Chandra Nandini 21-22: Plot on a gallop! - Page 15

Hope you feel better Aunty i think amatiya said something about taking from tresury and nand as usual take itfrom his praja thiswillbe a turning point as i read something about it andamatiya will go against nand

I am delighted to have you back here, my dearest Ashwinee, and the para now in blue below amused me no end. The folk who say that mean it as a compliment to me, and I do appreciate it and am grateful for it, but the truth is that the written word can only complement the visuals, never be a full substitute for them. This is especially so when there is a very good performer like Rajat at work.

As usual, your two pence add up to much more, maybe even a whole pound! I especially liked the absolutely logical explanation about the timbre of his voice. This had never occurred to me!👏

I will stop here, for my hand is not in good shape today, and will catch up with you after you have caught up with the episodes. You will love the Chandra-Helena scene of last night

Affectionately,

Shyamala Aunty

Originally posted by: Ash67

Dearest Shyamala aunty,

Sorry to have gone missing without a trace. As usual, lots of reasons out of my control - Crazy work load, and not getting to watch the episodes because of work and my location are the main ones. I have been reading your posts on my mobile (usually on the bus!) and that does not allow logging in or hitting 'like'! Hence the en masse 'likes' from me this (very early) morning!

This time, I cannot say that I liked your posts better than the episodes - not because of the improved quality of the episodes (as we know, that only spurs you to Shakespearian heights!) but simply because I am yet to watch the episodes after the war! Rather than waiting to catch up, I have jumped in here. I hope you do not mind.

So just a few observations, not in any particular order -

I agree that the episodes are in a full gallop - in service of the love story' as you point out. Many things are brushed upon only cursorily and EK's casting talent seems to have gone awry as far as the women in Chandra's life go. Nand seems to be luckier! 😛

RT is a chameleon indeed. No trace of any other role. The voice, the body language and the look - all distinctly different. Needless to comment on the last two, especially the lastest 😉, but the first seems to have become a point of discussion (solely from what I have read on this particular thread!). On this point, I agree with you and Sandhya is right.

My two pence -

RT becomes the character he plays and he changes his body language to convey the age range of the character. He wields his voice the same way. One only needs to go back and hear the young Jalal and then, say, the drunk Akbar on the night of Salim's wedding!

I think, here too, RT has put on age appropriate' voice and diction. This is a young guy in his twenties (historically even younger?). He cannot sound gambhir' and adult. It is a freshly broken' voice. It cannot be a baritone. Guys this age often talk quite fast. Also, he might be of a royal birth but he is not brought up as a royal. The cadences of his voice are bound to be different from those of , say, a prince. (And Chandra masquerading as Malayketu speaks differently in Nand's court) If the CVs and other actors could convey this nuance, Nand would speak differently than Avantika - regularly in the initial episodes and infrequently in the latter ones where he has been a king for years. We also have to remember that Chandra is a great warrior but not yet the emperor not even a veteran general used to addressing armies in the battlefields.

The best part of what I have watched till now - The CC scenes and the best of the best - the war, RT, and his sword fighting (aunty, loved your description of it in the Baptism by blood'!) If only I had Anjali's skills, I would edit out the royal audience' and watch it uninterrupted! (Anjali, are you listening? 😉😛)

Now off to an encore of the War scene! (need to refresh my memory before I watch the subsequent episodes 😃)

Hoping to be back soon with something on the remaining episodes.

Warmest regards

🤗

Ashwinee

Originally posted by: Sandhya.A

Agreed. There is no explaining why some people appeal to you instantly and others though similar put you off.

Sorry to hear about the pain Aunty. Please take care. You should not have responded to my response when the hand is hurting.

Originally posted by: sashashyam

<font face="Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif">I think I have not made myself quite clear, my dear. It is not a question of someone appealing to you or not, though that too is unpredictable and often irrational.</font>

<font face="Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif">It is the ability of one person to heal the emotional hurts of another, sometimes simply by being there, sometimes,as in the present case, by soothing the other with supportive, calming, reassuring words and gestures. But the same words and gestures from another person similarly qualified, going by the three criteria you have flagged, might not work. Why is this so?</font>

<font face="Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif">When one is a child and one gets hurt, a cuddle from one's mother makes one feel almost OK. No one else has that effect on a child. But a mother's bond with her child is very special. As is that of the beloved with her lover. But there are a few, very few others who do not fit these categories, but are still able to comfort and heal the one in deep distress. That is the slot that Helena fills right now for Chandra.</font>

