Hi lrl forum members. I like the fact that you write regular posts analysing the show. This post that i am writing today is only to continue an old tradition of Gaurav fans... we're very used to extensively dissecting and analysing all scenes of Gaurav. In fact, when adhm ended, we used to sit and analyse his pictures, his mention in newspapers etc for pages on end!
So here goes... before i talk of yesterday's episode, however, i just want to say that i really liked the scene day before yesterday when Gaurav and Naina walk back to the academy... when she says 'i think you've left the army' and he goes 'haan 2 saal ho gaye... great life... no need to get a crew cut, no need to shave, no need to call anyone sir'... and she doesnt know how to react and he says 'maan gayee?'... loved the mischief in that one!
Yesterday it began with the famous hunting match... i had great fun watching it... incidentally, woh best of three toh nahi tha!, but i think it was done very well... rough and tumble... played just the way guys play these silly games, investing their ego and sense of masculinity in it (ya thats me speaking... and i watch cricket for the nobility of it 😉)... because somewhere that is what it was too, at one level... two boys vying for the attention of one girl... its this scene that made me call Abhimanyu boyish in another post... of course, what is interesting that as the game progresses this spirit of competition gets stilled as old memories take over (with the interlude with BC being an example of a replay of old days and the dialogue 'haanf rahe ho... tujhe bura na lage isliye'...good, normal, the way guys speak waisa dialogue).... but then boys will always be boys... have you ever seen guys play a game, any game, including stupid video games, and not want to win, not want to be the best at it?... (show me one guy like that and i promise to fall in love!)... so all the snide comments they keep making to each other. I will also give my snide comments a rest and admit that watching a display of testesterone has not been so much fun since the football world cup!! Now if only it would rain when Zidane is playing and he would continue playing, instead of running for cover and health insurance.... sigh... sigh... sigh...
To come back to Gaurav, i think he always does scenes well where he has to use his body a certain way... remember all the bodily twitches in pain as Samay?... here too i liked the way he did the 'warm up post rain by doing a jog in your own place' scene, the let me catch my breath near the goal post scene.... as for drooling over him, have done that enough already! Too much of it here will only steam up my post...
Then his meeting with BC... Shweta, i know you always keep going nuts about him in white...while i never really thought white suited him the most... but yesterday liked him in cream... cream pehenega toh chalega!!
Now for further on Abhimanyu.... he's been posted here because it was thought that it would be an 'easy, relaxed posting'... but he's come with a mission... to find the killer of Naveen... so its not really going to be a break for him.... i wonder how he's going to react when he finds out that his one best friend killed his other best friend?... woh teeno best friends hi nikalenge.... Hindi films/serials nahi dekhte kya?
But he's always ready to talk about music... finally, he's my kind of guy... honestly, i am not too impressed by army guys... and especially those who come from these princely families.... but music.... ah, now you're talking!
I liked that touch about him being uncomfortable with his family heritage... that slightest of pauses before 'bhoolna toh hum bhi chahte hai'... through a Rajput friend, i have met some people from erstwhile princely families... and they are usually in the army, though nowadays they play golf or design clothes as well!... and i have frequently noticed an ambivalence about their background in them... an unwillingness to discuss it, make it as 'normal' as possible... and yet a fierce pride in it at the same time... i hope they explore this discomfort further... its interesting.... perhaps the cadets could mock his background, since they have discovered it?
I liked the tone of the voice too...normal with the right degree of respect... unlike the bantering tone he had around Rajeev in the next scene... because here he is speaking to a superior whereas there he is talking to a friend and an equal.
Well the last scene... first things first, the pun on 'thats the spirit' was absolutely awful... dialogue writer, go drown yourself!... the little i have seen of season one shows that Rajeev plays someone who is quiet, calm and speaks little... whereas this guy is completely different... more flamboyant.
More than Gaurav's acting, i want to talk about Abhimanyu's character in this scene... he's come to KMA ostensibly as a music teacher... trusts no one... but as soon as he is alone with Rajeev, after they have bonded again over the game, he tells him the real reason for his being here...
When Rajeev asked him 'do you think you can help Naina?'... i liked the small smile on his face before he said 'its time'... its not really about Naina for him... not yet anyway... this is about him and Naveen... this is about being unable to let go of a friend's death... again, good line 'uss ki maut ko dafna nahi kar sake'... ok, dialogue writer, you can live!...
And after that the way he cheered Rajeev up... it seems to me that he does not know who Naveen's killer is... he thought Rajeev was upset at the thought of Naveen's death... must say that Rajeev's role is very interesting... he's killed his best friend but does not see that as a crime, rather as redemption... he's now in love with that friend's sister (I am assuming he is in love with her, havent seen enough of season 1)... and his other best friend has come to discover who the real killer is.
But Abhimanyu's role is interesting too and i'm happy that Gaurav is doing it. Here's to watching more of him!!