Chandra Nandini 5: The arc of a character - Page 2

Aunty I still stand my ground by Chandra. It was inconsistency on his part and could have cost him his life. But we are shown how things keep building up until things reach a breaking point as far as Chandra is concerned. Heavens bless this kid, he does a number of things and thinks in a fashion much beyond his age. He is a gifted kid. So he will definitely stand out wherever he is. But he is still at a stage where his identity formation nor his prioritization of goals in life are complete.

The problem with independent and talented kids is that they usually stay within their limits and attempt only what they are capable of pulling off but there could be occasions where after pulling out one feather after another out of their cap, they become cocky and overconfident and pull out a stunt like that where there is every possibility that it could go out of their hands. Chandra to do him justice initially thinks that he is actually doing a service to Nand by telling him about the goings on in his capital. This was a perfectly valid and good thing to try because he was an outsider to Magadh and was assuming all those excesses he saw being a handiwork of the soldiers.

But it is his behavior after he learns the truth that turns out to be uncharacteristic of what any adult would do in such a situation. Having potential and using it to the maximum are two different things. He has had no upbringing or proper guidance till now. That it where Chanakya comes in. Chandra is just like a river in spate. Most of his energies run in all directions, at times they water the fields, at times they destroy them with excess water and flooding, at times they go completely waste by emptying into the sea. It was definitely not an aberration in Chandra's character arc according to me. Aunty getting the honey comb and the raid on the Senapati of Magadh are boyish adventures though they establish Chandra's real nature and characteristics to some extent. But as far as I am concerned, the true test of his character comes in his retorts to his step father and Padmanand. There he takes the beatings from his step father but is undeterred. He receives really painful physical blows from him and yet finds the courage and sauciness to reply. If not physically at least through his words. He will not take injustice lying down.

You might say the situation is different with Padmanand. I see the same kind of behavior being repeated in both the places; just a little more or a little less. But the pattern is the same. I think that is where both of us differ in our judgement of Chandra's bravura. You see him acting out of character taking into account his behavior and demeanor during his boyish exploits, I am seeing it in consonance with his behavior to his step father. It is a repetition of the same pattern and not a case of acting out of the character arc. Just my opinion of this scenario. Aunty I am happy that you gave your analysis and did not leave it. More on Chanakya some time later. I am running late!

Originally posted by: Kavya_P

thanks for pm aunty

I looked at the terrible, horrible VFX job, like my Arithmancy teachers would've looked at my papers & I couldn't stop 🤣 what a SHODDY JOB! It's how I look back at the old fantasy movies in Hindi & can't stop laughing because they're such free laughs! The little boy is a real treat for beauty-deprived eyes, what beautiful brandy eyes!! But I reckon he could stick to modelling in the future. 😆 His acting is sub-par.


Yes aunty, I am one of those who is waiting for Tokas & SBP. I saw the promo & shes sooo good! I love her voice modulation. I hope the drudgery of telly does not diminish her NA-winning acting. We need actors like her on the telly ESP against very capable actors as Tokas. He
Should be rejoicing- For the first time he has a female lead who is probably even more capable than him. 😆 I want to see how he will take to this alien experience!!

Once again great analysis Aunty
And i know what & how is sine curve-it is continuous as Sine is continuous function (I am doing graduation with maths honours)
I also thought same about Chandra character and that's why I said it filmy in that post by shailusri
Chanakya character is also well depicted here by you
ONE THING I WANT SAY-
Chanakya was very intense character and must be very rude towards his students from outside
But the way Chanakya was shown in CAS and till now in CN i.e. Quite polite and kind towards his students
And that's why many people can't connect with Chanakya in these shows and more to Chanakya of CGM and Dr C Diwedi Chanakya
Thank you for PM Aunty

All I can say is I disliked the episode. In fact I disliked the whole week episodes. Bad VFX. All I could see is Chandra jumping like he had flying superpower. 🤢 I am more than bored with his contradictory dialogues. He says he hates love but he loves his mother and cares for strangers. So what's the definition of love for him ? Love between a man and a woman ? Ok fine !

