Today's PR belonged, unquestionably and triumphantly, to Arjun: Arjun Kirloskar, as he was in the beginning, and plain Arjun, as he was by the end. Like the triumphant Julius Caesar, he came, he saw, and he conquered. In the process, he swept all before him, in a superbly written and even better delivered performance that never stooped to melodrama and never lost even an iota of its dignity, candour and yes, nobility. Rithwik has a natural talent for projecting total sincerity, and for delivering the most corny, filmy lines without seeming mawkish, and this was on full display today in his Arjun.
The only comparable episode so far, for a display of sheer mastery of the actor's craft , was in the temple scene before his planned departure for Canada. That was enormously moving, but it was practically a monologue and relatively short. This time around, Arjun gets to spread his wings, and the gamut of expressions he covers is remarkable.
In the opening scene with Manav, where Arjun, voluntarily, not ony gives up his position in OVT Industries, but also transfers all his shares in it to Ovi - his best friend, whom he has hurt, he explains, inadvertently - he projects transparent sincerity, as also the deep affection and the hero worship he has always had for Manav. So much so that he manages to disarm Manav and quench even his smouldering rage. Arjun is so fervent in his pleas that Manav, whose overarching contributions to the company he highlights, should not leave as he is far more needed there that Arjun himself, that even a stone would have melted, and Manav is not stone-hearted.
Even while conveying sincere regret at having hurt Ovi, Arjun does not fail to stand his ground about his love for Purvi – 'You were right', he tells Manav, 'but I too am not wrong, for I love Purvi very, very much'. It is this humility,candour, and withal the courage that Arjun shows that finally win over Manav, and as a performance, the scene is remarkable.
I must confess that yesterday, when Arjun came downstairs and was roundly snubbed by Manav, I felt that it was a wrong move, as it was effectively fanning the flames of Manav's rage, and that he would have done better to have stayed out of the way and left DK to manage matters. But today, Arjun proved me completely wrong, and I am glad I was wrong!
The other tour de force today was, predictably, Arjun's confrontation with a hysterical, hectoring Archana, after he defies her telephonic fatwa against his contacting Purvi in any way and, sticking to his time-tested SOP, lands up immediately at the Karanjkar doorstep.
Admitted by a nervous but supportive Sulochana, he is then subjected to a savage and extremely hostile tirade from Archana, delivered practically in one breath and of course without allowing Arjun to get even a word in edgeways. She whiplashes Arjun, calling him a coward and a person without any identity of his own, no honesty and no reliability. She turns down his proposal of marriage to Purvi contemptuously, saying that it is impossible as he does not deserve her.
What follows - a long eulogy to Manav, and paeans to the wonderful life she had with him despite acute poverty - sound farcical when one thinks of what happened over the last 18 years and what is in the works between them now. But Archana ignores these contradictions, and when she asserts that this is the kind of husband she wants for Purvi, the unintended irony in her statement reaches its apogee!
From the initial total rejection, she suddenly shifts her ground, and says that he can marry Purvi provided "tum sab kuch chhod do" (you give up everything). This is patently contradictory to her dragging Purvi forward just before that, and demanding what Arjun would do for her daughter, but of course this hardly matters to Archana in full flow. Then equally suddenly, at the end, the condition shifts to Arjun earning Rs.10,000/- on his own, without the Kirloskar name as backing.
All this while, Arjun's face is a study in shifting emotions. Initially, open eyed horror at the venom spewed on him and the endless insults. Then a kind of wonder as he listens to her glowing accounts of her married life with Manav. As the attack continues and his very identity is questioned, as also his love for Purvi, his jawline hardens perceptibly, and a dawning anger makes its appearance. But he controls it, and by the time Archana has run out of breath and he finally gets a say, his face is smooth and tranquil, and the frown has disappeared from his eyes, leaving them limpid with transparent sincerity.
He spikes Archana's guns by revealing that he has already detached himself from OVT Industries, and that he would walk out of the Karanjkar house as plain and simple Arjun, not Arjun DK Kirloskar.
When he speaks of his very deep love for Purvi, there is no bravado, no posturing for effect, but only candour and conviction and commitment. As he says this, Purvi's face melts in empathetic affection; it is a treat to watch her then. As for the rest of the scene, she is just a mute and occasionally tearful bystander, only once protesting, and that too feebly, at Archana's assertion that Arjun is betraying her.
The lines Arjun chooses in the end, to throw down the gauntlet to Archana, are quintessentially filmy: Yeh zindagi to isi ke saath bithani hai (this life is to be spent only with her, i.e Purvi).. Aapki Purvi to ko to Arjun hi le jayega ( it is only Arjun who will carry off your Purvi). He could have been Shahrukh in DDLJ confronting Amrish Puri, but without the affectations. His parting shot, with its clever play on words, is peerless : "Yeh mera vaada nahin hai aapse, yeh mera daawa hai" (it is not my promise to you, it is my challenge). On which note he departs, having silenced Archana, even if her hostility seems undiminished. Sulochana's face shows relief and admiration, while Purvi stands there, limp and blank-faced.
We now have to see what Arjun plans to do to earn that Rs. 10,000/- (net of expenses, one presumes).
The final segment shows Arjun helpless in the face of Ovi's acute self-delusions and her refusal to acknowledge that he does not love her. I have read some criticism of his allowing her to cling to him, and fears as to what would happen if Manav were to see this. Such criticism is unwarranted. Ovi is obviously suffering from an emotional trauma that has upset her mental equilibrium. She is sick and needs help. Given all this, how could Arjun brush her, his childhood friend, off harshly? It is not possible, whatever the problems he might create for himself in the process
Precap: Ovi is shown with Purvi, who is tearing up an oblong piece of paper (it looks very much like a cheque; it is not a photo, the paper is too flexible for that) into very small pieces with great deliberation, finally scattering them in the air (when will the directors show a character, after such a dramatic gesture, disposing of the shredded paper neatly in a wastepaper basket?). The most likely explanation is that Ovi was trying to get Purvi to give up Arjun in return for the cheque. As Archana has pointed out, one good thing about this precap, apart from Purvi's uncharacteristically assertive body language, is that she will now no longer lament about Ovi Ma'am's sufferings.
Shyamala B.Cowsik
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