Originally posted by: sp108
Hello Aunty,
How beautifully have you described the romantic moments between the couple. Lovely. My replies in red.
When the material is as good as it was here, it is easy to be eloquent!
Folks,
Like railway engines do sometimes when switching tracks, let us begin at the end and go backwards. You will not regret it!
Pataalgram: Night
Nandini, stretched out on the mat next to Chandra, her head pillowed on his outstretched hand, ruminates about his soft side that he keeps assiduously hidden most of the time. She moves his angavastram and once more regards the deep burn mark on his side, the mark she now knows was inflicted by his foster father when he was a child. She stretches out her hand and almost touches it, as her eyes soften in tenderness.
Jaanti hoon, shaareerik peedha tum sah sakte ho. Parantu jo ghaav tumhein samay ne diye hain, kaash main unhein mitha paati!
I had noted , in my last post, while describing that madcap chase across their room, that when Chandra wonders to himself at the way in which Nandini's happiness gives him santosh, all unbeknownst to himself, he has summed up the very essence of love. Now, in wanting to wipe away all the pain he had ever suffered at the hands of fate, and if need be to take it all upon herself, Nandini too is defining, in a different but equally telling fashion, the very essence of love.
I found myself wishing that Chandra had woken up at the precise moment when she was looking at the scar of his old wound, and that she could then have summoned up the courage to repeat to him what she had just said to herself. But then their love story would have been speeded up by God knows how many episodes, and that would never have done for the CVs, would it?
Instead, in a sudden realization of what he now means to her, she moves closer and cuddles up to him as she falls asleep in her turn.She has used him as a teddy bear earlier, but that was accidental, and it shocked her when she woke up. This is a deliberate, desired closeness, which is sought and cherished. Which is what makes all the difference.
Such a lovely scene and such a wonderful description. Inspite of the infinite loopholes in the script, I enjoy ChanDini scenes. This was such a poignant and tender scene that it brought me back memories of another couple who had some wonderfully tender moments - Saras-Kumud.
Oh yes, I agree completely with this. The romantic scenes in Saraswatichandra were also superb, for all that Gautam in not of the same calibre as Rajat. Still, he pulled off the hesitant, complexed Saras very well.
Instinctive empathy:
This sequence is also remarkable for the way in which Chandra looks across at Nandini before sidestepping her query. The shadow of that old, ugly incident clouds his eyes, and darkens his soul all over again, even if only for an instant. It was a truly marvellous shot.
Rajat was very good in this scene. And I agree with you that he is exploring a lot more emotions on this show compared to the previous one. All in all, after watching him in JA and now in CN, I feel there is no scene this guy can't perform. Even after nearly 80 odd episodes of CN, I still can't find Jalal. Kudos to this guy. And anyways, if I want to watch Jalal, I'd rather watch the old show.
With that comes another seminal understanding, of what it is that makes Chandra wary of love, distrustful of indulging his heart, and letting it drag him into a crippling emotional dependency on another. It is this vital new level of understanding that will shape their future relationship from her side. And it is the shared pain at the thought of all that he has suffered that leads to her Parantu jo ghaav tumhein samay ne diye hain, kaash mein unhein mitha paati!
For starters, she can at least confess to Chandra about her multiple personality disorder. A lot of his hurt would be wiped away! Nevertheless, I think Nandini and Chandra are very perceptive when it concerns each other.
The odd thing last night was that even when he repeatedly remarks that she was behaving erratically, that she had asked him to apply the lep etc. she does not seem to connect it even with her split personality disorder. Of course there is no question of her knowing that there is a Roopa around. Why does she not tell him that she was kidnapped the last night and woke up only in that cave with the tantriks? She just keeps on parroting that she did not do it. Dumb female! Nor is she shown trying to puzzle things out when he mentions the same point during the ploughing ceremony.
As for Chandra, does he never look at Roopa's nails, and the absence thereof when Nandini turns up? They are both so dense that they would run each other a close race!😡
Chulha kaand: It is tough to say what it was that I liked the best about this marvellous segment.
It could be the self exculpatory try by Nandini: Maine roti nahin jalayi! Wo jal gayi!
It could be the smart and aggressive comeback she makes when Chandra ribs her about having boasted of her cooking prowess: Karya hum donon ka hai na? To tum khade khade tamasha kya dekh rahe ho? Sahayata karo!