Hey aunty😳

Now to my post on Chanakya. Both of us are of the same mind as far as Chanakya's behavior in court is concerned. But when it came to his behavior before the wild boar, you felt it as a bit of a letdown for a savant like Chanakya but ultimately let it go.

I will answer this using the concept of the human stress adapting and coping mechanism; the 3 Fs of Fright, Flight and Fight. Bravery does not actually mean the complete absence of fear. It is just well-controlled and well-adapted response to the fear triggers. Which mechanism any human being uses on being confronted by a potentially dangerous situation is based on his basic tendencies.

Chanakya's forte is his mind and knowledge. In potentially threatening situations, his brain completely takes over and handles the situation. It is usually adequate in most situations. But this was a situation which required brute force and power. He personally did not see that as his strong point. Hence the instinctive step behind showing the Fright and Flight response. If Chandra had not been around, that is actually the best thing Chanakya could have done.

Run away from it or climb up a tree until the danger had passed and some sort of help was available. But the fear which Chanakya faces at that single moment is debilitating. He sees his own imminent death before him. Whether he would have been afraid of death at some other juncture in a similar manner is a matter of pure conjecture.

But at that specific point, he sees his death approaching him and he is not ready for it because he doesn't want to die. He wants to save his Mathrubhoomi. He cannot afford to die but his death is very close to him. Even a man like Chanakya gives in to that one moment of raw truly unnerving fear. He would not have felt it even in Padmanand's Sabha despite a number of things not going according to his expectations. He was in perfect control of himself despite all that insult. He gave all the correct reactions and responses. But here, his actual strength, brain is powerless, so his human instincts take over giving uncontrolled responses to the danger or stress at hand. He stumbles and falls back in his attempt to escape.

Chandra's strength is his physical strength. He is small, skinny and an undernourished child but in all the challenges he has taken till now, his physical prowess or body has never failed him. It has never let him down. In most situations his heart takes over his mind. Fight is always the first instinctive response of this boy against his stress triggers.

While saving Chanakya from the brute power of the wild boar, Chandra is in his own territory and area of strength and also expertise to some extent. Despite being flung off furiously two times, he strikes at the right spot of the wild boar and scares him off. If we read backwards from here, he employs the same tactic with Padmanand. He sees the brute power of the beast and the brute power of the tyrant alike and adopts a similar stress response.

It works on the boar, it works on Nand as well but the required impact and result from the endeavor are missing. That's why his bravery though it wins him accolades does not result in the Praja getting their wealth back from Nand or Nand realizing his mistake and making ammends. The result and impact were there but its proper culmination was missing.

His Fight tactic in Padmanand's court could have got him in serious trouble. But he does it. He gets away with it lightly which is actually a relief! But he could have faced severer consequences for his Fight response in the court when it would have been better if he had listened to his brain instead of his heart and displayed either the Fright or Flight response which would have been the most apt for that situation.

He should have acted like Chanakya but he acts like himself and it results in a nil result endeavor. At the end, though Chandra actually won, neither he nor anybody got anything substantial in materialistic terms. He could have ended up losing also which is your argument Aunty.

Your concern is valid and also logical. This shows us why Chandra and Chanakya need each other so much to create history. Individually neither of them would have created the right impact or got the optimum result. For history to be created and rewritten both of them have to form a formidable team and combination where one's strength will be complemented by the other's intellect, and where the excessive giving way to the heart over the brain of one person will be balanced by one person's tremendous and supreme reliance on intellect in all situations.

Originally posted by: shailusri1983

Now to my post on Chanakya. Both of us are of the same mind as far as Chanakya's behavior in court is concerned. But when it came to his behavior before the wild boar, you felt it as a bit of a letdown for a savant like Chanakya but ultimately let it go.

