|| PSK Discussion Thread #1 || - Page 4

Originally posted by: MagadhSundari

They're definitely the most talented actors of the bunch, but the content of their scenes is getting repetitive. Wish they had Lakshmi maa ask harder questions instead of "what's happening Prabhu?!" It's like wait and watch 2 minutes, you'll find out 😆 That's how it was for the scene where Balram first met baby Krishna - she goes "what's he doing?" and Vishnu Bhagwan is like, "he's touching my feet" - and I'm like... you're supposed to be a goddess?!!

Originally posted by: guenhwyvar

But she did already. That scene where Kamsa was going to kill Vasudev, Devaki blurts out emotionally that she will hand him her 8th son if he spares the life of Vasudev.

And then she tried to commit suicide by trying to set the floor on fire.

And then she is yelling at soldiers through closed doors (from what we've seen in the serial so far, there aren't any guards outside the prison doors. The corridors are mostly empty except in specific locations) for them to call Kamsa to have him kill her as well.

&Devaki is incredibly mentally unstable at this point for obvious reasons - her past justifies it, and given that point I don't see a reason why &Vasudev should tell her the secret. My prediction is that hee's going to tell her one day in an attempt to save her life when she does something completely wacky, and then when it's near the time for Krishna to come to Mathura, Kamsa will just start to beat Vasudev mercilessly and Devaki will break down and admit the truth of where her 8th son in. She will, once again, willingly hand over her child for her husband. That, or it will be a dramatic play on how she promised Kamsa something, so she must fulfill it (though I think the former is more likely).

I think Ramanand Sagar's Krishna did something similar to the end part.

Originally posted by: -Namita-

I have to admit. The Lakshmi/Vishnu scene was super cute. Not sure I should say cute but whatever!! I'll go with Neha and Vishal being cute!!! 😆

Originally posted by: MagadhSundari

I get that it conforms to their characterizations in the show, but I feel the need to articulate why it's not the right way to depict them (which I think we're on the same page about).

Devaki's past experiences might justify this kind of unhinged, batshit crazy behavior in any ordinary person - but the people whom God chose as His parents were not ordinary.. These two are defined by 1) their selflessness in putting the welfare of the world ahead of their own happiness, 2) their love for Krishna that worked like love should, as a battery giving them the power to keep going as opposed to attachment which would cause the kind of recklessness and self-destruction we see in the PSK versions (guess in keeping with my analogy, it's battery acid?), and 3) their faith in God and the benevolence of His will. These qualities make them an inspiration, while the versions in the show are more of an irritation (as evidenced by your suggestions to fast-forward their scenes 😆). Janu and I often lament the fact that contemporary mytho shows try to make the characters "realistic" and "relatable" at the cost of everything that we should be learning from them and applying to our lives.

There are already enough misconceptions out there about Yashoda Maiya's love being greater, and by withholding the truth about Krishna and showing Devaki without that all-enduring maternal love for him that was such a defining characteristic of hers, the writers are only exacerbating those misconceptions. I don't care if they get K3G level cheesy and have her *sense* His being alive and well, even that is better than this vulnerability and psychosis borne of not having Him on her mind. At this rate I fear the revelation will come so late that we will get more scenes of her human suffering than her superhuman love for Krishna. Re: the scene from RS Shri Krishna you referenced, the fact that the show focused so heavily on her overwhelming love for Krishna is what made the scene palatable. It is painfully obvious that she is living for Krishna, and she doesn't confess until Vasu is literally about to be hung, so no one watching that scene would have the perception that she does so out of indifference towards her son and a preference for her husband over her child. By making &Devaki's reactions to &Vasu being tortured bigger than her reactions (at least in the moment) to her children being killed, the show is feeding that misconception.

As far as Vasu not telling her, as Janu said, it reflects mistrust/a superiority complex, as if Krishna is only his son and not hers. The original series has him shushing her to protect Krishna, but not being so cruel and presumptuous that he lets her live in the constant torment and doubt that all her suffering was for nothing. That's where the faith that is another defining characteristic of theirs comes in - after the confession, he hangs onto his belief that God is kind and that it's time for the fulfillment of the prophecy and comforts her with the same; he doesn't have some PSK-esque outburst like "this is why I never should have told you in the first place! #women". These hyperactive versions of the characters who yell at God all Amitabh-style to be born instead of praying to Him and trusting Him are vehicles for angst, not the role models they're supposed to be. That idealism and exemplary behavior is what should separate representations of scripture from ordinary fiction.

/rant over 😆