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The show truly began with a unique concept of its own, nope not as a dacoit but with a story of a little girl living in a village with her family. She's adorable and playful, but more than anything smart beyond her years. We've sat through lovely moments in her life, and then we watched Thakur hatch a scheme and send her off with Shankar. But even through that she prevailed and managed to win over his love and affection. Yet all of it was destroyed in one single move when he killed off her entire family and Shankar too. And that adorable, innocent little girl was forced to pick up a gun for her revenge.
Post-leap we were introduced to a wildly new concept that I was absolutely smitten with - a dacoit girl. Sargun's portrayal was beyond fantastic and seriously speaking this is what had me hooked on. I loved the way she talked (growled more like) with absolute authority and blankness in her face, never smiling, and hey eyes darkened with kohl. I loved loved loved the way she swaggered around with the authority of a man - nobody ever questioned that. Her clothes, her shoes - the get-up of the character was perfected to the last detail.
We had Shatru enter in as the adorably, hopelessly smitten boy who slowly changed her and put more emotions on her face. For once she finally laughed, and even shed a few tears. And he got her to love again.
And then the epic reveal - ACP Abhay. Frankly speaking I was a little miffed that she entirely dressed up as a Thakurayn, losing the effortless charm she had as a dacoit. But nonetheless the attitude in her voice was still there - and it was a great deal more spunkier I think. It was enjoyable, their fights and quarrels and oof their confrontations. The way they shouted and screamed at one another with authority, the way she humiliated him and he would manhandle her. The amount of tension sizzling in those scenes were epic. And of course, the night when he decided he had to show her he was a man. The ruthlessness in his eyes - and finally her realisation that behind a gun she was a dacoit but in this haveli she was a girl. And yet she used it to her advantage to catch his bluff. She always knew what to do to get out of the situation, even if took some time.
And of course, the party ki raat. His drunken song, revealing his innermost feelings as well as forcing her to confront her own emotions when he was no longer ACP Abhay standing tall in front of her but her drunken husband in desperate need of her support.
The scenes following then were pure awesome, the last week of Dec if I'm not mistake - Golden PhAb week. Ooof the terrace wali scene! The first time he saw her upclose, the first time he realised she wasn't just a hardcore dacoit but there actually laid pretty eyes that he once spoke off...seriously that episode inspired so much that night, simply because he couldn't take his eyes off of her. Even when she refused his help, it annoyed him and he picked her up regardless. Looking straight at her, no smile, no frown - just looking at her to see how she would react. And he put her down gently to the ground and left her gazing at the sindoor. It truly was the beginning of change.
And of course, the drive episode - how to forget that? The first time that they communicated not as police and dacoit or even husband and wife but just 2 people moving in the same car. The laughs, and the way his hand instinctively moved up to brush her tear away. It meant so much to them, that for the next few weeks the memory of her blowing away the mud from his eyes was etched in his face.
Saving her from the explosion - that was it, truly. It was the incident, that broke him down and made him admit that he was wrong to have humiliated her. That had him, for the first time, take her hand in his in silent promise of eternal support. Even in the police station, she was all he could think of and when he brought her the gift - haye! I remember how we were all gushing in the AT over his shyness, giggling over how they're finally acting like such a cute couple.
The kidnapping track was a serious dhamaka but it presented another side of him - the side that was determined to save her at all costs. He beat up and nearly killed the man in his anger over the fact that she was in danger, and he kept promising that nothing would happen to her.
Their reunion was so sweet, with him accidentally filling her maang. And who can forget the despair and hopelessness in his voice when she was declared dead. He was crying, he was laughing, he was screaming and shouting for her to get up. And his love brought her back in the end.
*******
The reason I partitioned it is because I believe this is where things took a turn. The ensuing 2-day Devpur reveal, followed by his accident., Phulwa's begging at Thakur's feet, the whole Arjun deal, bringing him into the house and finally convincing him to operate on Abhay.
There was much that could have been skipped over. I've always maintained that a nicer path to take would have been to show them leave for the kabiley, after Abhay's accident (where he would have simply sustained minor injuries), where they could've spread over 1-2 months showing
1) plotting Thakur's downfall
2) AP romance blooming. The first part would be dealt with anyway, but the AP romance was a serious, seriously ignored element in this story. Where was all the initial hesitation, the accidental brushes of the skin, the little eyelocks and such? I had always imagined that they'll be caught in situations where for example, Phulwa's doing some serious planning and Abhay's momentarily distracted by her pretty eyes and just keeps staring when she asks him what's up, and he looks away sheepishly. And oof, one occasion he happens to have been caught in the rain so he has to take off his shirt and he nonchalantly gives it to her to hang up to dry and she's just staring wide-eyed at his chest and totally checking him out lol and when he asks why she isn't moving she blushes like crazy!XD
Best of all, would have to be a scene whereby they're running from Thakur's men and end up in a torn shelter, where it was raining and he has to remove his shirt. And lights go off so she's trying to light candles where he comes up behind her, his eyes gleaming in the light and a smile dancing on his face and he blows the candles away.
Khair, jaise bhi ho, the trip down memory lane has been a fun one, considering what we were gifted earlier on. I guess ignoring the past 1 month, we can say that CVs did do a good job and tried their best to deliver, sometimes we cannot stop certain things from happening and the best is just to take the good stuff out of it:)
Mannat Har Khushi Paane Ki
Cricket