I will answer this using the concept of the human stress adapting and coping mechanism; the 3 Fs of Fright, Flight and Fight. Bravery does not actually mean the complete absence of fear. It is just well-controlled and well-adapted response to the fear triggers. Which mechanism any human being uses on being confronted by a potentially dangerous situation is based on his basic tendencies.

Chanakya's forte is his mind and knowledge. In potentially threatening situations, his brain completely takes over and handles the situation. It is usually adequate in most situations. But this was a situation which required brute force and power. He personally did not see that as his strong point. Hence the instinctive step behind showing the Fright and Flight response. If Chandra had not been around, that is actually the best thing Chanakya could have done.

Run away from it or climb up a tree until the danger had passed and some sort of help was available. But the fear which Chanakya faces at that single moment is debilitating. He sees his own imminent death before him. Whether he would have been afraid of death at some other juncture in a similar manner is a matter of pure conjecture.

But at that specific point, he sees his death approaching him and he is not ready for it because he doesn't want to die. He wants to save his Mathrubhoomi. He cannot afford to die but his death is very close to him. Even a man like Chanakya gives in to that one moment of raw truly unnerving fear. He would not have felt it even in Padmanand's Sabha despite a number of things not going according to his expectations. He was in perfect control of himself despite all that insult. He gave all the correct reactions and responses. But here, his actual strength, brain is powerless, so his human instincts take over giving uncontrolled responses to the danger or stress at hand. He stumbles and falls back in his attempt to escape.

Chandra's strength is his physical strength. He is small, skinny and an undernourished child but in all the challenges he has taken till now, his physical prowess or body has never failed him. It has never let him down. In most situations his heart takes over his mind. Fight is always the first instinctive response of this boy against his stress triggers.

While saving Chanakya from the brute power of the wild boar, Chandra is in his own territory and area of strength and also expertise to some extent. Despite being flung off furiously two times, he strikes at the right spot of the wild boar and scares him off. If we read backwards from here, he employs the same tactic with Padmanand. He sees the brute power of the beast and the brute power of the tyrant alike and adopts a similar stress response.

It works on the boar, it works on Nand as well but the required impact and result from the endeavor are missing. That's why his bravery though it wins him accolades does not result in the Praja getting their wealth back from Nand or Nand realizing his mistake and making ammends. The result and impact were there but its proper culmination was missing.

His Fight tactic in Padmanand's court could have got him in serious trouble. But he does it. He gets away with it lightly which is actually a relief! But he could have faced severer consequences for his Fight response in the court when it would have been better if he had listened to his brain instead of his heart and displayed either the Fright or Flight response which would have been the most apt for that situation.

He should have acted like Chanakya but he acts like himself and it results in a nil result endeavor. At the end, though Chandra actually won, neither he nor anybody got anything substantial in materialistic terms. He could have ended up losing also which is your argument Aunty.

Your concern is valid and also logical. This shows us why Chandra and Chanakya need each other so much to create history. Individually neither of them would have created the right impact or got the optimum result. For history to be created and rewritten both of them have to form a formidable team and combination where one's strength will be complemented by the other's intellect, and where the excessive giving way to the heart over the brain of one person will be balanced by one person's tremendous and supreme reliance on intellect in all situations.

As you said here Chandra-chanakya complete each other to conquer the region and I also felt that
And this is what shown in today's (Mon) episode
The bond between them grew stronger as the time passed and yess if ever any person name Chandra the name of chanakya comes instantly and naturally in his mind and vice versa
In today's episode the most awaited scenes were RT and SBP entry and yess they both impressed instantly
But today's best scenes came from Chanakya and Manoj Ji Got a very good respect in my heart for his portrayal today
The tactics and inspirational words of chanakya were really good and moreover his believe in Chandra is commendable
Manoj Ji portrayed it wonderfully and best thing is he didn't tried to be like the previous ones and brought his own dynamics and that's really good thing as an actor to do
RT is surely going to be great as CGM
SBP is looking gorgeous and hope she impresses with her acting too
P S- please cv's don't use the BG tune always as it's not impressing but disturbing

