Posted:
A few epis back, I was struck by how much it would sting a character like Shivaay to cope with the inability to provide for and protect the ones he loves...today's episode added new shades to that dimension.
Today we got to see, very tangibly, might I add...a Shivaay struggling to do the only thing he's known all his life..."main sab theek kar dunga"...over and over again he repeats this line for most of the episode today. For here's a guy still trying to grapple with the fact that he's been seperated from his brothers, unable to watch over them directly as he's done all his life...
So what does he do? He pours all that helplessness into taking action again via saving these little kids from the bus hijack...the entire sequence gave him a PURPOSE just when he'd been feeling utterly helpless, feeling like he'd lost, failed to keep his family together...so uncaring for his life, he stands in front of a speeding bus...did he know that Anika would find a way to save him somehow? Perhaps, perhaps not...he'd have still stared down that bus and not blinked until the end it seems.
Every step was purposeful, Shivaay taking charge as soon as he enters the bus and sees everyone's panicked faces...he brings order, steering them all out of harm's way...until it's just him and Anika left...as usual, he tries to ask her to leave, wanting to save her before himself...as usual she refuses and tells him she won't leave him...finally out comes the pinky promise after many days...her one condition to agreeing to leave...if he promises her that he will come back safe and sound...Something about this pinky promise felt different today...perhaps it was the way it was shot...not rushed, letting the moment be drawn out, and both their eyes filled with all the love in the world for each other, along with the fear of being seperated even if they're trying to put on a brave front...true to form, Shivaay turns away, needing to force himself to disengage his finger from hers, asking her to leave even as she draws out the moment tearfully watching him until the very end...
And then came the moment where Anika grappled with the possibility of having lost him...wailing in pain from the very depths of her soul...after many days, Anika cried like that...and I was quite thankful for some solid direction and superb acting from SC for bringing out that raw feel really well today👏
Until finally he returns...against all odds, walking in with the sun behind him...now if that's isn't symbolism, what else is? Shivaay Singh Oberoi toh suraj hi hai...a sun that won't be eclipsed so easily
But then comes the truly heartbreaking scene of the episode...just when you least expect it. One would think, Shivaay just saved the day again, he survived, it's time to breathe a sigh of relief...but then you realize that this is what it was all building up to...the moment those two kids ran over to him and promoted him from "Uncle" just yesterday to "Bhaiyya" today, everything shifted inside him...he saw his brothers in those little children...the ones he'd just managed to save and he retreats almost into a trance, calling both of them OmRu and repeating "main Shivaay hoon, main sab theek kar dunga"...through those kids, he's able to finally able to verbalize his pain, talk about what his brothers mean to him and admit that he's missing them so much...
The teacher takes the kids away, the trance breaks in a sense, Shivaay turns to see Anika, tries to get up to go and walk over to her but is unable to find the strength and falls down again...the magnitude of his pain truly hitting him then and the way Anika rushes to catch him...from that point onwards, the dam fully bursts...and all that Shivaay had held inside himself for the past many episodes finally comes pouring out...before this we'd only seen glimpses...a brief breakdown in Daadi's lap, almost giving in to tears while hugging Rudy, but still managing to bring himself back into stoic mode everytime to just keep going...until this moment...until this moment when even the great wall reached his breaking point and was brought to his knees by his pain...
I have to note in this scene both the brilliance of the director's vision, capturing the evening, waning sun so perfectly in the backdrop as well as the two brilliant actors we are blessed to have playing these two characters...Shivaay's emotions were a new level of raw today...utterly broken, like a child who can only cry helplessly, unable to say anything, but WAIL...that cry coming out of the depths of his soul...the sheer decimation in his body language spoke of his state of mind and NM performed that so brilliantly 👏...and then there was Anika on the other end...if Shivaay was the heartbroken lost little boy today, she was the mothering foil absorbing all his tears...letting him cry out all that pain, soothingly hugging him to her chest, raining those soothing kisses on him, her own heart breaking to see him like this but still telling him over and over again that everything will be all right...that they will together make it all right...so beautifully performed by SC👏...These two have already been on a roll this week, am amazed that they still pulled this out of them today👏
This shot is just👏
And after all this emotional catharsis, comes the feeling of a fresh start...as they talk about having a home in Goa, starting a new business...Anika projecting all her faith into Shivaay once again with the way she tells the Mayor that wherever Shivaay goes, time and people both run according to him😆
Really enjoyed the episode overall :) Looking forward to this new phase for Shivika :)
Kumkum Bhagya
Tu Dhadkan Main Dil
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