Or the childlike urgency and stubbornness with which she clamours, as soon as he has got the chulha going: Main bait thi hoon! Main karoongi! Main karoongi!! The way is which she dismisses his remonstration: Pehle seekh to lo!, with an even more insistent Nahin, aa gaya! Tum idhar aao!, as she ousts him from the seat in front of the chulha and takes charge.
Or the pleasure with which she receives his instructions as to how to make the roti, her hands, held closely between his own, rolling out the dough. Or the open affectionate admiration in her gaze as she asks him confidentially how he learnt to cook so well, and listens to his explanation.
They must have hired a separate writer to write Chandini scenes. They are so unique. Be it the milking scene, the drumsticks scene or even making the cow dung cakes scenes. I can watch their scenes many times over without getting bored.
Yes, and the poor chap is probably on daily wages!😆
Ghatak prahaar!: Now for the unquestioned piece de resistance. Everything about this bovine encounter is priceless, and the P should be uppercase.
It begins with Nandini's unconsciously hilarious query Kahaan se? when Kanika tells her to get the milk, as Chandra is silently chortling with ill-suppressed mirth in the background.
It continues in high gear as she tentatively approaches the cowshed, wondering to herself Duhte kahaan se hain?, while Chandra, lounging against a post and taking large bites out of a fruit, watches her uncertain progress with mischievous glee, and kindly informs her that one usually sits down to milk a cow.
These two have great comic timing
The ghatak prahaar by the supposedly gentle animal lands poor Nandini with her hand in gobar, and by now she has abandoned all pretence of being a pro at milking a cow. She is thus grateful when Chandra takes the matter in hand, and approaches the cow only when assured that it will be all right, aur phir main hoon na!
What follows, as Nandini gets her first experience of doodh duhna, and even more so of drinking milk straight from the cow, is pure delight. For her, for Chandra, and for the viewers, who are drawn irresistibly into the magic world that the two of them inhabit for the moment.
Their faces, close enough to touch each other, are awash in bubbling delight, as Nandini licks her lips and rejoices in how good the milk tastes, and her joy in these simple pleasures is mirrored and amplified in Chandra's laughing eyes and his wide smile.
This is not romance. This is something rarer and more precious, a perfect camaraderie of the spirit that, for the moment, has blended the two of them into one symbiotic, supremely happy whole.
@bold: Beautifully described Aunty!
Thank you!! I loved this line myself.
The rest: Compared to these exquisite scenes, what was left, including the jhoola nritya, was just not in the same league.It was predictable, down to the admiring glances exchanged between our lead pair, the ease and grace with which they danced, and the obvious comfort level they shared.
One thing that I like about this couple is their comfort with each other. Else none of these scenes would have come out so well. It does make a difference when there is a level of trust, comfort between the leads.
Absolutely. The contrast with Jodha Akbar could not be more marked.
The Mukhya Maharani track:
But he is nothing if not persuadable. After listening to Nandini's impassioned tirade against the unsuitability of his choice, he once again starts having doubts. In fact, one is dismayed that he does not have the political smarts to realise, on his own, what the likely reaction of the praja would be to his declaring a Yavani queen as his Mukhya Maharani.
Precisely! Until the praja and Chanakya intervened, he was happy to have a foreigner as the Queen. Even in today's times, we wouldn't settle for a foreigner as a Prime Minister (I was against Sonia becoming PM long time back despite her having settled in India for a long time). They have made a dumb Emperor out of Chandra. This is one of my main issues with this show. CGM ruled over a large empire. He couldn't have been this stupid!
No, he could not have. Unfortunately, our Chandra is even stupider!
Much of a muchness: Frankly, it says very little for Chandra's perceptiveness that he can actually mistake this brazenly seductive woman to be the Nandini he has by now known for weeks at close quarters. But that is exactly what he does do, following this folly up with another of his standard issue tirades once he is back in his rooms and finds Nandini, in the same costume but a bone dry one, ensconced cozily in the bed with one of her eternal pustakein. One presumes he thought she had duplicates of every single dress!
😆😆😆
A key stone:
As for me, I wished it had hit Chandra's head instead. Even with the protectiom of his massive pagdi, it might still have done him some good by shaking up his somnolent grey cells!
🤣You are on a roll
I am always pleased when one of my jokes is noticed and liked!
Unspoken pleas: So we come to yet another Chandra-Nandini confrontation, as he announces that he is now going to make her the Mukhya Maharani, and she first turns him down flat. This one is much better then the last one in their rooms, for the lines are far superior, both the spoken ones - about this being the desire of the praja, and about the need to avoid unrest, a possible revolt and bloodshed- and the beautiful unspoken ones:
Nandini: Kyon mera hriday chahta hai ki ek bar tum mujhe Maharani nahin, apni patni ke roop mein khade rehne ke liye kaho? Ek bar kaho ki tumne mujhe Mukhya Maharani praja ke liye nahin, apitu apne liye chuna hai!
