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episode 74
ever since he has dared to throw kkg out of his car a zany game of revenge is on. we are in day two and new players join the fun.
the thief of lucknow aka snake as in shyam manohar jha enters the fray with a dramatic nifty necklace plan to throw khushi's life in disarray by getting her accused of being a thief.
well he is a purloiner himself, why would he not wish his paramour to be the same one might think. but here is the thing... she is not his lover. he is completely in la la land about that of course and sets up his trusting missus while filching the necklace himself.
this is just a love game mind you, all because he adores khushi ji. to understand this gobbledegook rationale one must be as twisted as the creepy smiler. in the meantime, the necklace does its own twist and slips away... just as anjali turns to look at shyam... a hint of ajeeb here, something says this isn't going to be a day like other days.
of course, anjali doesn't guess a thing. standing before the mirror, all she sees is what she longs to see, after all the thief has stolen her heart.
in lakshmi nagar, a ringing sound and a sleepy hand. someone is finding it hard to wake up. it's 9 am. not an early riser this hard working girl. but then she leaps out of bed and squeaks, "nau baj gaye!" it's nine already. sanaya looks terribly cute and i feel for kkg having to wake up early.. what was lovely was that she always slept till a little late and woke up after him... unlike the achhi bahus who sprint out of bed at the crack of dawn and wear their saree and layers of jewellery rushing off to be saviour of parivaar and parampara. this super girl sleeps late, dawdles while getting ready and talks nonsense, she also grumbles about silly things and loiters about with a toothbrush in mouth, brushing her teeth. how can one not lau her.
the ebullient tone of the episode has reached the super dramatic bua niece household. today even payal is playing a game. happy ji is her informant about her rajkumar. spurning the steed, he drives an automobile which needs to be serviced of course here in lakshmi nagar.
khushi appears, toothbrush in mouth. payal pretends to be busy with drying clothes not doing anything else out here really.
happy ji's smiling face pops up, " payal ji, akash ji shayad do din mein ayenge." akash will come by in a couple of days.
ooops.
lovely moment between two sisters. one is instantly alert, the other embarrassed. she is the calm sedate one, and she is now in the trap of love.
huh! frowns toothbrush rani aka jalebi bai as in miss khushi kumari gupta. wasn't there a better mechanic in the whole of delhi... why here? she is not very bright this morning, is she. payal hyperventilates. happy ji pouts at the subtext of khushi ji's sentence. the lady with the toothbrush ponders the issue, not minding her sis's advice to stick to the bathroom during ablutions.
"khushi! kitni baar kaha hai, brush bathroom mein kiya jata hai... aur tum ho ki poore ghar mein ghoom ghoom ke brush chabati rahti ho!" how many times have i told you brushing is done in the bathroom, and you are forever strolling around the house chewing on the brush!" (thanks, kizh, for saying you like the dialogue, had to add it.)
then khushi wolfs down breakfast standing, payal is restless and runs to the window to peak... is he here? bua ji bustles. a light slightly crazy air. all along a sense of something on the way.
enter the thief of lucknow. he lies and cheats and the necklace is in the bag...
"jaa rahe nahin... aate hain!" says payal to khushi. don't say i am going, say, i'll be back. almost as an amulet this little au revoir, it perhaps protects her younger sister. today she needs protection... there's enemy action against her.
and not from the one she regards as enemy.
"achha baba aate hain..." oh all right, i'll be back.
in shantivan a tycoon buttons waistcoat, an air of slight disturbance. what ails him?
his combination has me in a flap... there's no one else i can think of who can carry off that mishmash of colours. but of course, gadbad tycoon couldn't care less, he just knows how to look fabulous. bas.
he is thinking of her. or to be precise, her assault on him. her jalebi bai and joooice and mishri tactics irk and madden.
slight movement of fiery brown irises. the buttoning continues but the mind is on one thing only.
suddenly overcome by an uncanny feeling, he stops and checks his pockets, pats them... she has him where she wants him i am chuckling. he is shaken if not stirred.
