Blast from the Past Thread #30 **The Finale... Arnav Khushi Hamesha** - Page 15

Love these echoes and absolutely fabulous write up of 348 and 349.

^^^

hi kizh, 😃

thank you so much.

this was bound to happen.

dadi had been brought in to set up a strange remarriage aimed at trp and to break it up using the whole woh aurat thing and have viewers in a mess.

somehow having viewers completely nerve wracked is seen as a clever means of keeping us pasted and glued to a show. and the more bizarre the ploy to wrack those nerves, the more the fiendish joy of channel at transfixing and bludgeoning viewers to submission.

it is always a terrifying sign when a character like dadi is devised to "fix" things.

it essentially depends on unfixing me, the one on the other side of the screen.

how did serial writing get to this dismal state? or maybe, when the new dynamics of cable came to india, along with it came this diabolic vision of augmenting viewership. which is of course all important to the framework of cable... you get advertisers based on the number of viewers you show, not on the quality of the programme. there is no pride in quality here, only numbers...

but even then.

i know, ekta k's balaji seemed to have set the trend of bizarre story telling... but when any medium starts out, there are all sorts of different routes to success (of the monetary kind) sought by players in it. how come the hindi soap on the most viewed channels never developed variety, diversity, genres? everything ultimately genuflects before a high pitched nonsensical idea, often referred to as "twist" or even "mahatwist" which leaves you shaken and your iq and eq ejected to outer space?

of course, this is accompanied with dizzying camera swings and twirl, sound echoes and blasts, and flat exaggerated acting at a level perhaps never seen anywhere.

the hindi masala film is much laughed at and its "formula" not exactly considered high art. the running around the tree thing is now internationally known (if i am to go by the prompt mention of that by people i meet who aren't indian the moment hindi films or bollywood is mentioned). yeah, the films were often corny... very silly. there were all sorts of defiance of science and reality there, but somehow they were never this egregious. when you left the hall, you usually felt happy... upbeat. even though you were junking the whole movie. and in that running around the tree some inner chord in us was touched i bet, otherwise why would it get such attention... trp 😆. plus along the way, some really great stories got told (far more progressive and interesting than the saas bahu serial), unbelievably good songs got written and composed, and yes, we saw wonderful acting. again and again.

so why this horrid lack of art in our soaps?

here i feel practically brutalised by the nonsense. as i watched the dadi "revealing" the "sach" about garima to asr, i wanted to scream: why why why are you doing this to a serial that escaped ordinariness so wondrously, despite being a regular commercial hindi soap?

was it necessary for dadi to be written so terribly unintelligently? even the most paltry villains of the sixties and seventies got written better. asr's nani was such a delight, what happened when they thought up his dadi?



"bataiye arnav, kya yeh sach janne ke baad bhi..." she harangued, tell me, arnav, after knowing this truth will you be able to live with khushi.

he had told her i won't be able to live without you. so i guess this loop closer had to come... will you be able to live with her.

she went on and on and so did camera. finally when she said, "ab aapko kya karna hai yeh aapka faisla hai..." now you have to decide what you're going to do... he looked up.

the eyes had so much in them.

i had to make a cap.

and again i wondered why it was never realised that ipk had some of the best actors on television and they were capable of telling a great story.

anyway, asr faced a situation many may have experienced. the classic conflict between two loves. as his mind swirled with thoughts of sheesh mahal, of maa, of that night, the mention of the other woman... i wondered where it would go.



and here a lovely note of story. ultimately his thoughts took him to khushi... on another night in his life he'd never forget. if that night years ago was all about darkness, this night just gone by, was only light.


he finally left the room. of course, viewer to be left worried sick. but even the first time, i somehow couldn't see asr not turning up.

i was also reminded of the other time two loves came into conflict in his life. that time he chose to protect his sister. for he felt that was his duty. and he had no idea at a conscious level how vital khushi was to him. his very breath.

but now he knows. and i was sure, this complex man would not act like an idiot just so "mahatwist" could be created. ah so many stories on the forum. he won't come... he will leave and hide somewhere, punish himself, just like nani had told khushi once... she will be pregnant and they will meet years later...

i can almost see him scanning through possible scenarios and saying, "sab bakwas hai."

i have no idea what saved us from these situations. there was also the option of him having an accident and forgetting all. or him being thought dead and returning after years when khushi is married to nk and has a five year old daughter, who is of course, asr's (mahamahatwist).

halfway through the episode we moved to the bride's home. and there, not damad ji but dadi arrived. intense melodrama ensued but of course.