Chandra: Pata nahin kyon mera hriday chahta hai ki tum sada ke liye mere saath raho..Mera man batana chahta hai ki main praja ke liye nahin, swayam ke liye tumhein Mukhya Maharani banaoon..
The same longing echoes in his odd exclamation, almost a question, when she declares that she will accept the post for the sake of her praja, Bas kewal prajat ke liye!?! What the devil does he expect her to say?
She turns to him and looks into his eyes with her heart in her own, but he either cannot or will not read the message in them. For there are none so blind as those who will not see.
We are by now so used to these missed signals that we merely sigh and pass on.
These two are so stupid! They really deserve each other. He wants her to say only one thing which she doesn't say. Ditto for her. I sometimes don't mind it. Sometimes, longing can be as romantic as requited love. Especially with Rajat-Shweta who don't even need hand-holds. Looking into each others eyes, they create magic.
I could not agree with you more!
The first apaharan:
When Chandra discovers Nandini's recumbent form, the shock and near panic that grip him are all there in his voice. It is not hoarse. It trembles, it becomes almost suspended as he scrabbles around to see if she is still breathing. It was an amazing display of voice control by Rajat.
People often criticise Rajat for his voice. Not all male leads have a baritone or even a great voice. However, this guy can do some good voice modulation. And that people hardly notice.
It is not just this, they do not notice the exquisite little snippets, the nuances, he conjures up out of his imagination either.😲
Then follows one of their charming riding back together scenes, in which she is invariably unconscious. And just as invariably, his heart speaks the lines his tongue never manages to articulate.
Na jaane kyon mera man karta hai ki main tumhein sada yon hi thaame rahoon, aur samay rukh jai.. Ki tum sada yon hi meri baahon mein raho aur main har pal tumhari raksha karta rahoon..
He is very protective about Dhurdhara and Nandini. Loves both of them loads, albeit differently.
Later, in their rooms, once she is conscious, he barely lets her get a word in as he bombards her with repeated questions about how she came to be in that cave in the forest at night.
And he even, wonder of wonders, manages to actually arrive at the conclusion that Kabhi kabhi to lagta hai ki koyi to baat hai jo tum mujhse chupa rahi ho, jo mujhe batana nahin chahti ho! At this point, I almost fainted from shock.
Yes...too much brains from Chandra is difficult to digest.
What matters is the expression on his face as he says, almost in spite of himself: Aur jis avasta mein maine tumhein dekha, main.. where he comes into dangerous territory and makes an abrupt halt.
Nandini is of course stuck with her old mantra that he loves only Helena and cares nothing for her, Nandini. It is not only Chandra who is blind. If Nandini had eyes to see, the look on Chandra's face, which speaks louder than the words he says to himself: Ek pal ke liye mujhe laga ki maine tumhein sada ke liye kho diya hai..Main bata nahin sakta ki kya dasha thi meri..., would have told her all that she needed to know.
When I see these two, I am reminded of the tip of the root which moves makes its way around the rocks to reach its source of nourishment - water. Inspite of the many differences, misunderstandings, this couple manages to find love in each other.
Now this is one of the most unusual and beautiful takes on the process of loving that I have ever read.👏
Kamaal ki jodi: Finally, a few words about our Odd Couple.
It is clear that the two of them have a remarkable range in the kinds of togetherness they handle with consummate ease. The milking scene and the madira scene are the two extremes, and in between there are ever so many other shades: the farewell gifts, the packing, the vaanar jokes, the choice of the gift for Mura, the acceptance by Nandini of the Mukhya Maharani post, the list goes on. This is what makes the journey to their realisation of their love as engrossing as their eventual arrival at the end point. It is rarely that this is the case with romantic couples, so this pairing is really special. And we, the viewers, are really lucky.
I couldn't agree more.
I wanted to comment on your previous post which brought me back lovely memories of Lake Como. I loved it a lot. Due to some personal problems, I just wasn't able to sit down and type anything. But I really wanted to.
Please take of your health Aunty. I hope the summer gives you some reprieve from flare-ups of RA.
I am glad you liked the Lake Como bit. Yes, it is a very beautiful spot. As for my RA, fingers crossed!
