Thanks for the thread Tiya!
I was drawn to PR after seeing its first promo (I've written this raam-kahani in detail in 3-4 threads, so will be precise now) wherein I was interested to see how this semi-educated, poor mechanic would turn to be the knight in shining armour for the girl, and the girl would give him loads of love in return.
The story however, didn't progress like that at all. Not a single bit.
Many of the initial tracks were very good. But none of the tracks were used to their full potential, I feel. Somewhere every track was left incomplete.
The bonding after marriage was shown beautifully. The way Ajit framed Manav and Archana left him and went away was a very good twist in the fairytale story. It was like-- before you enjoy your togetherness, prove that you deserve to be with one another.
Unfortunately, that track didn't go like I expected it to go. It was a very boring, sad track, completely devoid of romance, very bland which was dragged on for weeks together. Pehle ghar chhodke gayi Archu, fir kapde le ke gayi, fir managalsutra, fir divorce papers, each step was shown so slowly and each time they did nothing but stare at each other and cry without speaking to each other. I used to wonder where the serial was going. I was also very irritated with Archu in those days, and secretly wanted a second lead heroine to fall in love with Manav and make Archu jealous. Also Satish came back in the story and that upset me too. For some reason, I've never liked Satish.
Till here, the story was veryyy slow.
Things piped up with the police complaint twist. The police complaint by Manjusha against the Deshmukh family was the BEST twist in the show. I was bowled over by that one. For the first time, BT had shown something slightly realistic. My knowledge about the whole thing increased owing to the forum discussion (thanks to Kools mainly for that) wherein it was pointed out EXACTLY WHY Savita, Vandu and Manav were beaten in jail and no one else. I had not expected BT to take care of such details. It amazed and impressed me. This track had a LOT of scope to show growth in the two characters- Manav and Archana, as well as the side characters like Sachin, Vandu, Vaishali and so on.
Unfortunately, that track too was handled miserably. Manav, the angry young man, impressed for a while but by showing Sachu's subsequent death, they sort of sidelined the whole issue. They made Savita a grieving mother, who was never punished for the abuse she inflicted on Archu. Later, the complaint issue was not handled properly. I never got to see the apology that I wanted to see from Manav or Savita's end for the way Archu was treated and harassed at the Deshmukhs.
Speaking of abuse, the abuse was one of the most sickening part of the story. I had wanted Manav to save Archu from abuse, but CV's never showed it. Sad.
Savita's poetic justice was another sickening track. Not only was it gut wrenching, but also completely devoid of logic. The way Ajit proclaimed that he had raped Vandu without any fear of the police arresting him was foolish to say the least.
Shravani's track was boring to say the least, and continued for a longer time than expected. The whole of the 3 month stay I waited for my Manav to shine, but he stayed fixed on his word to marry Shravani while I banged my head on the wall in frustration. Archu's character meanwhile started taking a turn for the worst.
This was just the beginning.
The divorce was the most shocking and worst twist in the tale. I had not expected it to happen at all. I remember I was at home then, and me and Mom were utterly shocked.
Somewhere it spoilt the pavitra rishta.
Post divorce, everything was managed in a silly manner. Foolish tracks, foolish subtracks. Tracks were started and ended midway. Kaka was bumped off for no reason (and it was suddenly disclosed that he was not a bachelor LOL) . Archu's miraculous degree and her being appointed to post of Supervisor seemed silly. What happened to the strike in Dharmesh's factory, the murder of two workers etc we never came to know. The leads were made to sink down more. Many others, like Varsha and Vaishali, whom I liked earlier, also were butchered mercilessly. Shravani was the only one who was not butchered until the very end, when her role was finally erased off. Whatever, Shravani's track was stretched like elastic and I got really really tired of it. The track could have been handled in more mature, adult like ways, but then I guess the drama quotient would have dropped- I still remember how excited we all were on the day of the reunion. Chalo, one thing that was good was that Manav didn't dump Shravani at the mandap, otherwise it would have spoilt Manav's character for me.
The only positive thing was Sachu!!! Adorable darling, muah muah (I miss him!)
Finally, the reunion happened. And it was the happiest time in PR for me. As always Ekta had to mess that one too and she did. Poverty, insults and misery- that's it. Savita's illness track almost brought me to hate Manav.
MC part made me hate Ekta like never before. It was the first time I actually shed tears for a TV show. The repercussions made me realize that villains in PR will never be punished.
