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Initially when i started watching this show, my expectations of Viplav was of a cliched good-at-heart bad boy, spoilt brat from a rich benarasi family who falls into an obsessive angsty love circle with Dhani. i thought viplav would become mad and force his zidh on dhani or some other situation, such as him expressing his passions openly and people questioning dhani's character, which will eventually lead to a marriage against the taboos of society. i expected passionate taboo story as is often the case with such topics such as widow remarriages. the issue sells better with scintillating scenes and it often glamorizes rather than really shed light on the issues in a relatable manner. I had worked closely with widow ashrams during my law school days, so i often do watch these shows. but here, its been a total pleasant surprise. they couldn't have done better than a character like viplav- modern, quite realistic, educated and intelligent, compassionate, unbound by the chains of tradition due to a big city life yet still rooted in his small city upbringing- to shed light on the archaic facets of Dhani's life construct, starting with her young age, their state of accepted subtle deprivations as well as the not-so-subtle white. they do it without being depressive or glamorous.no matter how depressive dhani gets, viplav doesn't let it simmer and he doesn't let it reach the vicinities of a pit bottom. i really like the fact that him and dhani coexist in the same plane but in different temporal frames. whilst being a man from a wealthy family, viplav has been privileged to move with the times, being a young widow in non-cosmopolitan small city religious india, dhani still lives in and faces the mindsets and social chains of a 1000 year old tradition bound space. he pushes her forward without really understanding the nature of her shackles and she pulls him back to bring him to an understanding. they bring up issues like a young girl's desires, a mid-aged woman's laments to an old woman's place of peace and meditation. they even highlight the aspect of maltreating (which gets quite awful at times but they don't fester on it and pull it like chewing gum, where there is regress theres also progress) and underfunding by temples and abuse by priests who enforce this life on them, but its done with subtlety, through an understanding lens that can also see that these women aren't simply abused and melancholy, they are also on and off happy and sad but within their understanding of how much happiness they're allowed to feel. i like that viplav is gradually expanding their definition of how happy they're allowed to be. that is the most important step. people can't fight for happiness that they don't know of. they can't desire things that they don't know can exist for them.
BOTTOMLINE: I LOVE THIS SHOW AND VIPLAV. EVEN THE TITLE- ISHQ KA RANG SAFED- thats what love is. colorless, beyond the scales of righteousness and social limitations. it stays with you when the colors of youth and sindoor diminish. what do you guys think? share your thoughts!
Indias Got Talent 11
Cricket
Anupamaa
