Gulaal's ego also has a unique characteristic of stemming essentially from self defense. Her circumstances, even with Vasant around, and especially so after his death, were dire and had she not stuck out her neck for herself, she would have been another walk over mat like PB. I suppose her strong mind set of fulfilling Vasant's dream, and like I've said before the enormous backing she gets in the face of MB, PB as well as Kesar (even as a kid) has been her substance, and protection, but it has simultaneously evoked in her the sense of responsive protection towards them, standing as a shield against the rest and eventually, the rigid sense of defense has evolved into a more ego version. I'm not saying she was as feeble as PB at any point of her life - but what was essentially her strong willed sense of self respect, has transformed into a more blinding ego... the entire conception she holds of never being wrong comes from her precarious situation of can't afford to be wrong and she's just lived so long with people around relying on her being right - that now she doesn't know of things another way! Her ego does not encompass the usual sense of exerting power - she was truly discomfited by the idea of being offered the Sarpanch post for example - but her power exerting ways are much more personal. She exercises this control over people in her life - perceiving is more like enjoying their trust - but it's almost like she self obligates herself to make decisions for everyone else's life - patronizing as we all say - and because of its far and wide acceptance for such a long time now... ego has just shaped up as another nuance to her character!
Nur - I thought the last scene (the GK segment of it that is) was beautifully symbolic and deep, not to mention a great build up for Monday. If there wasn't so much negative distraction from the Talli front, I would have actually been quite high on that scene. Anyway. With regard to the discussion between Anjali and you over comparing Dushyant and Kesar with Gulaal - I also see another huge difference between these two brothers, and their means to 'woo' Gulaal at their respective times.
For Dushyant, the wooing journey was always going to involve redemption, first and foremost - which is till date far from come - and the fact that he would have to change the person he was back then. When Gulaal showed a cold back to Dushyant, even in his initial changing phase, it wasn't just about being Galool - it was the basic philosophy at work, of falling in love with a person with their shortcomings. Gulaal could never have feared falling in love with Dushy, because the man that he had been, she loathed, and what he would become after changing, was like trying to tailor fit Gulaal's need... it is what Dushyant has done over the years - become an ideal man, because she has always looked down on him from the lack of being ideal, and so unlike Vasant. In short - he has been striving for a decade, to become Vasant - not to woo Gulaal any longer, at least not consciously, but somehow reaching upto her level of expectation has just become an innate part of his life long goal.
Kesar is a different story. For a brief phase, his bad phase with selfish tantrums and blind impulses, he actually had been changing for Gulaal. That was not the real him. When he showed up in the beginning, he was trying to change into this version of a man who could hate Gulaal, and who Gulaal would hate back - not with the exact line of thought, but really that was it. Then, after his realization of love struck him, he was willing to change into nearly any damn version, as long as it would bring Gulaal back. When he finally found peace, Kesar returned to being himself. Being the boy who loved Gulaal, and was loved back - even when she is desperately trying to fight away his presence. This is who Kesar is - a generally caring guy, a family person, a child at heart, a passionate man who gives whatever he puts his heart to a 100%... and most importantly, Kesar, for whom Gulaal is top of every priority list in the world. He can forgive her anything, and do anything for her - and that was and is the greatest source of happiness and peace to him. Gulaal could ward him off til he was trying to be someone else, she's having a hard time now, because he's back to being what he is best - just Kesar. Someone, who is capable of and will fill in Vasant's shoes, without becoming Vasant.
Gulaal's love/need/affection/concern has always been for this real Kesar. And it is this same Kesar that she cannot stand up against too long, or be at loggerheads with forever. And so the cracks in the great Talsagra wall are deepening at a pace that alarms her! When she asks him why he would do all those little and big things just for her - really, she knows the answer. Because her Kesar always would. It shouldn't even surprise her, if she comes to think of it, that he's taking 'such pains' to make her happy, when he has gone as far as offering to break the DV, only for her sake! But ofc, she currently disillusions herself with the notion that Kesar offered to free her because A) he truly repents his blunder of paap and lagaav or B) because he's trying to woo her back with reverse psychology. But deep inside she knows the reason. This is the all accommodating Kesar - the one who will let her get away with anything, absolutely anything, even a seeming betrayal to the family over Vasant's murder without still not knowing the real truth of her motive.
Anyway - I think in the Monday showdown we will not just see an angry Kesar... I think we might get to see a side of him that gets infuriated by her argument and gives it to her right left center, but we may also see the other side to him which is a picture of disgusted dejection on his part - where he tells Gulaal (this time not in tantrum or pain, but resignation) that he really will just let her be here on. Something like the 'ignoring' policy. I think it will be a treat to watch Gulaal be on the receiving end of indifference for once, even if it's affected only for her convenience and kills him inside - because she really needs a doze of that cold shoulder.
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
Mannat Har Khushi Paane Ki
