Originally posted by: indi52
hi durga,
astitva was interesting, perhaps the only hindi serial with a real, thought out female protagonist, and issues of gender, identity, age, all brought up and looked at as clearly as possible. the idea of a younger man and a much older woman was new in soap and explored with feeling.
i was not hooked to it, many of my friends were. i would watch an episode once in a way. didn't have glamour, but lots of substance and at least one imaginable female protagonist. sorry, i am not at all a candidate for the parvatis and prernas , tulsis and the balika bodhus of this universe. i understand their need but i have not even one second for them because they believe ina way of life i have long dissociated myself from... i was actually never of that thinking.
khushi was funnily enough more my girl. in her i could see me, sometimes...
oh i so get your point about them not being married off to other people and all teh usual soap sickness. actually ipk was refreshingly free of the soap language, including the dhang dhang dhang close up of each person editing style and excessive campy drama.
what i loved about ipk was the exploration of a feeling called love and what it can do, what it makes you capable of, all its weird challenges and the unpredictable melting of heart. mainly, it brought love centre stage and said this feeling is worth much... and it is not exactly what you thought it was. i loved that. maybe because i believe in love and that sort of love.
yes, i am a bit impossible on this topic.
and as love stories go it was perfect for me... there was a fabulous pair, but no one had to die, no one had to get raped or marry others... tragedy wasn't its inspiration, joy and life and hope were. it takes more courage to live with the love of your life than to die. ipk said that, i liked that a lot.
asr and khushi are no less than romeo and juliet, heer and ranjha, laila and majnu and all other great lovers to me. difference is they both lived. in a city. and went to work. like any one of us.
and even after everything went crazy in terms of writing, the lovers kept me here. still here. see?😆
saptapadi is beautiful bengali film with uttam and suchitra, the incomparable jodi of bengali cinema, made in 1961. set in the forties, pre independence india, now taking on the "gora" in many ways, it's the moving tale of rina brown an anglo indian girl and krishnendu mukherjee a bright medical student... hindu bengali. he comes from an orthodox family but is a progressive thinker with a contemporary soul. she is brought up to look down on the indians... blackie as she calls him, yet finds herself terribly attracted. a lovely deep film, exploring issues of colour, religion, independence, spirituality, hypocrisy and that thingw e call love. some scenes feel dated, but i don't mind, the core is lovely. deep, with unity and integrity of story telling. the film makers then had such a different desire to tell a story with all their heart and mind... dil and dimag. even after 50 years that stays and attracts and makes spending a couple of hours watching a happy experience, a thrilling one.
Book Talk
267