How did you guys manage to digest today's episode? Cause I had to pause a couple of times to let my heart get back to it's normal rate before I was convinced I was ready to watch it again. And it all happened within those 8 minutes of Mandap scene.
It was all normal...just a normal wedding, not even close to the grand wedding that we were promised. Shivay's attire was still decent, Anika's was a disaster, there were hardly any guests when Oberoi Mansion was expected to be filled with a massive crowd, knowing that it is THE Shivay Singh Oberoi's wedding. All in all, it just never looked like an Oberoi Wedding.
But when did these factors ever make a difference when it was Nakuul and Surbhi in the question, who, for the umpteenth time have proved that if it is them taking over the screen space, hands down, audience would be moved with awe if not anything else, and they would slay every nook and corner of the screen like a pro with their incredible talent they are blessed with.
Nakuul literally OWNED Shivay's character today, no jokes and absolutely no exaggeration here whatsoever! I don't know about others but with his every look at Anika during every ritual in the mandaap scene spoke volumes and I felt as though this man was informing me about every single thought he was having while obliging the pandiit as he proceed with the mantras and instructions.
How can a pair of eyes and a almost-straight-face ever speak so much?!
Starting from when Anika was sat on the mandaap, I don't remember a moment when he took his eyes off of her. And how could he when he was still letting the reality sink in within himself that after the innumerable hurdles, they have finally conquered the last obstacle of their lives, chasing away any remaining baggage that held the potential to stand between them as a barrier for themselves to become one?
And then his protective instinct kicked in when he saw a flash of unease and restlessness on her face when Pandit refused to let Sahil do the Kanya Daan and it took him less than a second to make the transition from being the Shivay in his own dreamland, to becoming the SSO as he had almost started with his trademark shark tone, "Pandit ji..."
But our OmRu stepped forward to the rescue, and I couldn't be more thankful for giving me those old vibe of the of OmRuNi
bond
when Anika wasn't married to Shivay... What a beautifully crafted scene and what a timing to portray the protective brotherly side of OmRu that has always been there but just got covered with the more dominant Rishta in Society's norm. I personally, always adore the bond between a devar and bhabi, more so because I always feel like the bride gets a readymade brother who would stand by her side in a house and life that was totally nonexistent in the world she is used to living in. I have always admired the bond Anika shared with OmRu (esp with rudra) before marriage and I was just too delighted to see it back again.
"Khabardar jo hamari behen ko rulaya..."
"Pura khayal rakkhunga tumhari behen ka", says Shivay, never moving his gaze off her face.
And it all started off with that one vow. After that it was just his satrangi' eyes and resolute face speaking.
Holding her hand securely, he started walking around the fire as the Pandit chanted the matra, his each step and each round gave away a new set of emotion with the new vows his heart started to make for the lady he was proudly making as his, as he started completing each phere'. I am not Hindu by religion, and so I have no clue about the meaning to thephere. All I know from my past experience from other shows is that they take 7 promises which is not only about the couple but also how to cooperate with different aspect of life society norms (?). Well, whatever it is, to me, Shivay looked like he was making 7 promises of his own that revolved only and ONLY around Anika and nothing or none else. It was as though with every round, he was promising himself to be the man who would be her savior in this cruel world, her companion in this new journey of life, her mentor and guidance whenever her childish antics would kick in, her source of solace and warmth before she would even start searching for one , her pillar of strength when she would break down, her sunshine every time she would crawl into a ball in fear whenever darkness spreads through, and most importantly the only person who would drape her life with so much love and happiness that she wouldn't remember the last time she had felt the absence of the two primary aspect of life that makes it easy for a person to survive.
And then he adorns the mangalsutra around her neck.
While him tying the thread around her neck marked Anika as his, his eyes that never left hers even for a moment, solely made the promise to not let anyone dare to cast their evil eyes upon his possession.
And finally, he moves the Tika and takes the sindoor to fill the partition of hair. My heart soared high seeing how he kept his hand on her head for a few moments after he was done putting the sindoor on, taking in the view of his bride finally marked as his in every way religionwise and just let her know through the small gesture that he will become the shadow of her in every path of she takes in this beautiful journey they're about to begin, never leaving her to deal with anything or anyone on her own ever again! Just a straight face, a pair of eyes and a hand on her head and it felt like he had made thousands of promises about how he would keep her under his protective wing while making sure to honor her with respect and dignity that she rightfully deserves.
From feeling partially ashamed to declare Anika as his wife infront of the world, from being all awkward and shy to stand beside her or expressing his feeling to her, he has learned to become the most possessive man who is now smilingly embracing his wife infront of the entire family and shamelessly claiming her as his and declaring his rights over her so that he is not ever kept away from his wife ever again!
Told you, I wouldn't even notice their disastrous costume because I'll be more worried about how to cope with the fire that NaRbhi would be setting on my Laptop screen.
The decoration, the attires and the vicinity might not be grand, but wouldn't we be lying to ourselves if we say that those vows Shivay took to set everything right and wipe off the piercing memories from the past , as well as the additional promises with such resolution in his eyes didn't make it grand? This whole mandaap scene was nothing BUT grand to me. It's not always about appearance, the underlying message has to be just as important for it to depict the entirety of a segment beautifully. And for me, that aspect weighted thousand times more, making the highly claimed factor, costume, that gives the 'grand' appearance to a wedding very insignificant.
This one is by far one of the best ways Nakuul had pulled Shivay's character off, without uttering a single word to depict his emotion yet imprinting every promise he had made to Anika in his head, in my heart. He just downright crawled into the skin of Shivay...that's all I can say. My respect and pride for this man is lifted a few notches higher after this episode.
P.S. I just realized I have ended up writing 3 pages analysis of an 8 minutes mandaap scene. And trust me, I haven't found such tranquility within myself in a while.
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