Has anyone realized that our army man, the desire of a thousand beating hearts, our Major Rudra Pratap Ranawat--- is in many ways, very much like a woman? GOOD GOD, the brickbats, the chappals! The PMs with pictures of half naked Rudra, flooding my inbox!
Stop Baisa! Let me explain! As part of my long term service to India Forums, (a one sided contract, where I faithfully post and post they...well...they don't know who the hell I am) I was ignoring the work I get paid for, and re-watching Youtube scenes of Rudra as he interacts with everyone else...OTHER than Paro.
And in my unpaid research, I found that with his scenes with Laila, and especially with Mohini, Rudra reverts to a kind of man who neither vamp has the ability to deal with--a very manipulative, cutting and hilariously.. well, bitchy man. His dialogue is very sarcastic, but it is not male sarcasm, with its crude humor and straight talk. Its ironic, mean and delivered in a sickly sweet voice where his fake-ness is absolutely palpable. Its accompanied by a smile that reminds me of the horrible girls in high-school, JUST before they are about to singe your hair off with a particularly sugary, totally cruel comment.
When Rudra is about to rip you into pieces, he does not do so with a male growl or a scary glare (though the man has those weapons, too). When it's a war of words-- he wins every time, because he really knows how to strike below the belt, attack the enemy's weak points. You and I both know, Baisa--- that is a quintessentially female weapon. It's verbal warfare, to know vulnerable points and strike at them-and it is something I have seen VERY few men manage to do at all, much less excel at, like Rudra does.
This is the first time I have a seen a macho, primitive alpha man be so---girly. Whether its using "meri patni " with Laila deliberately, smiling softly at her furious face, or making Mohini pay for her "adored nephew's" lavish wedding, whether it is to snipe at Mala's tendency to run out by opening the door to make it easier for her, or even his barbed comments to Paro, at times, Rudra channels some purely female instinct and does so in a devastatingly effective way.
He cannot be manipulated by female tears, by female drama. He cannot be appealed to, emotionally, like a hundred men could be, in the exact same situation. Laila tries, and fails--- because Rudra cannot be taken in. Mohini tries again and again, and finally gives up-because while both her sons believe her, Rudra looks at her with cynical eyes that read women uncannily well. He understands the female psyche. And, disturbingly, he can think like us, too.
Rudra is also very much in touch with his emotions--- far more than I think, any of us could have reasonably expected from our leading man when the show started. Please understand. I am not insulting Rudra in the disguise of a compliment. Nor am I saying it is unmanly to be emotional. The menfolk-- hell, they are probably more emotional than us, and less equipped to deal with "them feels." But have you seen an alpha male this open and this given to direct speech about his inner torment/love?
He is emotional, his feelings are potent and raw, and they are as admirable in their honesty as they are poignant in their intensity. His patriotism is no ordinary love, his loyalty is no ordinary emotion, his grief and hurt is no ordinary pain. His worship of Paro is no ordinary passion. Rudra feels with an intensity... be it hatred and betrayal, be it love and devotion... he feels his emotions with a depth I have not encountered before in any show. Not in the male lead, even if its there in the heroine.
And Rudra expresses himself with the simple straightforwardness I have again never seen--- when he loves, he says so. When he hates--- he says so. It pours out of him with the directness of a child--- or a woman. The magic of Rudra is this female expressiveness. And this is shown without losing one ounce, one inch, of his virile male hardness and appeal. And other than Ashish (and possibly Vivian Dsena) I cannot imagine another actor who could have delivered this male/female element so brilliantly. I don't know who else could have stayed a powerful, smoldering alpha man--- while showing a tenderness (and a ruthlessness) that is wholly female.
So, Baisa...your take? (And I was kidding about the naked, shirtless pictures of Rudra being unwanted in my inbox. If you have them Baisa, why hog the glory? Keep em coming!)
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