"tumhe sach mein yeh galat faimi thi ki woh yahan mandap tak aayga, garima?" did you really have this misunderstanding that he would come to this wedding mandap, garima... asked the strident grandmother in unmodulated loud voice.

garima never was convinced, i liked the fact that she and asr, both were taken aback by dadi's magnanimous kangan giving to khushi. and garima was uncomfortable all the way through. i also liked the fact that the reason she couldn't tell everyone about her being "woh aurat." not some crazy story, a simple human one... she was scared, scared for her girls, scared because she is their mother. went with the character of garima we have seen all along.

the other thing that felt right was the fact that both daughters sprang to their mother's defence. she who had taken care of them and loved them as if she had given birth to them

nani ji had a heart breaking expression as she processed the information that dadi hollered and she felt the pain of loss again. i liked the fact that she tried to get a handle on the conflict within her... her love for her daughter and that for her grandson, also her love for khushi...

but other than things like this, there was such a complete lack of beauty in this night of galat faimi. our sweetest songs are often those that tell of saddest thoughts as shelley has told us long ago. so yes, if the idea was to show how a vengeful vindictive "galat" woman would devise a bride not married at her mandap for another bride not married at hers revenge, it might have been crafted with a lot of loveliness, even if of the heartbreaking kind.

look at how poignant and unforgettable the other night of galat faimi was. when he said shadi karni hogi.

i guess the creatives were letting go of their show gradually, as channel demanded trp; and ph bosses lost interest unable to handle this thing they had created.

the mahamahatwist was that a simple tv soap had become a classic, when all that everyone had sought was money. more scary than dr frankenstein's creature.

oh i feel for the poor channel and ph.

You had me on that twist.. gaana oph korse😆

^^^

bahutei twistiyai gaye ph and channel.

cult it is. and dadi can go fly patang as can all those who have no clue what to do with fabulousness.
in a way the messing with ipk and all the drama that was done to discredit the hero ji, possibly made it a cult... otherwise might have just been a classic. 😆 twist pasand aya? 😆 and dhanyavad for that first line of yours.

Originally posted by: indi52

love and its reduction
episode 347

takes cojones (in the strictly english usage of the word) to do what asr did. what barun did.

it "reduced" asr to super cool lover. it signaled barun is indeed that ephemeral thing called star.

shimmy shimmy. one two bend flip. towel two towel four. mujhse shaadi karogi?



i couldn't breathe when he said "love can reduce anyone to anything." there is a strange and dangerous to one's health truth in that statement. and when he started his number with that little sexy pose i was prepared to sit back and enjoy but not leap up and hoot; and collapse into helpless laughter yelling "so cuuute." breathing had become difficult again. haha I didn't enjoy this as much but am enjoying your rapture with this towel dancer..



this and the black and white pic are one of my favourite edits..

this post is devoted to a man in black.

i came across this poem by michael ondaantje the other day, was reading him for the first time. no knowledge, judgment, nothing, read the poem and the words jolted within me. hit me hard and wouldn't leave. a bit like barun that first time i saw him. some things really can't be explained.

the poem's erotic images kept playing asr and khushi in my mind. was waiting for the right reference to share it here. then he danced. and the poem said, write me.

"if i were a cinnamon peeler
i would ride your bed
and leave the yellow bark dust
on your pillow.

your breasts and shoulders would reek
you could never walk through markets
without the profession of my fingers
floating over you. the blind would
stumble certain of whom they approached
though you might bathe
under rain gutters, monsoon.

here on the upper thigh
at this smooth pasture
neighbor to your hair
or the crease
that cuts your back. this ankle.
you will be known among strangers
as the cinnamon peeler's wife.

i could hardly glance at you
before marriage
never touch you
-- your keen nosed mother, your rough brothers.
i buried my hands
in saffron, disguised them
over smoking tar,
helped the honey gatherers...

