I absolutely loved Raghav's characterization in scenes I saw of him online from last night's episode, saw them late and hence posting late too. The depth, the inner struggle, his battle between his mind and heart, his need to protect and preserve his family and at the same time his need to avenge and how it's slowly consuming him and even leading to self-harm.
He is unable to hide anything from Sia, unable to lie at the same time he is too scared to have that smile disappear from her face, to be the reason of putting a break to her new found happiness.
The amount of self-control he was trying to show in Saxena's presence you could clearly feel how conflicted he is between giving Gayatri what she wants and following his gut feeling. He hated that Gayatri still feels secure with the law and believes law will get them justice, Raghav certainly does not have faith in law but at the same time he can't refute her belief about Saxena without hurting her that too when has no evidence yet. You can tell that he suspects that Saxena is involved but that he can't tell her that yet because he doesn't have leads or proof.
Another thing visible was self blame, which comes from people around him. Even if it's worry making them do it, they are actually pressuring him and making him blame himself more by pointing out how THEY are hurting because of what he's doing.
Harshad's eyes expressed anger, struggle to control that anger, and vulnerability at the same time.He was absolutely brilliant, it was through his performance that you could see through how Raghav can see Gayatri's pain but he's too consumed by anger and hatred towards Rana to let go.
His hatred for him is not about revenge alone, its more about making sure he does not harm any other member of his family, ever again. He can't sit around waiting for Sexena to do something because he has no faith in him, he knows he won't bother. His biggest fear is Krish, notice how Raghav can no longer see Krish in the eye, he feels guilty and consider himself responsible for Krish's plight.
There's a fierce need to protect Krish and fix him. The fact he is unable to ensure their safety is something that makes him feel powerless that powerlessness is leading to frustration. This has to do with his sense of responsibility at protecting his family.
Note Harshad's body language he was rigid, tense in every muscle. In the scene with Sia where she makes him sit down, the hand pressed on the heart because words fell too short of expressing the pain, his anger blinding him and that was so clearly visible in his eyes. Brilliantly portrayed!
HC's facial expressions were one thing but he couldn't even sit down properly but sat stiff, ready to jump up and pace, like a lion trapped in a cage.
The hand-on-heart scene was brilliant, as it spoke volumes. You saw that anger still present in his eyes, but vulnerability merged with that and you could hear how suffocated he felt with all that pain. Top-notch performance!
Raghav feels cornered, like he can't protect anyone. He is unable to secure them and at the same time wants to do what he believes is right. That proves something about Raghav still being sharp and clever. He knows something's amiss with Saxena and he can't trust him or the law. This reflects character consistency.
Also he chose to tell Sundar rather than any of the women in the house mainly because Sundar has seen him on his roadside days, he understands him better and also Sundar probably also knows how the system works rather than Gayatri who chooses to believe blindly in the law.
The dialogues had depth and most important of all Raghav was in character is what I loved the most.
Script was better than it has been recently specially when it comes to character growth and consistency and it was without doubt one heck of a performance!!!
Credit caps: Div
Bade Achhe Lagte Hain
Anupamaa
CID
Kabhi Neem Neem Kabhi Shahad Shahad
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