@Jaya, @soap-critic, @noor_ayesha and others - 🤗🤗 Thank you...loved all your posts...
Coming to yesterday's ep, a more sedate episode than the masti of the day before, but no less excellent for that. I'd like to analyse certain scenes and relationships thus:
Devyani-Gaurav
I'm in two minds about this scene. While I like that Gaurav's story is opening up, there were things in this scene that by turns infuriated and saddened me. And actually, a lot of it depends on exactly what Gaurav's situation is, because I was having a dual reaction . Like you all, I read the article that states that apparently Gaurav is not gay (boo if this is true!), but to be honest, the way this scene went I was still convinced that he is gay, simply because nothing else even makes sense! Why would SSP be so against Gaurav's marriage to another woman? Okay, so Aditya is his favourite son but he doesn't hate Gaurav or wish him ill, I presume. From what we have seen of this family, they are fairly liberal minded (I mean, SSP agreed to Aditya-Priya's marriage without seeing her or even knowing her name, simply because Aditya loves her!), so what possible thing could prevent Gaurav being with who he wanted? Unless she's his mother's age, of course, in which case I guess SSP probably wants her for himself 🤢 😆
Anyway, as I said, my reactions to this scene were almost double, taking into account what Gaurav's circumstance would be.
Scenario 1 - Gaurav IS gay
If you're gay, you're gay. There's nothing that can be done about it, no "pill" that can be taken to "cure" you of it. End of. So in this scenario, I feel very much sorry for Gaurav because even if he wants to keep Vidya happy he can't, because he simply cannot give her what she wants. So Devyani marrying him off to Vidya to hide the truth about his sexuality smacks of cruelty (and not only to him, but I'll come to that in a bit). As a closeted Indian gay man, Gaurav's fear of coming out, even to his own family, and accepting his lover is justified and you can understand why that fear led him to marry Vidya out of helplessness. It doesn't make it right, because what it means is that Vidya will forever be a second thought for him, but it is understandable.
Scenario 2 - Gaurav is NOT gay
If, however, Gaurav is not gay, and is simply in love with another woman, then I have more problems. Whatever the reason that SSP would not approve his lover, the fact of the matter is that Gaurav married Vidya. I presume they didn't actually hold a gun to his head while he was in the mandap. So there is no excuse for his treatment of Vidya. When he said to Devyani, "You never said that I would have to give up my lover", I found myself wanting to smack him. It is implied, you idiot! No matter how much you love your girlfriend, you are married to another woman who is in no way at fault for this. If you don't want her, at least be honest with her and tell her that, so that she stops harbouring false hopes. When he threatened Devyani that he would leave the family home if she tried to force him, the only thought that came to my mind was, "Why didn't you leave before?" Why wait until you are married to issue that kind of ultimatum? If he had left to be with his lover before the wedding, at least Vidya would not have been trapped in a loveless marriage.
And actually, more than Gaurav, I blame Devyani for this. Whatever Gaurav's deal, he made a mistake by following what Devyani said. But I have no doubt that he did it because she was his mother, his only support and probably because she manipulated him into it. I'm sure that, when convincing him to go ahead with the marriage, she must have promised him that he could do whatever he wanted with his lover, and she would keep his secret, as long as he married Vidya.
As much sympathy as I had for Devyani following that scene a few eps ago with Bauji, I simply cannot abide her manipulative ways. She worries for Gaurav's lover when she finds out he/she is in the hospital. She worries for Gaurav, alternately threatening and pleading with him. She worries about SSP and what he would say. Doesn't she worry about Vidya? The poor girl who is following in her footsteps already by learning when and how to lie? You want to lie to your whole family, your own children? Fine, go ahead. But Devyani has lied to both her bahus, two girls who know nothing about their family, their past, their problems, and who are relying on her, as the mother, to guide their way in their new family.
She's constantly lying to Vidya, giving her hints and tips and making her believe that she might be able to get her husband to love her, all the while knowing his situation. Her lie to Priya might be less heinous, since she doesn't know about Priya and (to borrow someone else's hilarious moniker😆 ) sasurpig. But even so, her lies have, to some extent, influenced Priya into accepting Aditya (though its mostly to do with Aditya himself) and when she & Vidya discover the extent to which Devyani has lied to them, they will be heartbroken. To me, this scene reeked of selfishness from both Gaurav and Devyani - he refused to acknowledge a relationship with Vidya and would not leave his lover, and she agreed not to pressure him to do so. Neither of them thought about Vidya.