Originally posted by: Couch_Potato

<font face="Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif" size="2">Hello Aunty,</font>

<font face="Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif" size="2">After missing from the last two posts (I think!), it was high time I came out of my shell to comment on this one. And boy do I have some issues, most of which you already raised, with the fifth episode. I shall follow the same format as yours. Also, I have yet to read and comment on the other analysis so that needs to happen too! TV watching has suddenly become quite a bit of work.</font>

<font face="Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif" size="2">First and foremost, I love the theme you have chosen to look at the episode. I couldn't agree with it more. One week of Chandra Nandani is over and I have some massive issues with the way Chandra's character has been shown. That's right - shown not shaped. Which was very apparent in this last episode.</font>

<font face="Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif" size="2">For one, I do not understand at all the over the top jumping and flying and falling that Chandra is somehow capable of achieving. I want to believe this is a non-supernatural, fictional account of REAL people, not shape shifters, super humans with unnatural abilities or highly skilled death and gravity defying individuals. I understand that it builds his character, shows insights into his dormant skills etc, but can it not be done in a more believable realistic way where I'm not left gaping at my TV screen?</font>

<font face="Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif" size="2">Then we had the whole Chandra-Nand confrontation. I completely agree with you. To me it seems ludicrous almost that a chit of a boy could come in challenge the king in his court in front of a huge gathering of visiting ministers and all (considering it was Nandani's birthday jashn), defeat him and be just allowed to walk away. It goes against everything that both Nand and Chandra had both been shown as so far. I mean here's a man who slits a man's throat for refusing to pay tax, who is getting people lashed for not paying up in crowded bazaars and yet lets a boy who insults his authority just go away scot-free? Granted he couldn't have done anything at that point in time to keep face but later? Could he not have sent his guards after him and punished him for his digressions? As you rightly said:</font>

<font face="Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif" size="2">So my question is why didn't he? Because it's Nandani's birthday? That seems irrational to me. Let him go in front of the court for that reason but Nand's not exactly known for keeping his word, why didnt he then avenge losing his face in his own court?</font>

<font face="Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif" size="2">As for Chandra, you have already covered is so well. I was just bewildered by the whole exchange. Yes, it drives home some important points - points like what makes a true ruler/king, about strength of character, justice, honour, courage and how there are some things you are born with perhaps, the royal blood and the attributes that come with it and again I am forced to refer back to the point I had made in a post I'd written a while back, about nature and nurture. It just appears as you rightly said that his instincts, his nature overrode his intellect, his cool calculateddemeanour. That a combination of things forced him to act out of character. Mura's lashing, the Nandani chariot, the forced taxes, the apparent fear and cruelty - a lethal combination that broke through his calm and collected rational thoughts and approach. However, rationalise as I may his outburst, it still appears very odd and jarring.</font>

<font face="Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif" size="2">On to Chanakya then. I have a pressing question, actually two. First one is, if Chanakya did see something in Chandra right from the start, why did he not stop him right then and there? Was he going to just let someone he saw as a probable answer to his quest and problem walk away? If he had to stay to discuss his plans, why not send one of his pupils after him then. Why just let him go?!? This question has plagued me since watching the episode. It makes no sense to me.</font>

<font face="Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif" size="2">And then that boar. Oh god! What a bad, bad job at VFX. And also again with the superhuman strength andathleticism. Also what was Chandra doing in the middle of the woods exactly and why? Why wasn't he in the city where he wanted to earn enough to go back and rescue his mother? And to now show Chanakya wanting to take Chandra under his wings after he saved his life has a profoundly different implication than if he had chosen to do so after seeing his in Nand's court. I don't know why it truly bothered me so much, but it did. Because it just seemedunnecessaryto me. A showcase of all those qualities that Chanakya was seeking, he had already seen them in Chandra - so what purpose did that whole badly executed boar incident serve?</font>

