the persistence of the person who brought love and happiness into her life has paid off for me because she slowly but surely accepted him and his love and found that she had love to give him back too.

Toral's Anandi like you said is closer to Avika's Anandi in terms of energy and cheerful disposition.This was the Anandi we were all waiting to see.This is how she originally is but the events that happened in her life eclipsed her true bubbly self.

The clouds have been moved away by love and happiness that had come into her life.

I too really wish that transition has happened smoothly.Had it happened smoothly we woould not have felt the way we did.For most of the time we saw her face only filled with sorrow and pain.If we had seen her face filled with happiness and joy and laughter in her voice for a little longer time we would not have felt this way.

If the CVs had made up their minds to change the actor they should have ensured that the transition had been smooth and convincing.

The gap between Toral's confident stride and Pratyusha's shy and hesitant first steps into the world of happiness is a bit too wide in my perception.I hope the CVs find a way to close those gaps and make this Anandi more convincing.

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Avika's Annadi is someone I adored.Avika is A Phenomenally talented actress who was born with it.

Pratyusha's Anandi is the Anadi I connected to.Pratyusha is some one who I took a long time to accept her.She worked hard at trying to be a convincing Anandi.

Toral 's Anandi is some I waited to see but yet to connect with her.She will have to work at convincing that she is some one who found strength and confidence in her husband's love.

Agree the transition between Prat's A and Toral's A is not very smooth. The hesitation that Prats inhibited is missing, hence it's not very convincing to see Toral's A suddenly so confident.

Toral is more like Avika minus Pratyusha.

It would be nice to see Toral as Avika + Pratyusha in the 3rd phase of her life where sheis not just Anandi but Mrs. Shivraj Shekar too.

Anita,

Lovely post. Fine blending of character Anandi's three phases with respective actors. (the third one, obviously in anticipatory vein, for these breaking glimpses from Toral, we need some volume to form impression so I have to reserve the opinion.)

What you summed up on character is covering everything. Echoing my impression on them; Anandi as an individual in herself was etched in three phases- Innocence, then anticipation and deference turning into a brief resigned submissiveness before casting indifference and revival (love- trauma- rebound and recollection), and then current phase of hopes and a happy, assertive self.

As the third phase is inevitably shared by two actors- as inevitably- it is going to be compared. Though there is a subtle line. Pratyusha posing a hesitant embrace- resolved in principle but diffident in practice- Toral may have more confident and surer embrace. Besides, this being unfolding stage, we will have to wait (as mentioned earlier).

Toral seems like a fine actress & far more closer in portrayal to the original 'Avika' Anandi and is perhaps better suited to explore this facet of Anandi's journey ahead...a strong, confident, politically-socially active A. But while watching the last two episodes I found her new found confidence, assuredness, brimming with positivity a bit jarring. Could not relate to her as P's Anandi! The Anandi that bid goodbye to Shiv in the car was still a shy, hesitant girl, just learing to re-discover her inner self with the unconditional love & support from her husband. The one who stepped out is too self-assured suddenly. The CVs should have toned down her excessive exuberance & kept some of the softness for some more time...till we could get used to the new face. For accepted she definitely wud be...after all we have all been waiting to see this Anandi...Shiv's happy, confident completely in love Anandi for a very long time.

The litmus test still remains...her interaction with Shiv should start where they left off...waiting to see if T-S & the Cvs will manage to convince me that this the Anandi Shiv fell in love with.