Looking back, I really wonder how I stuck to PR inspite of this idiotic story .*scratching head*
The current phase of the story is really good. I'm really liking the new Manav, and PR post leap sounds even better. The little boy is really cute.
That was my review of the story. Now for the characters.
1.) Manav: Honestly speaking, he was my favourite when the serial started, and he's my favourite now too. However there's a difference in the two favourites. (Regular readers of my FF will realise this). I had expected him to be Archana's hero in the story, and I had always seen the story from those eyes. The CV's unfortunately, wanted to portray him as 'real', and they equated real with weakness, misery, poverty and helplessness at times. Despite that, Manav's character has made some difficult decisions and managed to shine in parts. There are errors at times, but overall, I fail to see any major discrepancies in his character. I find him a real character- with his own flaws and weaknesses. His rejection of Archana for Shravani, though wrong, was something most men would have done I guess, everyone would choose family over an unconsummated marriage of 15 days. Although I have to state here that I expected him to reconsider his decision, but the CV's showed it in that way that too much water had flown under the bridge by then, and he wanted Sachu in his family.
Similarily, he made other mistakes too, but nothing he did made me HATE him as such, except for the Savita track. The CV's portrayed him weak and helpless a lot of times but his good nature, his values, his simplicity, the ESSENCE of his character was retained throughout. His Mahanta irritated me a lot of times, and I didnt like the way he ignored his family and bonded with K's. But overall, two years later, I still like him. The current changes in his character are too good and I can't wait to see him post leap.
2.) Archana: This character actually remained somewhat as I had expected her to be. I somehow always expected Archana to be a soft character- the type who would forgive Ajit or her vahini when they apologized to her (and she did). The only difference was that I had expected her to grow stronger with time owing to Manav;s encouragement, which did happen at times, like when she refused for second marriage, or when she ran away from home, making her own decision, or when she fought for Manav. But just like Manav, I had more expectations from her, especially post reunion. Just like Manav, I hated her during Savita's illness track. Nowadays I have got used to her ways and her bias towards her family, plus I have stopped taking the serial to heart so I don't really let her actions get to me. Overall, I love Archu for her large-heartedness and her unselfish nature, but just like CV's were hell bent on trying to prove Manav as a loser (which I don't think he is, by the way) similarily they were hell bent on trying to prove Archana as a love sick female who was detached from the practicalities of daily life. Her pregnancy track and the way she behaved during it was disappointing to say the least- no excuse can be made for it. I really want to see some growth in her character, the way CV's are showing growth in Manav's.
Other noteworthy characters:
Savita: She emerged to be one of the most interesting characters since day one- villainish, yet humorous, and even her villainy was not the 'usual' villainy- there was a sort of back story to it, usually related to her poverty and the cold rough ways in which she had led her life- the ways which had made her money minded, a little greedy, controlling and abusive at times. The graph of her character changes with time, and there is always a deeper dimension to her character than the one that is shown. Analysing Savita is sheer delight. I hated her in the beginning, but with time, I started viewing her differently. I shed tears for her when she fell ill. In fact post ArMan reunion, I started sympathizing strongly with her.
Sulochana: She started as a very strong character, and I actually wanted to see more of Manav Sulo confrontations than Manav Archu ones (LOL) but then she lost steam during the 3 month stay. She did every thing that was totally against her character- she didn;t look out for her daughter Archu, she kept placating Manju, she placated Ajit and Rasika and served them sherbets in Varsha's engagement instead of throwing them out and so on. Overall, she disappointed me. Post reunion, she has been much much more disappointing. The part where she wanted Vaishali to go back to Dharmesh cos of the baby stunned me, cos the serial had introduced Sulo as someone with liberal thinking, the kind who had dragged Archu from her characterless husband's home and tried to educate her.Now, she is one of the people I hardly care about.
Varsha: She was one of my most favourite characters in the beginning. Ruined to the core.
Tarun: I liked him immensely! But poor Tarun never got his due in the serial. :-( To compensate, I gave him a plum role in my FF. :-)
Sachin: Had tremendous potential in the story. Killing him was one of the most drastic and unnecessary twists in the story.
Damodar: Totally disappointed.
Rest I don't feel like commenting on any one else. Waise bhi post bahut lamba ho gaya hai. 😆
Edited by nikitagmc - 14 years ago
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