Originally posted by: sashashyam
KABIR RESURRECTED: Rajat has a ball!
Folks,
First of all, my apologies - most particularly to Munni and Susmita - kaan pakade ( I cannot do any uthak baithak given my age and the condition of my knees!😉) for being more than 2 weeks late with this one. I hope you will all forgive me, and that you will not be so fed up with me as not to even want to look thru this!
Next, as I had told Munni some time back, I had decided, after watching the first 3 episodes after Kabir's sudden re-entry, to do an overall analysis of the Kabir II track, not an episode-wise take. This was largely because apart from Kabir, and to a lesser extent Shesha, the rest of Naagin was so abysmal that sitting thru it was a punishment. Then again, there was a lot more of Kabir in this second phase: superb, very good, and at times indifferent.
Blazing exit: I switched off the moment Kabir's head, and all that long wavy hair, went up in flames. A fitting end for a phoenix of a character, I thought to myself; it was a good way to go, much better than what happened to him the first time around. Plus he is cocky and laughing and arrogant to the end, even as the coils of the naagpaash hold him in thrall, still proclaiming that he will kill all the three of them!
I liked the last few scenes of Kabir in Part 2. I liked him in Part 1 much more. In fact I was so eager to watch Rajat doing something very different. I somehow didn't have that eagerness the second time around. Probably because the show is bizarre and gives me a headache. But I did endure Kabir Part 2 coz I wanted to read your analysis!
Then I had a laugh at the latest bloomer of the CV, that the mandatory weapon for killing the newly strengthened ichchadaari nevla, the kainchuli of an ichchadaari naagin, as prescribed by the honeywala baba, was nowhere to be seen. Instead, we had Shivanya wielding a solid old fashioned axe! I did not know that Shiv mandirs stocked up on axes, or bright gleaming stainless steel buckets, for that matter😉😉, like the one in which our heroine lugs water to put out the first around Rithik. But then pretty much the whole of this show is a joke!
Yeah...the show is a big joke. Wonder how it had record-breaking TRPs .
OK, to business now. As you have been forewarned, this is going to be like and impressionistic portrait.
Psychological and physical imaginativeness: Some of you might remember my stressing the key point that the viewer has to remember when assessing Rajat's Kabir. For those who have either missed it or forgotten it, I am reproducing the relevant paras from my take on this, which is in the AT#1 thread.
To begin with, one must avoid a common misconception when assessing such characters.
This ichchadaari nevla has been under the curse for so long that he has, for all practical purposes, lost his humanness. When he talks of getting back to his duniya, it seems, unless I got it wrong, that he is referring to the normal world of the nevla, not that of humankind.
Plus, this is not a goody goody nevla of the kind that we find in the Panchatantra, the baby sitter par excellence. This is a creature under a curse for a long, long time, and it will stop at nothing to get out from under the curse. It has no notions of right and wrong, or of the morality that many humans observe only in the breach, witness Rithik's father and his associates.
But I would not call it a psychopath. It does not kill for fun, it kills always with a purpose.
To revert, this is not a human being who can transform into an animal, it is an animal which can transform into a human being, but only on the surface. So, even after this nevla assumes a human form, its basic nature, its body language etc. should stay at least partly the same as before.
The mistake most directors of such films or TV shows make is that they do not keep this in mind. Thus the naagins in this show, especially Shivanya, when they are masquerading as young women, behave exactly like real women. They have none of the characteristics of a snake at all. This is probably, no, surely because they cannot handle the subtleties that would be needed to convey that it is a naagin in human form. For example, there is no sinuousness at all in the way they move. Nor a slight sibilant note in the way they talk.
But our boy Rajat is nothing if not subtle. And imaginative. So, as the pseudo-Kabeer, his ichchadaari nevla retains a lot of the nevla: the restlessness, the body language when he is jumping on and off his bed after he has been invited to stay as long as he wants in that house, the wild abandon of the chase after the naagin and down the side of the building, the gluttonous consumption of the cheese, the bloodlust with which he pounces on his prey, whether it is Tanvi or the real Kabeer Oberoi.
In this Take 2 for Rajat's Kabir, the novelty of this psychologically accurate performance as an ichchadaari nevla had of course worn off, and one had begun to take Rajat's effortless adoption of the nevla's mental and even physical make up for granted. This is very unfair, but that is the way it is!
