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" Rudra, yahee naam hai na... aapka?...Shivji ke kayee roopon mein se ek hai... Vinaash karne waala... Buraai ka..."
-Paro.
Paro. She puts you and Rudra in a fix today. Or rather the writers try to re-define the relationship between a captor and a captive. Ideally, the captor would be all menacing , evil, torturous and ruthless. And the captive would either be loathing the captor or begging for life and release.
But here?
We push the bar a little and tweak the definition of a captor and a captive ( keeping in mind that sooner or later we will see a rosy version of the Stockholm Syndrome.)... Paro tries to TACKLE Rudra today - she tries to see him in various shades , she tries to speak to him, she tries to reason with him, and no matter how much he scares her , she finds herself in a zone where she can raise her voice at him, scold him and cold-shoulder him. There is neither black hatred that would make her give Rudra those 'Ghrinaa' looks made famous by Jodha of JA...nor is there that horror and terror that would make her cringe and pull back at Rudra's mere shadow. ... Her take on Rudra is in layers and the actress is translating them well. She sees Rudra as both a destroyer and a nurturer ( surprisingly ) and she tells him that she is making a request to the good man inside him...When she sees Rudra powdered in besan/aata/maida, jo bhi tha... she keeps looking - unsure what to say or say anything at all...so much so that even Rudra senses that something is wrong with his face...
She is not afraid to let Rudra know that she fears him for sure , but she is not grovelling at his feet either. She openly tells and threatens her captor that she is capable of killing of herself. When she sees that the good man in Rudra is not willing to listening to her , she jibes at the bad man in Rudra - not fearless but confident that she can look into his eyes and speak to him.
When Paro read Rudra's name, when she took his name ( Rudra stopped in his tracks when she did ) , when she tried to reason with him, when she looked for goodness in him like a child , when she TRIED to place faith in him... you just couldn't tell that this same man had killed her husband 48 hours ago. She was speaking to him like you speak to a bratty child - trying all techniques and tactics to bring him back home.
I am sorry. CONTRARY to the popular belief, I don't see Paro as a weak woman at all. Her treatment and tackling of Rudra was both humane and brave.
Paro , even if for two minutes, saw HOPE in Rudra.
Coming to Rudra, for all this ruthless and cruel demenour and the "you are just a random witness'' syndrome, has a caring side - and if and when he cares, he cares a lot and how. If on one side, he blocks out the world for Paro, on the other hand, he gets her food and water - and even explains what to eat and what not to eat. He doesn't need to tell her that he will not be home the entire night - but he does. He reads her suicidal bent ( even though momentary ) and instantly plugs it with a threat and reverse psychology.
He doesn't turn to face her but things ruffle inside him when Paro takes his name, thinks him to be a possible destroyer of evil , talks of the combination of good and bad in him.
He terms her a traitor but loses his marbles when he looks at her clutching at the mangalsutra. Because that pious thread symbolizes everything opposite for him - it reminds him of the husband who tries to kill her, it reminds him that she belonged to another man ... remember the look of 'how could you?' that Rudra had given Paro when he had found out that she is getting married? There you go...
Its a very twisted captor-captive relationship. You can't term Paro's take on Rudra as 'hatred'. You can't term Rudra's take on Paro as 'cruel'.
Very complicated emotions.
For the rest, that "Baahar waali Aurat" as Rudra calls her is going full on with personal attacks on Rudra but he is giving her a royal ignore. This woman is going to spell some real trouble for Rudra. The dynamics between him and Mohini are volatile. Paro ka garam masala bann jaayega in ke beech meinn.
Chaachu is adorable but honestly, he should just let Rudra be. Seriously.
For me, today's episode belongs to Paro , as much as i love our Rudra baby. She looked at Rudra in various lights. And Rudra didn't come out unaffected.
The way Paro read his name on the wall, her face at that time and when she stopped him by calling him by his name... WOW. It seemed like Rudra was hearing his name for the first time.
EXCELLENT WRITING. š
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah
Tum Se Tum Tak
