The first six minutes of KRPKAB today. Possibly one of the most touching scenes I have ever seen on Indian TV. What do I even write on this one? There's plenty to say and yet... the scene was so perfect in itself that I'd rather just keep watching it instead. I loved how yesterday there were some very strong undercurrents of emotion and pain as all the ceremonies took place. It took me back to the time of my sister's Nikah ceremony. Mostly we see people just crying at the final bidaai/rukhsati but KRPKAB was very real yesterday. The kind of attachment Dev has to Neha, he was bound to feel emotional during it all... I don't know how to explain it. It's like.. every step your sibling takes towards a new life, is a step further away from you. You are supposed to be happy for them and mostly you are but it still just breaks you and that is what we saw happen to Dev today.
He sits down, still trying to hold himself together, trying to bury that ache, that sense of loss... the answer comes automatically - he opens up his laptop and tries to focus on the one thing that he has always turned to in order to avoid everything else.. Work. I liked the intermittent jerks in Shaheer's body language here... Kept the moment very real. How beautifully Sona interpreted Dev's reaction here... "Bohat kaam tha na.. Ab achanak se sab khatam hogaya. Jiske liye itna saara kuch kiya, wohi chali gai." Do I even need to elaborate on this? What she said was so beautifully in sync with what Dev's own heart felt right then... Naturally he counters her statement with logic. Ofcourse Neha had to go... It was her wedding afterall... Again Dev wasn't saying that to Sona but more to himself.
Loved the gentle reminder Sona gave to Dev here.. she was still his bestfriend. He had once trusted her with his troubles, with his heart.. he could do so again. She wasn't another responsibility, not someone he had to be the strong Dev Dixit around. He stops her and admits that he hates it Neha left... Notice how he is still trying to be brave and not show just how broken he is... It's only when Sonakshi makes him sit down and takes her hand in his, her touch gentle yet strong and reassuring, that he truly lets go. If there's anyone he can pour his heart out to.. it's her. And it was perhaps in this moment that Dev didn't just say but truly believed what he had said during the vows he took yesterday... That Sonakshi is his life partner.
When he said "I miss her.. I really miss her, kyun chali gai woh? Kyun chali gai? Meri Neha.. Chali gai." Ugh. Everytime I see this bit it makes me cry... Just resonates a little too strongly. The raw honesty, the pain... such simple lines yet straight from the heart... I don't know what to even say about it. Thank you Shaheer for this one... I guess it's special also because I can relate to it on a personal level. The way you brought out Dev's pain, the agony that he was in... Incredible. I don't know, maybe it's because you have sisters of your own? Just a heartfelt thanks for getting it so right.
Coming to Sona, the man she loves has crumbled completely before her and she can't help but cry with him.. Beautiful beautiful. And in the midst of it all, Dev still reaches out to wipe the tears in her eyes.. What is this guy? She encourages him to tell her everything and he does. So simple, so beautiful. The guilt kicks in, he's convinced he has neglected Neha once again and surely she must resent him for it just like when they were younger... What was different this time is that Dev acknowledges for the first time that he might have deprived Neha of something more than a fancy dress or some other materialistic whim. Instead you see him talk about not spending enough time with her, being a brother, a friend... *sigh* My heart went out to the broken little boy I saw today. Loved how calmly and sincerely Sona tries to tell him what a wonderful brother he is... When she places her fingers underneath his chin as he looks up at her, his eyes so child-like and then caresses his face... Just... uff way too many instances today where I don't quite know what to write. Will just say this... The way Sona's love for Dev came through today... How she felt his pain as if it were her own, listened and understood and ultimately tried her best to help him, to show him how incredible is the man she has fallen in love with... I don't think any amount of physical intimacy can really match up.
Her words might have reassured him a bit, but there is no respite for Dev from this inevitable sense of loss... and that's real you know? You can somehow counter the guilt of neglecting them, of not spending enough time with them but really it just still hurts that they left.. That you won't see them everyday anymore. It's just something you don't get back.
Today was truly defining for Dev and Sona and I'm so grateful to the makers for this scene. Its moments like these where the trust, the love you have for someone cements itself. Sona saw Dev truly fall apart, he entrusted himself to her when at his weakest, and she in turn provided him with the strength, support, comfort and love that he so desperately needed.
Loved the follow up scene between Dev and his sisters too. I loved that he didn't lock himself up later; he knows his sisters are hurting just as much... in a way it was like he was passing on some of the strength he had gotten from Sonakshi. When he tries to smile and makes light of the moment, trying his best to be strong... wonderfully enacted by Shaheer once again. The scene was meaningful in several ways, firstly it helps Dev acknowledge Neha's importance in their lives thanks to the hole left behind, also... You can finally see some of that gap finally bridging between Dev and his sisters, the gap created due to Dev and Ishwari's relationship. For once, he was there to understand their emotional needs... not their materialistic ones. That little story of Neha's gola melting simply because Dev got hers made first.. So touching. Kuch bhi kehlo... Dev Dixit is a beautiful person at heart. One might argue that he might have just done it out of guilt as usual but the way Dev is so incredibly selfless, ready to lay the world at his sister's feet without a second thought shows his sensitivity and big heartedness. Alternatively, Dev could have also grown adamant and resentful that Neha never takes his own struggles in count but he just doesn't think about himself. Everything he has ever done has been driven by the singular motive of making his family happy and giving them a better life. Sona sees that.. she is possibly the only person who realizes just how much Dev gives and gives and gives and people take and take and take, leaving him empty each time. His relationship with Sona is markedly different in that respect... For the first time Dev is learning what it's like to share... Be it feeling happiness or pain, giving or gaining strength and trusting someone with your heart, your needs... With everyone else he is always the source, the bystander but with Sona he gets to live and embrace everything instead.
I won't talk about anything else from the episode because I simply don't want to. Once again, thank you to the makers and to Shaheer and Erica for our Dev and Sona. Today will always be special to me. :)