"jai prakash! ek baar mere shoes ko ulta karke check karo... kuch... hai toh nahin..." oh that divine pause after "kuch".
check my shoes, jai prakash, see if there's anything in them.
jp is instructed to keep an eye on who comes into the room while the tycoon is away. he is wary of her. i am delighted, she is not only on his mind, he senses her presence in the room. the fact that she was here when he wasn't around, doing things... sort of unsettles him. he is not yelling about it, he is not quite sure what he feels about this it seems to me. his room, his den, and this intruder slips in and out when he has no idea... isn't there something sexy in the very thought? something intimate?
in a hilarious goofy scene, mami ji tries to get la to say stuff that would go down well with nani. la bungles, calls mami by her namewa instead of lakshmi. nani frowns. mami is frazzled. at this rate, when will her hopes of seeing her bitwa married materialise.
a gorgeous tycoon smoothly walks in. cut to shot from back and what's this? a bald patch?
in the mood of the episode, a little trick. it's the double. the fake asr... much like the fake lakshmi. those who love him know instantly, nahiiin that one is not the boy, no matter what the colour of his suit. an uncanny resemblance to the lakshmi mix up about to roll out.
he's in a rush and on his way out. door opens.
have you heard of the door gift?
well, she is standing there, eyes closed. praying and muttering to dm.
"itni kripa karna ki woh laad governor na mile..." be so merciful that i don't meet that laad governor.
he watches her stonily. something in his eyes, a surge in the music. that sense of topsy turvy, she has no idea he stands before her, looking at her with irritation, ire and a note of what is it? longing?
her hair does fly a bit though. some part of her always knows.
he side steps her and walks out.
when she opens her eyes, she senses something. a pause as she puzzles over the feeling. he turns and looks at her, does he want her to know? or is it because he can't help himself, he must take a look?
the tinkling notes of rabba ve come in. gentle, magical, tender. she does sense him, she turns, but he is gone.
a beautifully crafted serene moment in the middle of light froth much action. a place where the heart and gut talk and no one interrupts. you pause because you must, you can't just walk away. it's lovely to see how this feeling penetrates beyond even sanka devi's sanak, how it makes her stop and feel like a woman, for a while all other things about her set aside.
channe daal, moong daal, urad ki daal... la is learning about daal... mami is fretting about her lack of comprehension. i am wondering why this fairly empty sequence, unless there was some deep significance to all the mah ki daal papa ki daal and arnav ki daal stuff. well it went over my head. but again, i liked the silliness of it all. nothing was normal in this episode.
the thief insists his raanisahiba wear her haar. would she? the first time i saw this i had no idea where that trick would lead.
but lakshmi of shantivan is about to turn the whole game. she is that unknown factor perhaps in every game. she is lakshmi after all, the goddess of wealth, the real wealth of our hearts.
khushi calls her "lakshmi!!!" no ji. she has no idea what unutterably fabulous wealth lakshmi has planned for her and she will stop at nothing to make sure khushi wins this round, gets that wealth.
khushi is in the lion's den, talking to herself, a laptop in her hands. telling herself not to fear, that laad gov is not here, "chaude hokar chal."
as she sets down the laptop, something strange... the laptop is broken. and even as she gawks at it, a pair of shoes right by her that were not supposed to be there.
why had he returned, i wondered. could it be because that restless uncanny feeling pulled him? he said to himself he'd go and see if she was ruining his happiness with some plan again, but really maybe one part of him just wanted to see her. i don't know, but really why did he come back?
not a normal day at all.
a tilt up to reveal enraged asr. a fist is tightened, a girl gulps. music careens ... what's going to happen.
"kaafi talent hai tum me," he whips out, "baar baar mujhe surprise karne ka." you have plenty talent in you to surprise me again and again.
angry. he is really angry.
he is menacing and mean and clenching his teeth. the temerity of thsi girl throws him completely. it also infuriates him. no one. no one behave with him in this manner.
"tum ho kya cheez.. aur jo bhi ho khud ko samajhti kya ho?" what are you? and whatever you are who do you think you are. he bears down on her, insulting and threatening. he is sure she has broken his laptop.
he insinuates she bites the hand that feeds her and she is sneaky, she has deliberately broken his computer. slow comprehension in her.. he is talking about her social status. her place in the house..her eyes cloud with a mix of emotions. he is brutal and aggressive.
what did she think? "kissi ko pata nahin chalega!" no one would know!
"h...humne yeh..." she begins to stammer out that she hasn't broken the thing.
"shut up!" he roars.
"main abhi baat kar raha hoon aur meri baat koi kaatta nahin hai!" i am still talking and no one interrupts me! oh he is in supreme tycoon frame. absolute gadbad tycoon.
"main tumhe achhi tarah pahchanta hoon!" i know you very well, he asserts. does he?
he accuses her of all the things he has figured out she's done. she has done all that and made him a laughing stock... sabke saamne mera mazaak banaya.