<font face="Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif" size="2">Now on to some self indulgence. TheSri Chandra TulabhaaramI think served no purpose but to show those not-so-subtle signs that Chandra-Nandani have a deeply etched connection and shall grow up to have anenviablelove. It was one of those meant-to-be-together-forever type of Ekta Kapoor show hints. And sad as it seems, I do enjoy those. It did make me feel oddly happy.</font>

<font face="Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif" size="2">Now as for Rajat's entry, I know I will be perhaps the only one on this forum saying this but I wouldn't mind if he doesn't appear until after two-three episodes. Just for the sake of storytelling and because I honestly want to see Chandra and Chanakya interact and his grooming begin. I won't mind the wait as long as the storytelling isn't compromised.</font>

<font face="Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif" size="2">Please take care of yourself and don't stop the takes, late as they be, they are always a delight to read.</font>

Fantastic post. The athletics and acrobatics shown have to be more plausible and believable. I am completely with you on that. The VFX is also poor at many places. It has to definitely improve to lift the overall quality of the show. Though we do see Chandra's needless and foolish bravura, I completely acknowledge the validity of both yours and Shyamala aunty's perspective, I am just coming at a different angle on the whole scenario. Please look up my posts on Chandra and Chanakya and what I think on them for understanding my viewpoint on that. You raised a few valid points on why Chanakya did not send his students to find Chandra if he was so impressed by his qualities even if he could not have gone personally behind him.

Chanakya's aim and war strategy requires a King, not any random king, but a king of a powerful state like Magadh to support him, complete with all the royal infrastructure, his army, funding, etc. He was impressed by the boy and even praises his bravery. But there ends the matter for him as far as he is concerned if things had properly worked out for him with Padmanand. If ever Chandra came to Taxilla to gain admission into the university, Chanakya would have given a glowing letter of recommendation and even paid his academic fees, boarding and lodging if he found him unable to fund them.

But Chanakya gets insulted at the Nand's Sabha. He is saved by Chandra from the wild boar. Chanakya does not have any option left at that point. There was a chance that the other kings he went to for help would react similarly though not so badly or despicably as Nand. They could simply refuse to support him telling that we are not bothered about what happens beyond the borders of our kingdom. How many times could he risk getting insulted and refused?

At this point, what does Chanakya do. He puts two and two together, does some Out of the Box thinking and decides to make Chandra the king. He knew that in the normal course 1+1=2. But if he and Chandra came together 1+1 could equal 11. They could form a perfect synergy which is essential for any winning combination. He knew that he would have to start everything from the scratch. But he knew that his intellect was capable of it. The boy himself was talented and promising. So finally he places his odds on the dark horse. History is a testimony to the fact that his investment paid off. But knowing Chanakya and his nithi, I would never have expected him to back Chandra first itself. It is too improbable. Chandra would never have been his first, second or even third option. The reality remains that Chandra was his last available option and he gave it a try and succeeded with it.

But you do not have to analyse anything, MDS!

Yes, you have already wasted 120 minutes, ie 2 whole hours😉. Jokes apart, I think you should take a break straightaway. No point in watching something that irritates you so much, and getting ulcers over this show after having got dyspepsia over CAS!

Shyamala Aunty

Originally posted by: MuguetDScorpion

All I can say is I disliked the episode. In fact I disliked the whole week episodes. Bad VFX. All I could see is Chandra jumping like he had flying superpower. 🤢 I am more than bored with his contradictory dialogues. He says he hates love but he loves his mother and cares for strangers. So what's the definition of love for him ? Love between a man and a woman ? Ok fine !

Risking his life for his mother, saving strangers going against the king, saving Chanakya from tiger, junoon to become someone and earn money so that he can save his mother from his abusive father... All these things are very nice. I think that makes him different from any other kids. But still I couldn't like Chandra. Thanks to the bad acting, editing and effects.

I am so disappointed with this show. Wasted a whole week. Will probably watch one more week or two then will give up if they are still showing crap.

Sorry have no energy to analyse boring episodes and characters.