Which is why I really didn't enjoy that dream sequence with Gaurav and Vidya. Simply because I felt so incredibly sorry for her - all she wants is affection from her husband, and her running around after him, jumping to attention when wants something from her, only served to highlight that. Whether or not Gaurav is gay, Vidya is the ONLY innocent party in this whole scenario. Star-crossed lovers, homosexuality, love, family pressure etc etc - none of it is an excuse for infidelity. Cheating is cheating is cheating and no manner of reasoning can change that. You want to be with someone else? Fine, tell your spouse the truth, divorce them and then move on. To me, cheating is not acceptable and its not even just about the actual act of it. Love, lust or sex, cheating (more specifically, going behind your spouse/lover's back) implies that you don't even respect or like your spouse enough to tell them the truth about why you choose to spend your time with someone else, and that is the biggest insult to me. Plus, doesn't Gaurav realize that he cannot carry on indefinitely in this way? Will he continue to juggle two relationships his whole life? Never be intimate with Vidya, always fobbing her off? Doesn't he realize that it doing so he will become almost exactly like his father??? Now, there are some people in the world who cheat simply because they can, or to prove that they can. It's not about love, or guilt or pressure; it's about power. Sasurpig is one of those men. I'm sure he doesn't have some long-lost love affair that he is desperately trying to hold on to - he is simply the stereotypical narcissist who thinks he can get away with anything. Gaurav is not like that, but still his stance on this makes me feel wronged. He may not actively want to hurt Vidya, but he is doing nothing to stop it. And Devyani, being someone who has been cheated on, how can she not understand and anticipate the pain that she and her son are going to put Vidya through???
Phew. Rant over! 😆 As you can probably tell, I spent more time after this episode thinking about that first scene then I did about Aditya-Priya, which just goes to show how much the whole series involves me so well, and that I'm not just watching it for the luv-shuv ka mamla😆😆
But coming to that:
Priya - Chinu - Aditya
Parts of this sequence worked for me while others did not. Priya's closing her eyes to see Aditya instead of Brahmanand's assault, like she did just the day before, was very abrupt. It seems incredibly hurried to show such a big change of heart within a day's worth of events. What can I say...I am very disappointed at the speed with which this track is moving. How can a character who has gone through something as traumatic as molestation replace that horrific image with that of a guy she is barely falling in love with...so quickly? I did, however, like the touch of having Priya rushing to share this development with her father. [/quote]
I sort of agree and disagree with you here, Jaya. I understand your frustration that it seems abrupt - it is abrupt, but we know that. The whole track is fast-forwarded as we discussed yesterday, and the reasons for it are documented as well. So I'm willing to let things like that be, because at least it is in keeping with the fast-track approach already in place. We know that the only way that Priya will accept Aditya wholeheartedly is if she stops seeing SSP's face whenever she closes her eyes - she has said that. If the creatives want to fast-track the marriage into next week or the week after, we have to have that realization pretty soon. And at least they maintained their continuity and didn't forget about that detail. And as for the part about the molestation - if I am not wrong, it is at least been a year since that incident. I'm not belittling it in any way, but I feel that her replacing of that image is not so strange after such a period of time. If she'd replaced it after four months, we'd have issues. Having said that, yes, it is fast but since we know the creatives are heading this way, I am willing to let things like that be and just slide them under the umbrella of a speedy romance. Also, I like to think that this development doesn't mean that she has completely shed those images and nightmares and is now completely whole again; but simply that for the first time, she has seen something besides her fear. I don't think she is completey over it, but starting to get there.
I also liked Priya rushing to her father's side, waking him up no less, to share with him her thoughts. It shows how close they are and have become over the past little while, and I hope this relationship continues to blossom.
One thing I will say - I do love a show where we can have conversations that aren't just about "oooooooh, how HAAAAAAAAAAWT is he???" and "wow, I loooooooooooooove their chemistry" 😆 Don't get me wrong, I'm all for writing a ten-page essay on Aditya's hotness🤣, but I like that the show, and the people here who watch, analyse and debate on it, can go beyond that.
P.S. Jaya - when you mention that Priya was having images of SSP the day before, did you mean literally? Coz I think I might have missed that scene in all the cuteness😳😕
Edited by psawyer - 14 years ago
Arjun
Cricket