So even I did not react too much when Rajat projected - both thru the still coldness in Kabir's eyes as he gets out of his car in his entry scene or, when he stands outside Shivanya's room, with his eyes, his hands - now the hairy paws of his real self, with curved, cruel claws - and his whole body reflecting the almost febrile, desperate eagerness of the nevla to catch his traditional enemy, the naagin, that too one who had killed him, by the throat and rip it out.
Nevertheless, there were several sequences where Rajat did make made me sit up and applaud. See whether you remember these places!
- -When Kabir has been resurrected by the Guru Ma, his whole body language - the hunched figure, like that of a squirrel begging for nuts, the paw-like hands folded in supplication, and the eager up and down nodding of the head, in sync with the up and down bouncing of the whole body - was quite simply fabulous. Even after he has got out of the mummy-like get up and is assuring the Guru Ma that he has found a way to get back into Yamini's household, he retains the body language of an animal, grateful to her and eager to please her, like a puppy rescued from the streets with its new mistress.-
I too liked this scene!
- -When he is concluding his deal with Shesha, he puts his hand out for the final, confirmatory handshake. But he does not do it the way a human being extends a hand for this purpose, with the 4 fingers all in one bloc and the thumb separate. Kabir's hand has each finger absolutely separate from the others, like the paw of an animal.-
- -When he is striding down the corridor to catch up with the pseudo-Shivanya, whom he takes to be the real one, note the way Kabir walks. His body is leaning forward, the arms are hanging by the sides, and he is striding as if he is on all fours and almost running, not like a man walking in haste.
- - The arrogance of the nevla, so over-confident in his superior strength and cunning, surfaces at the slightest pretext. As when he snaps at Shesha: Yeh mat bhoolo ki main kaun hoon! As when he has attacked and killed the poor snake in the garden, he rejoices in his victory, and does not even wipe off the blood so liberally smeared around his mouth. It is almost as if he was still relishing the taste of snake blood on his tongue. In a scene that was otherwise relentlessly OTT, this detail stood out.
It does take a lot of confidence on the actor's part to trade looks for "being-in-character". He really doesn't look his handsome self in his "nevla-ish" demeanour. But Rajat doesn't seem to be too obsessed with how it looks on camera. Very few actors can "let-go" completely before the camera. This fellow is definitely one of them.
- -When, towards the end, he is dealing with Amrita, her siblings and Yamini with such magisterial, , menacing, effortless authority, he jumps up on the table and sits cross-legged there, and again when he is capering around the captive Rithik, trying to alternately bully and coax him to give up the naagmani, Kabir is far more simian than human in his actions . It felt as though he was playing a private joke on us and trying his hand, for once, at becoming an ichchadaari bandar!😉
🤣
Curious and confusing chemistry: In Kabir's Round 1, he and Shesha were like a pair of black widow spiders circling each other, both seeking the right moment for the kill, and their chemistry was a combination of mutual hatred and hard-edged sensuality.
This time around, as they were allies, even if of a devious kind, from their first encounter almost up to the end, matters were confusing, to say the least.
I liked this pair the first time around. The second time around, the track was more focussed on nevla than Kabir-Shesha.
Kabir is at his teasing, flirtatious best with the kaali naagin all thru, for all that, even as they have sealed their mutual agreement, he is secretly planning to kill her once Shivanya is out of the way and the naagmani is in his hands. What is not clear from their later meetings is whether he is still of the same view, or whether he has changed his mind and has really fallen for her.
I couldn't guess till the end, but I am glad Shesha killed Kabir in the end. At least we can be assured that Rajat need not have to be part of this circus in Season 2 😛😉
Matters are not helped by the total absence of any self-talk by Kabir bar that bit after they have shaken hands over their deal.
On the whole, I personally would vote for his still planning to get rid of her as soon as his twin objectives - to kill Shivanya and get at the naagmani -have been achieved.
Effortless pas de deux: If that is what it is, Rajat's Kabir II is really a most accomplished and devious dissembler. From the delicate caressing of Shesha's cheek with his fingers - even bloody ones in the garden scene - to the abrupt and casual way in which he pulls her into his lap*, noting: Dheere dheere tumhari bhi aadat pad jaayegi, as he taps her nose with his finger in amused superiority - Rajat, despite being so badly handicapped by the very nature of his cameo, shows how good he can be as a confident lover, who is sure he can tame even so self-assured and aggressive a partner.