when we swam once
i touched you in water
and our bodies remained free,
you could hold me and be blind of smell.
you climbed the bank and said

this is how you touch other women
the grasscutter's wife, the lime burner's daughter.
and you searched your arms
for the missing perfume.
and knew
what good is it
to be the lime burner's daughter
left with no trace
as if not spoken to in an act of love
as if wounded without the pleasure of scar.

you touched
your belly to my hands
in the dry air and said
i am the cinnamon
peeler's wife. smell me."

lovely.. I seem to remember reading this from you in another post as well.. this visceral intensity does feel exactly like ASR's love for Khushi


he has left the yellow turmeric paste mark on her. he will ride her bed no doubt. but when the hatred descends and the night is bereft, when a thousand dreams break, and there's separation once more, she will know his scent is on her. he makes love to her. and the dance goes on. she is arnav singh raizada's wife. (i wrote most of this take after watching the episode while the show was on... everything pointed toward a separation back then.)



but for now, i just want to stay with that dance. took asr to another level, this short crazy number. some truths our gut tells us, our brain processes much later, and our heart feels its joy for long afterward.


the fact that he got his girl. got what made her feel good. the fact that he was willing to shed inhibitions, step way out of his comfort zone, because that smile in her heart gave him a high, a spin, a buzz. it mattered more than his hard held ideas. he was willing to cross the line he'd drawn. that took him to another whole new level. well when you put it that way it does seem wonderful and gutsy



and then there was the execution of this decision. stop stop stop goes the heart, fingers slow down on the keyboard. did he plan it ahead, did he do an impromptu? does it matter? one look at him in his close hugging long jacket and narrow pants, legs endlessly long but planted firmly, face unmoving, except for the glitter in his eyes. you knew asr is here, and he'll make an offer you can't refuse.

it didn't matter i wasn't a salman fan, i'd never seen the towel step, i had no resonance with the song, in fact, had thought it was a pretty ordinary song before this. all that got through was the determined can do-ness of a beautiful man, a bit awkward yet hypnotic, a keenness in his eyes, a trust in his body, even if he didn't know what he was doing, he'd get it better than everybody. and he did.

a friend who'd never seen barun properly before but thought he was good looking in stills was sitting by me watching, she kept laughing and saying: wow, he's so cute, like a kid, so fresh, wow. today she said she hadn't slept much last night, kept on thinking of him. i smiled. happens. he does that, doesn't he? there is an infectious charm that makes you smile and feel floaty and fan girly and plain and simple happy.



the low angle shots flattered his build and looks no end. his teeth, those front incisors, hmmm. added something extraordinarily sexy to expressions.

he held out his hand inviting her to join him, then strode over instead to get her on the stage. asr takes command. always.



"will you marry me?" in the language he is comfortable in, but words weren't required, the heat and passion mixed with adoring tenderness, even your utterest sanak can't make you look away from that. I don't like this.. maybe she wanted it so he did it, but I don't buy it. Specially with here expressions.

on my later watches i just didn't like the shot of asr in a "dream" sequence, though the first time i didn't mind it. but really, no, asr does not slip into dream scenarios where he is dancing giddily. teri meri during kidnap was different, it was tightly knit into their story and his anguish, his need. not so here, and felt just cheesy... off.

she had spoken to him of the future earlier, painted a picture which perhaps he never had for himself... a picture of happiness. maybe there was even a story there of asr, a young man who had become old before his time and who at ast could feel his youth, its exuberance, its spontaneity, thanks to this girl, her love, her ability to make his worl lighter, easier... director took pains to show us he was affected by what she said... stirred. perhaps that was used as "logic" to explain his proposal with dance. but something in it just didn't work. the dialogues too gooey, khushi somehow just not right. a spot of overacting... and really body language of sanaya not khushi. thankfully, it didn't mater finally, because i just was touched by an audacious young man, both the character and the actor.

that creatives had lost interest by now was most evident. an envelope lying on a table with a yellow cover kept being shown on a different background in close ups. an inconsequential envelope at that with a pointless story.