"ab meri laptop ko haath lagane ki himmat kaise hui..." how dare you now touch my laptop. oh he is uncontrollably angry. he is not in a sporting mood at all. she has belittled arnav singh raizada. he won't spare her.
don't try to lie, i know your status and type... calls her "do kaudi ki ladki"... along with teh anger there seems to be an unleashing of pent up things... and he wants to get a response from her.
he wants the fight, i get the feeling.
"kabhi kabhi toh mujhe aise lagta hai ki dhoka dena aur jhoot bolna tumhare khoon mein hai!" sometimes i think cheating and lying are in your blood.
he is definitely prodding for a return. this jibe gets to her you can see. he is intense and angry. she is nonplussed and slowly the anger is mounting. a head on collision and a beauty in it. sanaya and barun seem to flow together whether dancing or warring.
"kissike paas paisa hota hai, kissike paas power, kissi ke paas naam, tumhare paas toh kuch bhi nahin hai..."
some have money, some power, others name, you have nothing.
he is getting deeper, becoming more and more insulting, losing hold over his tongue completely... why does she get to him so much? he doesn't wonder, he just hits out.
finally she replies, furious, if i had to write a book on my "aukat", i'd certainly come to you. aap ke paas... i hear him saying mere paas mere saath. paas, yes, always near him, he near her, even when they are far away, even when they are not friends, even when he lives in with someone else, even when she thinks he is morally bereft. even anything... always paas.
he is incensed at the interruption.
"shut up!!" he explodes, she almost cowers...
and then a turn in the game. hand clenches kurta, a resolve is sought, a surprise comeback... "aap shut up!" says khushi kumari gupta.
my favourite dialogue of the episode. so perfectly khushi and really enchanting, especially sanaya's delivery.
aap shut up indeed.
he is shocked.
her temper also has gone beyond a point... almost hysterical now she says, let me make those allegation true, let me break your laptop some more.
he whips out a hand and catches her arm flinging it away, a violence in the room, a skirmish... heat finally flaring out of control and catching fire...
he doesn't let go of her arm. a struggle, a battle royal in fact, ensues. who will succumb.
just two nights ago they had fought, he had had to go back to make sure she was fine... she had sensed him... and he couldn't rest till he knew she was safe.
but nothing is placid and predictable in their story. it's being written all the time by wind sound gussa sanka and the all knowing rabba. its twists and turns take them to places neither had ever thought they'd reach...
the magnificent chemistry of the two actors hold me still. such a bated sense of violent attraction there. even more exciting because neither has identified it for what it is yet.
"chhotey..." it's anjali. the only one who is not playing any game. she is a mere pawn and totally unaware of that of course. i had hoped she'd turn the tables on all and show that she is in fact a powerful queen, but that was not to be.
he lets go of her hand and those angry welts are there on her wrist made... her payal, earrings, dupatta seem loathe to leave him and his fingers have a way of marking her every time.
this time, khushi is too angry to hide anything, ask your brother she tells anjali, what he is saying, i don't understand his tongue.
he is scathing too, the girl you have employed is trying to break my things. he takes it to money... she won't even know the price of this..
she cuts in, won't be more than a human being's surely!
"enough!" he yells.
the mercury is high, anything might happen
and in yet another twist it is revealed di has broken the computer.
a stunned moment of realisation. he had jumped to the wrong conclusion. his eyes change tone, a little taken aback? perhaps a hint of remorse? but not really. she has riled him too much.
he recovers quickly when he hears his sister apologise to khushi. not one chance against his opponent will be missed. he calls her a servant and is ugly in his choice of words.
"di, aapko isse sorry bolne ki koi zaroorat nahin hai. yeh aapki naukar hai... aapki di hui salary se hghar chalta hai isska..."
di, you don't have to say sorry to her, she is your servant... her home runs with the salary you give her.
that is downright nasty and insulting. if he really thinks people who work for you should be treated that way, well then i'll have to say there's something about asr i don't like at all. but something tells me, he is saying this to get to her... that's all.
anjali is stunned.
he marches out...
but he had seen the tears in her eyes, the look on her face... he couldn't care less... or could he?... he had to stop. and in a scene reminiscent of the earlier one at the door, here again at the doorway to his room, his world, a similar palat... and registering of her hurt this time... in his eyes.
he couldn't walk away... rabba ve.
shyam is practicing his bizarre charade. aaargh he hugged her picture to his heart. someone decimate him.
in 75, the roller coaster ride reaches a sublime slant. hold on tight.
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