* This is after he is taken aback, and falls back on his bed with his mouth agape for a moment in sheer bewilderment, by her sudden transformation from a naagin into her human form. _______________________________________________________________________
He can kneel at her feet - after reverting from a (n all too small) nevla to his human form in the same scene - without the slightest hint of the submissiveness that such a stance would imply. When she exclaims, almost reluctantly, but with genuine admiration gleaming in her eyes: Ab kahin jaakar mujhe takkar ka koyi saathi mila hai!, Kabir picks up the ball and runs with it without missing a beat: To jeevan saathi bana lo mujhe apna! Shaadi kar lo mujhse! And this complete with the ring that he has slipped off his own finger, as he turns the moment into a (mock?) romantic one.
Even Shesha, initially so preoccupied with the Shivanya angle as to barely notice that Kabir has pulled her into his lap, does not seem uncomfortable in that position as she challenges him about how he would get rid of Shivanya. And the anger in her eyes as she snaps Shaadi ki baat ki to...looks fake.
As for Kabir, he completes her sentence: Barbaadi! Jaanta hoon, lekin Shivanya ki! And his eyes have suddenly lost their mocking flirtatiousness, and have become as hard as agates.
-There is another delightful passage between them as Shesha insists that Kabir should move against Shivanya only when main bataongi, kab, kahan aur kaise. Main tumhein khudh le jaaongi!
Kabir is watching her with a most roguish expression in his eyes, head tilted to the left and mouth curling at one corner with amused pleasure. Then he bows to her in mock obedience and mock regret: Aapka hukum sar aankhon par, Naagin Sahiba! Kya karoon, mera dil kehta hai ki tumhari hukum maan loon!, totally unfazed by her rebuff.
He was at his flirtatious best in that scene. I liked the way you described the scene, and probably enjoyed reading more than watching 😊
Superb deviousness: Let us go back a bit, to their first encounter, which is marked not so much by chemistry of any kind as by silken deviousness on Kabir's side, and a catch up exercise on Shesha's.
Beginning with an ambiguous and menacing Adhuri mulaqat poori kar dete hain, Kabir shifts smoothly to Sirf naagmani ke liye wapas aaya hoon, and then moves on to negotiate a deal with Shesha with an aggressive insouciance and unshakeable self-confidence that are a treat to watch.
Especially after he makes a big show of forgiving her for having joined Shivanya in killing him, and tempts her with what he knows is her Achilles heel: her obsession with Rithik (God knows what two such very good-looking women find in a wimpish wet blanket like this chap, but there is no arguing with tastes!😉😉) . Jo cheez main tumhein dilwa sakta hoon, wo (Yamini) nahin dilwa sakti! Rajat's Kabir would, in this passage, have moved even Chanakya to reluctant admiration!
😆😆. I have to agree with you here, especially about Rithik 😉
When Shesha finally agrees, it looked to me very much like the Hitler-Stalin pact of 1941, a marriage of convenience which both sides were determined to jettison at the first opportunity, with each intending to follow this up by making a murderous attack on the other. Nonetheless, this odd couple seem most comfortable with each other as they plot to get rid of Shivanya, right up to the exposure of Kabir at the sangeet.
I too believe this is the USP of the couple. They are so unlike the other couples you see on TV. Natural enemies who are now friends just for benefits.
Tour de force: This is, as is often the case, reserved for the very end. Rajat, performing totally against his grain in a role unlike any other he has played or is ever likely to play , reveals hitherto unknown facets of the nevla even as he treats us to hitherto unknown facets of his own range as a performer.
Watch Kabir with Guru Ma as he exclaims in bewilderment: Naagmani, naagmani, naagmani! The nevla is both exasperated by this obsession for a jewel, and ignorant of its true powers. For such things are beyond its mental scope, which knows only its age-old enmity with snakes and, right now, the need to wreak signal revenge not only on Shivanya for helping kill it, but on Shesha as well, for having led Kabir to expose himself at the sangeet, thus wrecking all his carefully laid plans.
@bold: I am short of words. I am mighty impressed with your attention to detail in what is such a terrible show. Hats off to you Aunty. Your singular focus in analysing the nevla without getting distracted by the bizarreness of the show is worth a thousand rounds of applause
Watch him further as he comes closer to the Guru Ma and listens to her expounding, in a most ill-advised manner, on the unique qualities of the naagmani. His face shows puzzled interest - like that of a kid in front of a candy shop - interest that changes into greed as he asks, almost innocuously, Kahan milegi yeh naagmani?
