Folks,
I did say that I was taking a break, but then one's resolutions are meant to be broken, are they not? Besides, this is not going to be an episode analysis of the usual kind, but an impressionistic sketch of a very special scene.
A scene that moved me as much as it delighted me, for there is nothing so pleasing as watching a top notch actor showing off her paces - quite unexpectedly - in a segment where she has, like a miniature painter, created a host of nuances, the tiny, almost unnoticeable shifts of expression, out of her own imagination. Nuances that elevated the whole segment way, way above the usual lachrymose version that we mostly get to see.
So this piece of mine, the first I have written that is devoted almost entirely to the Paurav Rashtra part of the episode, is basically a tribute to Rati's Anusuya during her punarmilan with her son.
But before we get to that, let me dispose of the two other elements in the episode.
Obsessional rage: First, we had Alexander, bubbling and boiling with barely suppressed rage, looking for all the world like a very handsome (yes, my dear Inlieu, he does look quite gorgeous there ), blond, headless chicken, if at all there can be such a creature 😉
He paced the river shore in front of the bodies of the 14 Macedonian soldiers who had been killed by Porus, solely due to Alexander's own most ill considered strategy of sending the poor fellows in two abreast to be slaughtered by a Porus whose strength he had seen for himself in the gladiatorial bout in Persia.
He next looked at the sinking sun, his angry eyes seeming to blame Apollo's orb for sinking too soon. And when the desperate Hephaestion assured him, with fake confidence, that Porus' body would be found before sunset, Alexander rounded on the hapless Ambhiraj and his frankly petrified son. The latter looked exactly like someone en route to a date with the Red Widow, which is what the guillotine was called in revolutionary France.😆
A dangerous dilemma: I could not understand how poor Ambhiraj was to blame if Porus' body could not be found, and if he had in fact escaped. Once he had confessed the truth to a furious Alexander, it was not as though Ambhiraj had taken a supari to dispatch Porus to the hereafter and had failed.
But such rational arguments work only with rational beings. Not with this Alexander who, ranting and raving, would accept nothing less that the dead body of Porus, and threatened a wholesale massacre if this happy denoument did not materialize. My heart went out to the hapless gotakhor, still thrashing about in the river all unknowing of the dire fate that threatened them.
And even to Ambhiraj, whom I normally both detest and despise in equal measure. I could imagine what he must have been thinking: Hey bhagwan, kis okhale mein sar de diya hai maine! Ab is darinde se peecha kaise chudaoon? But then he is a born survivor, and thinks on his feet. Whence the dark, sodden corpse we saw in the precap, supposed to represent a Porus singed and his skin blackened by the explosion.
If Alexander kids himself that the corpse is that of Porus, as it seems he does, he has really and truly lost it. 😡No wonder that Aristotle warned him, early on, to stay away from women!
Yes, and I had a bonus last night. There was no Roxanne anywhere in those 19:15 minutes.👏
Chanakya: Serene domination: I have always been a great admirer of the real Chanakya, and the screen one did not disappoint me last night. He checked Puru's rash intent of going out at once to punish Shivdutt with the ease of an experienced rider curbing a reckless colt. Then he gave him a very useful lesson in the art of waging war, with the strictness and forcefulness of a true teacher. This lesson should stand Puru, long devoid of any schooling, in good stead. He also showed him how a great mind foresees every contingency and provides for it, be it arranging for Bamni and Hasti to be received on their arrival, or ascertaining, through the spy network that he already had, every detail of what had happened to Anusuya, and tailoring Puru's actions to tackle the present situation wisely and well.
Equally impressive was the ease with which he tackled a fu rious, threatening Shivdutt, and saw him on his way to the ganikagriha. His face, as Shivdutt glares back at him from the door, was a treat to watch a deceptive surface serenity with a slight hint of subterranean mockery.
The very special scene: Now we come to what this post is really about. Anusuya meeting Puru in the ganikagriha. As for the preceding scenes, especially Anusuya's long and fiery speech to the ganikas, summoning them to war against Shivdutt (whom she blames for their collective fate, as if it was he, and he alone, who set up this ganikagrih, which I very much doubt!😉), they were all very well in their way, but nothing to set the Jhelum on fire.
Though I must say that Anusuya looks really beautiful in this bare avatar, sans all the Christmas tree decorations, which, in fact, is what real looks are all about!
The good work begins with the flash of telepathy between her and Bamni. She rushes to the window, and her eyes, large and limpid, scan the street for what she cannot see, but senses. And then she whispers Puru. No stress, no excitement in that word. Just a statement of fact, that she knows he is there even before she sees him.
Punarmilan: The whole scene is treated in a blessedly low key, with background music to match. We don't have their grand reunion shoved down our throats , or our ears deafened by a triumphant score. It is very quiet, as are both Anusuya and Puru as they move towards each other, and the only sound in a while is that of Puru dropping his sword.
Her face is almost blank, drained of all emotion, and this is reflected in his. They seems almost afraid to believe in their good fortune in finding each other again.
It is only when she is very near him that her eyes begin to light up as they search his face, tracing his features as if she was seeing them for the first time. The lips part in the hint of a smile. Her Puru? , is wondering in tone. She looks down and sideways, the smile widens, and she rushes to embrace him. She feels his face with eager, questing fingers, as if seeking reassurance that he is indeed there.
Then comes an exquisite little snippet. Anusuya looks down, her lips flutter, the head goes from side to side, she swallows, and her whole face is agitated by suppressed emotion. Her Puru?, is again a question, but this time her eyes are wide with anxiety and the voice trembles. Maharaj? Maharaj kushal to hain na?
As she listens to his assurance that all is indeed well, her whole face blossoms in quiet delight. Her eyes close in a silent prayer of gratitude, and she lets out a sudden little giggle, almost like a hichki, in sheer relief, and looks down and sideways to control her emotions.
As Puru tells her that Bamni is already in Paurav Rashtra, her eyes cloud over with, in that order, apprehension, concern, and then almost disbelief as she asks Sach? His reply, Haan, Maa!, sends her off into a paroxysm of silent joy, which bubbles over as she smiles in delight and then clutches Puru's hands and kisses them.
It was a truly marvellous little performance.
Quiet empathy: The bit that follows, of Puru's deep distress and sense of shame at his not having been able to spare his mother all the travails and humiliation she had been subjected to, is moving precisely because it is almost devoid of speech (Puru's regular speechwriter must have been given a day off!😆) . Anusuya's eyes and face are alight with concern and love as she seeks to pull him out of this slough of despond and self flagellation. She manages this with calm empathy, and quiet praise for his courage in a crunch situation, in choosing his motherland even over his mother. This has been said so often in Porus that it has become a tired cliche. But this time, Anusuya makes it sound fresh, convincing, and moving.
From then on, the scene falls into a routine pattern. . However, that did not matter. For the delicacy and beauty of what had gone before still lingered in my mind. It was a tour de force for Rati's Anusuya. I only hope that it was seen and appreciated by the general viewers as it deserved to be.
That is it, folks. If you read it and liked it, do press the Like button.
Shyamala Aunty/Di
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
Arjun