but my mind was really on asr.
1. he took off his shades and turned to the man begging for his attention and said: hai na... chachaji.
2. he walked as though drawn by a force unknown toward her, in control, completely out of it. the water in the pool swirled, lamps glimmered, all thought disappeared.
3. he looked up and roared ferociously at the elements; at betrayal and the breaking of dreams.
4. he sat with her still body in his arms on a cliff's edge, begging her to return, come back to him. he said her name forty three times, some said 75.
5. he did the towel dance.

then there's him smiling as she confesses to pouring mango juice into his shoes and not orange because she couldn't get any, and him saying "aur main," him switching from despair to determination in 310; him saying he needs nothing else. in each, the incredible evolution of asr. uff asr

i learnt something too as i watched this episode, i had never really known it before. love can reduce anyone to anything. it can reduce carbon to diamond. it can reduce emotions to epiphany.

mujhse shadi karogi?


more in black:

1. whom can i send flowers to for the three amigos scene? and how many times will the man who never wanted to marry say shadi, now shadi, only left shadi? 😕 😆

2. while it's lovely to show a merging of thoughts and things as side effect of pyaar, the "what thes" and the "relax" repartee from khushi is beginning to jar.

3. kauon ka party. 😆 hehehe

4. i want lavanya to jump out of a cake and vamp asr. c'mon let's see how devoted our man is. maybe kkgsr will arrive to make an offer he can't refuse? (i wrote this before seeing 348 and hyuk, she did exactly that.) ahaha genius indi di

5. the necklace scene was beautiful.

6. yeh shyam abhi bhi ajeeb hai, aur dadi ek puri ajeeb dastaan hain. now you are just making me laugh too much. I also realised that every time the raizadas and guptas come together for dance gana shyam is off somewhere planning scorpions and child killings and wo aurat revelations..

7. anjali on that towel dance doing her girly one, intolerable.

8. barun sobti is a find.

9. when i was having a minor affair (in my daydreams what else) with harrison ford, my husband bought me a book on him, two turtles called harrison and ford, and the entire indiana jones series. i didn't mind that i was called indi. i reminded him of that just now and he snarked: hah! how fleeting is thy love! 😆 he also said if i wanted to meet barun, he'd arrange it. uff, towel dancer, kahinke. hey devi maiyya

that thing in barun, in asr, that always speaks of innate intelligence and a most sexy snarkiness.

😳

he was in love and he could do things for his lover many would balk at... now why is that so so appealing. feet firmly planted, long legs causing mayhem, he prepared to let himself become a laughing stock if need be, but he had understood love does reduce you... to your very essence.

Originally posted by: Mysticaldivine

A Quenchless Thirst...

Epi-348

A passionate love is a quenchless thirst...which Arnav and Khushi shared every moment .The moment the came closer ,their hearts felt a fear.A fear of losing themselves.A fear of losing their self guarded hearts which had no control anymore over anything.The hearts which screamed and pleaded to stay away from each other by yelling at loud " humain koi Fadak nahin padta.."[ It doesn't matter to me] you know I sometimes feel that even time doesn't feel enough when two people are in love.. each moment is precious and there is a wish to extend the moments forever

He shoved her around by hitting all sorts of insults when she got engaged , he cut his own hand imagining someone else who had touched her by putting ring on her hand.He punished her along with himself by shoving her aside on Diwali night...

"Mere liye uss baat ki , ya tumhari koi ehmiyat nahin" [You or whatever we had couple of minutes before ,have no meaning to me]

Yet her bleeding finger made him fuss about and he announced her his by putting ring of bandage on her in front of God, as he doesn't believe in it.

He saw someone hugging her , he filled her maang with Sindoor as he hated her so much yet Ranjha was nothing without heer.He wished he could die with her.

He left her crying over the airport ,but couldn't "kyuon Khushi se door jane main itti taqleef ho rahi hai..[Why is it so difficult going away from Khsuhi?]..Yes ! He accepts that he loves her no matter what and being miles away he confesses that he tried his best ,but he couldn't hate her...yet he wants to be with her ..for forever.He doesn't want anything else...