Watch the look in his eyes as she tells him that she resurrected him only so that he could get her the naagmani, adding, with abysmally stupid candour, where it could be found and how it could be attained. It is full of both cunning and cupidity, and as he absorbs the Guru Ma's revelations, it morphs into angry amusement - Yeh sab mujhe ab bata rahi hai? ...Had he known all this, he asserts, he would never have focussed on taking revenge against the naagin duo that had killed him. Then the crucial putdown of the Guru Ma, Tumhari ghulami thodi na karta!
Amoral and violent: The unpredictable, and unpredictably violent nevla is now in command as Kabir, smiling fiendishly, seizes Guru Ma by the throat - Kyon? Kyon kiya mujhe zinda? Finally, the coup de grace, the karate chop across her neck that finishes the job, followed by a savage mockery of a sacred ritual: Swaha, swaha, swaha! And the grotesque invitation to the birds of prey, enslaved by the Guru Ma but now liberated, to feel free to feed on her corpse.
Kabir-nevla feels not the least qualm, not the least twinge of guilt, at having killed the woman who had, for whatever selfish reasons, brought him back from the dead, and his eyes are bright with something like amusement as he comments on this. The total amorality of the nevla, extending even to cold blooded murder, was never before cast in such sharp relief.
In all of this, there is in Kabir not just the unusual strength derived from the Guru Ma, but a sense of total, untrammeled freedom. Freedom to do what he likes, when he likes , and how he likes it. To eat what he likes too, viz. Shesha. The veneer of sophistication that hid the bloodthirsty nevla under the guise of Kabir Oberoi is gone for good. As he holds that carrion bird captive in his grasp, and tells him that he needs much more to satisfy his hunger, he raises the creepiness level so high that one's hair stands on end.
Yes, he raises the creepiness levels. I liked the scene in which he killed Guruma.
What goes before a fall: The same arrogance and consciousness for his powers, and the cockiness that goes with that, are fully on display as Kabir, seated cross-legged on the dining table with Amrita's neck in his grasp, and later that of her sister, torments them with lightning changes of mood - now snarling at them and making them cower in fear, now asking them, his arms moving up and down like those of an orchestra conductor, to relaaaxx... and draw a deep breath.
I liked the way he enacted this scene. Everybody is really really scared, and this guy is so unpredictable, that no one knows how to handle him.
He taunts Yamini relentlessly, deliberately making her flinch with fear when he declares, with casual ominousness, that her children were of no use to him. A moment later, his face twists in mock pleading as he asks her for Rithik and Shivanya as his dahej for marrying Amrita. And then helps himself to the dahej with sneering contempt by seizing Rithik by the neck and dragging him away to the Shiva temple to get at the naagmani. He is drunk on his new powers, and it shows.
His mood is the same in the temple, as he capers around a trapped Rithik and alternately coaxes and threatens him to get at the naagmani. The high point of this exercise is when Kabir finds out the vital weak points of both Rithik and Shivanya, their fear each for the life of the other. His eyes alight with manic glee, he rushes to exploit this godsend by threatening Rithik with the death of his beloved.
He might even have pulled it off, but it is his very cockiness that is his undoing. He does not spot the blow that Shesha aims at his head before it is too late. Which too is exactly what one would have expected of this wild, reckless, over-confident creature, intoxicated as much by the fear of those around him as by his new powers. And overweening pride always comes before a fall!
He died smiling maniacally too. This guy is not going to bend before anyone.
Cons: There are just a few, the worst being the contorted, stereotyped gestures and expressions resorted to by Kabir before he is forced to change into the nevla. And the OTT glaring, with the whites of his eyes showing above the iris, when he spots Shivanya, or is nervous for some reason. Finally, the scenes between Kabir and Amrita's family, with Kabir's fake parents thrown in, were poorly conceived and executed, even by Rajat.
Never mind! These flaws are minor and not too many. What stays with one after Kabir has made a (literally) blazing exit, is Rajat's handling of the Kabir-nevla duality with flawless competence, and at times mindblowing excellence. It was truly a role to remember.
Yes Aunty. A very different role. Now I wish this guy plays a very nuanced character like Zaroon in Zindagi Gulzar Hain. But I guess we'll have to wait till CGM is over for that to happen. By the way, I heard that CGM is going to replace Siya Ke Ram. So we have to wait till November.
Shyamala/Aunty/Akka/Di
CID
