Okay I'm finally here *grumbles mumbles at work that keeps me away*
Thank you for the caps Nur - as always, a completion to the written part - and Reemz, you say it all. Echoing Nur - charged is the word.
I want to start off from adding to what you said about Talli seeing him first though. I think what matters is not who between Gulaal and Talli sees Kesar first - but who Kesar catches sight of first! Which, yes ladies and ladies - is Gulaal. To me its symbolic of her being the first and only. The only 'woman' he has ever had eyes for... from let's see, the age of 10 or 12 years?! Everyone wants to get the 'hero' but the hero only falls for the one! 😆
Again - to elaborate on why I titled this post so - to me there was something very comparative yet distinct about the respective instant reactions from G and K. While for Gulaal - this was a first look at the grown up Kesar, for him, it wasn't really. As many people have pointed out over the months (mostly in criticism though) Gulaal's 'change' in appearance of a decade is not so dramatic. In my head - the change has been in her person. She hasn't really gone from being a 20 year old to a 40 year, and although a decade can make a person look very different, let's not forget this is the 20's-30's transition, not always the most stark obvious thing except maybe the 'responsibilities' which change the air about you. It is exactly the transformation in Gulaal. She hasn't grown fatter, or aged with wrinkles and grey hair - nor gotten reading classes at 30 some years... she shows a difference in the maturity about her. Also, is the slightly affectedly contained gestures, the self imposed rules and norms. The way her hand reaches out to clutch her accessories - her neck piece, her earrings - when you contrast and compare with the Gulaal of a decade ago, the vulnerability that has come about in having to 'hold herself within' is evident! And its an obvious change, when you're actually looking for it. But the point is, to Kesar - she is not a new face. And she's not a grand physical difference. Still the emotion in his eyes is reflective of her own - while she blatantly goes into her appraisal of him - an exception to her now new self which has learned to hold back and be drawn within - he instead is the case of bursting and stuffing the surge of emotions! To me, the second her eyes start brimming in this fond and prideful approval of his first impression, his own wall momentarily falls because it just has to mean the world to him - what his Gulaal thinks of him. And as happens in some later to come scenes too, Kesar in this rebellious phase is still transiently very much moved by the slightest show of pride Gulaal holds in him. In a strange way, its the one thing he has always been deprived of - the one thing that only Gulaal and Vasant have shown in him - a sense of pride. And while from Vasant it has been more like an idol or a mentor in his elder brother - getting this attest from Gulaal each time, is like his motivation to become better... even when all he wants to do is hurt her, cut her open, he can't help but give the greatest damn of all, to what she thinks!
Of course, the Duggu FB has to come in and interfere - as it will continue to for quite the while for now - but its interesting again to notice, how when Gulaal pulls off her tune apni Gulaal se muh pher liya... he is fighting to bring the cold face back. There's almost a momentary counter accusation in his eyes, and he does spell his counter accusation for her - although technically, that is not his grudge against her, really. And yet it is! Haha! He's such a cute and funny guy (okay I know inapt adjectives for his angry mode but really!) his base of base trouble is feeling betrayed by Gulaal, and not being convinced about it even in a damn decade. But his secondary trouble - and yes that bothers him although it doesn't get precedence - is being distanced from her... a decision he has taken for the two them, even as a child, but a distance that hurts him no less - in fighting it, in living it!
The coin toss is every bit 'charged' as Reemz calls it. Kitna nautanki hai ye banda - Gullu and he have both seen the coin fall flat in his hand, and then he shows her the crisply balanced adha adha stance of it 😆 You know the one thing I've always liked about Kesar's coin tosses is how he always bids the 'right' decision on seedha side of the coin. Without fail. How does it go, that cliche saying about a coin toss - when in dilemma toss a coin, not to see which side falls face up, but to realize which side you wish it will be, when the coin is still in air?! - Its like Kesar always knows what he wants the coin to tell him - and what he wants is always bid on the seedha side! Almost as 'fair' as the SHolay sikka, if you ask me 😆
Finally that tid bit from Nur's current avi - I'm so OHMIGOSH over it, there's no saying. Yes Nur, interestingly, its my favorite bit from the scene - although its really closely nearly tied with when he turns around first time to her whispered Kesar (which btw is not the last time we hear his name sound like that coming from her!) the last look is pretty classic - its a warning, a promise... and almost an assurance too, everything in one. A warning of more to come, an assurance of I'm back and real ... and an promise of I'm here to stay ... the promise and assurance are adha adha in intention. Very grey at that - the positivity and negativity of his character at its classic clash - but what a moment it is! To me, Gulaal is only consciously unaware of the warning... I personally think she can sense the disturbed undercurrents very well. But just that moment, she's is in such pure bliss, a sneaking glimpse of the optimist in her who once told Vasant she knew she would always win, peaks through, and tells Dushyant (on his expressing worry over Kesar's attitude) that he's just gotten back, give him time.
btw - I added that opening bit of Kesar's comeback particularly to lay out a comparison - of Neil in both scenes. While he's sufficiently good in the first bit, the initial sneaking smile of being the fix it guy, then the creeping and mounting anger blah blah at Dushyant... but the scene with Gulaal is like up by several notches. Its like the newcommer Neil suddenly picks up some last second tips at exponential rate, and the range of his expressions shows a whole lot more variation! They are so subtle, and so distinct all at once - unlike the opening bit, where they are slightly unvarying. Like the 'angry' look, doesn't show nuances, just anger. He's good there, but MP and him in the opening scene raise the bar several notches! An opening scene which spells so much to come - good and bad - kudos to the execution! 👏 One watch, and you know you want to see these two take it from here, to the end!
