Karan & Rishabh - A Closer Look

Okay this is the first time I'm really posting on this forum besides the edits and the VM I made. This is probably going to be a rant since I'm a bit sleep deprived but please bear with me.

I have been seeing a lot of posts and comments where Karan is mentioned as the 'bad brother' while Rishabh is the goody two shoes. It's been bothering me because I really don't think it's as straightforward as that. I'd like to add a disclaimer here first: I am primarily a die-hard fan of Shraddha. She is the reason I even tried a Balaji show. I had no preformed notions of Dheeraj or Manit. I had little to no expectations from either character too and while I do openly ship PreeRan now, I have tried to view both of the brothers objectively as the story progressed.

I will not say Karan is a saint. He is not. He is arrogant and self-absorbed and a spoilt brat. Kinda aimless for that matter too seeing he doesn't seem to push himself as hard inspite of his love for cricket. Rishabh is the motivating force in his life and yet it's interesting how Karan is still quite intelligent and independent on his own too. He may be lazy with his career but he doesn't go running to his big brother everytime there's a problem. I expected him to do that when Preeta and that girl almost filed a complaint against him but he handled it well.

Rishabh on the other hand is the responsible, doting son, handling his Father's business and looking after his family to a point where he doesn't seem to care for himself. But is that really true though? I do not doubt Rishabh's love for his family. It's a natural thing, ingrained in all of us. But I do question the shrewd businessman that Rishabh is too. He is cold and calculative there. I frankly do not like how he treats Sameer as though he is beneath him. I know Sameer is a sub-ordinate to him in the company but they do live together so in that respect I prefer Karan's openness and warmth towards both Kritika and Sameer. He seems to love them whole-heartedly whereas Rishabh is very clear about the fact that Kritika and Sameer may be his cousins but they aren't his family like Karan is. I know everyone's different ofcourse, we love who we love and maybe Rishabh has kept his circle so small because he loves his family too much and if he shows the same level of commitment and care to his extended family too then he'd probably go mad. This might be true if I didn't find his love for Karan questionable in the first place. I was honestly very, very disconcerted by how Rishabh reacted to Karan's injury. He did not seem to care about the fact that his little brother had gotten hurt. He was more concerned about Karan Luthra, the cricketer, the one he's invested his money in, the one the team relies on yada yada yada... getting hurt. How can someone who is supposed to be so compassionate and selfless and caring, treat their own brother like an asset? It was just strange to me.

I also find Preeta constantly insisting how Rishabh is the greatest while Karan is nothing next to him to be a foreshadowing of sorts. I have seen this happen in atleast 2 different American shows (Although in one it wasn't quite as bad as the other) but basically it started on similar grounds where one brother was supposedly kind, compassionate and sensitive while the other was cruel, arrogant and self-centered. The show gradually broke down both characters and showcased how it's actually the opposite. The 'good brother' turned out to be all kinds of terrible honestly, while the 'bad one' grew past his mistakes and flaws, embraced whatever was good in him and eventually turned into an absolute sweetheart. I wonder if they are trying something similar here. Karan is not perfect, far from it but there is a basic goodness and transparency in him that I like. I like how he loves his family, I like how he bugs Preeta mostly for the heck of it but isn't really cruel to her, I also like how he treats Shrishti for that matter. I expected him to turn a cold shoulder to her too upon finding out that she is Preeta's sister but he turned out to be surprisingly open-minded about that, liking Shrishti for the person she is & taking her opinions in count. Perhaps it's because she is his fan but I still quite like how he doesn't begrudge her for being related to Preeta for even a moment. Okay this is clearly turning more and more into a pro-Karan post but I'd also like to add that I really like how he treats his fans. He isn't totally airheaded and arrogant about it. He is surprisingly patient and accepting of all the love they have for him. I noticed that in the scene in the police station and also that brief moment before PreeRan share an umbrella when his car breaks down and he asks about a nearby mechanic, I honestly expected him to snap a bit about his dilemma when that man asked for an autograph but he was completely calm. I feel Karan knows he will always be second-best to Rishabh and he loves his brother enough to never hold that against him. I also feel that while Karan enjoys the attention he gets but what he said about letting Sofia and Mallishka close to him because they really love him... well it didn't make him sound like the complete playboy as I had initially believed him to be. Everytime Preeta says that Karan is just plain awful and he doesn't deserve love, a shadow of hurt seems to cross Karan's face. He is clearly affected by what Preeta thinks of him even though he tries to appear indifferent. I personally found it a little mean, what Preeta said about him not deserving love from anyone. It was a bit harsh in my opinion because hey, he isn't that bad also. He does love his family and he did save her the other day. I was also quite touched by the gajar ka halwa moment from last friday. Err another warning sign over how Karan trusts his brother enough to sign just about anything he'd ask him to without looking twice at it.

I don't know if they'll make a villain out of Rishabh, maybe they won't. I'm mostly just going with whatever I see. He frankly did look like a villain from an old Hindi movie when he was leaning against his car after finding the truth about the Sherlin vs Preeta mix up. That whole setup with the electricity crackling from behind really made me wonder. 😆Also his bitterness of wanting something for himself the first time and not getting it. But maybe that's a norm for Balaji heroes? So I could be wrong. I do however think that there is an underlying darkness to Rishabh. Whether or not it takes control of him as the story progresses remains to be seen. At this point, I think it's unfair to say that Rishabh and Karan are good/bad. It also kind of nullifies the argument of Preeta going with the good guy' for a change because I think they both have issues alongwith their fair share of secrets and demons too. Karan's flaws are just more obvious to the casual viewer than Rishabh's are but eventually neither of these characters are perfect. Well it's either this or these writers are coming up with whatever they want without thinking of the deeper meaning that comes across. 😆

Rishabh/Manit fans... Please don't throw chappals on me lol. I just wanted to put a different perspective out there.

Cheers,

Maham