He could go any length to bring a smile over her face as he hated seeing her in tears.He knew how much he had given her .Her wish of Pheras ,just to regain her respect in every eye was his mission.Does he care for that?No! but She wanted it then "Kar ke khatam karte hain...[let's finish it.] nicely put

Tonight, a wife pleases her husband just to show her Haq, right without knowing that her innocence was melting him every second.yes , Namak ishq ka...tere ishq ka...She accepted it loud enough boldly that she is in love with him madly and can't stand anyone in between him and her.

A heart-to-heart chat between them. They openly said to each other "I love you, dammit" bu tonight, first time , They talked about their telepathic connection which they hold since from the beginning. Ajeeb... "weird". They smile over the strong pull they have for each other. She could hear him and he could hear her heartbeat as always .He did tell her over Holi,"Our heartbeats become one"...whatever you feel ,I feel...but she was drunk to remember,but he did ...tonight ,they both did.

Khsuhi always knew ,how much he put himself in pain when he has hurt her and gave her tears and tonight, Arnav confessed ,"Har Bar" to her that he could never bear her tears.

lovely gif.. almost like the sky is over them

I felt to my guts when he said that he felt empty till he met her.How much pain he was holding all these years. It was absolutely heart wrenching when he told her That he couldn't live without her. Arnav Singh Raizada "Jise kissi ladki se Fadak nahin Padta" cannot think of a life without his Khushi and he takes a promise never to leave him as he won't be able to survive..,

Tonight, he brought the stars home so whenever she missed her parents,She could talk to them.Her Vishwas, belief is his now.Even , in telepathy time , he knew she was seeing stars , talking to her parents. He pointed out that his mother is residing right next to her mom and he deliberately chooses a bigger star as her mother with fondness and love .There was no pain,as he knows she shares the same with him.

He apologized after knowing that she is an orphan like him and he was at peace taking her to his sacred Mom's garden where both took blessings as she is his wife no matter what.Everything was for this world.

They smile over their weirdness when her smile and innocence has increased his heartbeat and he turned to kiss her...a natural , longing and urge ,which he controlled seeing her so uncomfortable .He apologized making her calm as he knew better, without marriage she finds all this odd.

His teary eyes, and his confession was more than enough for Khsuhi who could go any length for this man...can give up her life too.She kissed away every pain tonight which she couldn't the night, when he told her that his mom did suicide.

The touch of her lips soothed out his wounds and then the moment she leaned over his lips he took over.He removes every bangle , her earrings, her belt...yes there will be no inhabitant in between two hearts.

I love this scene ever, he kissed every bruise he gave her, he kissed her wrist which always had his fingers' marks on her.He kissed her neck, which he disrespected pulling her duppatta under his shoes that night in Sheesh Mahal. oh I never thought of that connection.. but then I wasn't thinking anything much in these scenes!

I love the soberness of ASR which he always kept higher ,no matter what. He says, "Khushi", as if to take her final permission,

This is his respect for his woman who he can't see in tears... and she replies saying, "hum jaante hain" [I know]..and he leans over her lips to quench his thirst...a passionate love of theirs found an oasis tonight. It's so easy to forget that he is just a young man, not even thirty.

He brushed his brushed his lips across her cheeks,letting her know his intentions fully by raising her heartbeat.She turns her face ...couldn't take it any more ..breathing heavily.He leans and she hugs him tight ...giving her full permission.His hand and fingers flow with elegance over her bare back...and he undid the dori ... keeping her in his gentle embrace, his lips caressed hers, her fair hair framing her perfect back over her shoulders.She never leaves her eyes over his lips .His hands remain over her curvacious body, he looked deep into her emerald eyes and knew that he loved her more than anything. ..I love the soberness of ASR which he always kept higher ,no matter what. He says, "Khushi", as if to take her final permission,

This is his respect for his woman who he can't see in tears... and she replies saying while cupping his cheek, "hum jaante hain" [I know]..and he leans over her lips to quench his thirst...a passionate love of theirs found an oasis tonight...having her in his embrace ... excitedly breathing blowing gently on his chest when his arms keeping her head rested over em, move closer to him by deepening his kiss... her hands brushed through his hair till she took em in her fist deepening the moment equally...

Finally he kissed his Khushi tonight...a quenchless thirst reached to an end to a new beginning.

They became one, one day before the day of their formal remarriage.

"Iss pyaar ko kya naam doon?".