<font face="Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif">Shyamala Aunty</font>

yes aunt you're so right in judging the undercurrent of emotions playing in the scene.
Actually it was deja vu... Helena returned what chandra did to her when she was ditched by malayketu. She was feeling so vulnerable but chandra helped her almost a rank stranger to her but made her return with vegenanance.
So this understanding was much more like CO travelers, they complement t each other to reach a definite destination.
They were like two mountaineers trying to scale heights.. And became the biggest support to each other when one was lacking in enthusiasm.
Helenas chief motive is to become queen of magadh.
Both will realize especially Helena that she loves chandra when he has another love interest in his life... In form of nandini I presume as per the show.

Originally posted by: sashashyam

Spot on all the way, my dear Prem!👏 I strongly dislike this halo that is already being gilded for Nandini, and I would any day prefer Helena, especially after her scene today with Chandra. I have discussed this in detail in my response above to Disha.

However, it is not just the foreigner vs Indian thing, you know. If Helena had been Indian too it would have been handled the same way. The heroine is always boosted, with and mostly without reason, and all the other women in the hero's life, except his mother, are pulled down.

But as for the status of women in India in that era, I am sure it was pretty good, for the deterioration began only in the 3rd century AD, and was speeded up after the invasions by the barbarian hordes from Central Asia.

In contrast, the status of women in most of the ancient Greek city states was hardly good.

Athenian women did not have any political, economic or legal rights in those days. Even slaves could become Athenian citizens if freed, but not women. No women ever acquired citizenship in ancient Athens, and therefore women were excluded in principle and practice from ancient Athenian democracy. Nor did women have any rights to property, or an independent legal status. A woman was always the ward of a man - first her father, then her husband.

Like our Manu, the famous Athenian philosopher and student of Plato, Aristotle, actually said that women would bring disorder, evil, and were "utterly useless and caused more confusion than the enemy"!

Things were somewhat better in the highly militaristic city state of Sparta, but in general, as the historian Don Nardo noted: Throughout antiquity, most Greek women had few or no civil rights and many enjoyed little freedom of choice or mobility.

In fact, Indian women seem to have been better off in those times!

Shyamala Aunty

Originally posted by: shailusri1983

We have been having this same discussion since a long while. Is thinking about yourself and your self-respect such a bad thing for a woman? Why should narcissism be seen as such an evil in a woman? Is a self-sacrificing tyag ki Devi who marries the person who actually tried to rape her for the sake of her family such an appealing and inspiring image of the "good" woman? While a person who tried to avenge the person who dishonored her and her love, and tattered her self-respect by paying him back in his own coin an image of a "bad" woman? I feel sorry for such a depraved mindset that still seems to exist among many people.

Similarly not all foreign things, traits, and people are bad, just as all things, traits, or people "Indian" in name need be good. Any day I would prefer a "foreign"Mother Teresa to a local "Indian" Padmanand dupe. I dislike blanket generalizations of goodness and badness. I would any day prefer a Helena who confronts her wrongdoer and tries to punish him than a goody two shoes Nandini who will marry her own attempted rapist for the sake of family honor. What does she actually think she is doing? A person like Malay who tried raping her before marriage will do puja and arti of a Mahaan Devi like her? I fail to understand her logic. She sees wrongdoings, tyranny and atrocities all around her, but she does not react or at least ignores it after a mild reprieve. She becomes a "good" woman? Terribly absurd!

Originally posted by: shailusri1983

Yes, Aunty! We do not see Mother Teresa as a foreigner. My father often used to tell that while talking about great people you should see not only their Janmabhoomi but also their Karmabhoomi. It's for that reason that though Buddha was born in Nepal, we see him as an Indian prestige symbol and great religious guru. Similarly Bodhidharma was born in India, but Chinese perceive him as a very important part of their heritage and one of their great religious leaders. Though Mother Teresa was Polish by birth, she is Indian because India was her Karmabhoomi. Similarly, a wife should be identified with her husband. Though she might have been a foreigner before marriage, she should not be discriminated against for her birth after her marriage to an Indian. Helena does not deserve to be put down against Nandini in future just because she was a Greek lady by birth.

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Originally posted by: amina1

I once visited a city and no jewellery shop locked all open at night - no one dare steal because if you steal and caught hands cut within 2 week trial over

fantastic analysis aunty!! 👏