Posted:
Hello all 😊
I've been around reading everyone's points of view over the last few episodes and taking it all in...but today I really wanted to put down a few things circling my mind in a fairly maddening buzz since tonight's episode ended. I'm pretty sure this will begin to sound like a discussion with myself inside my head at some point, lol, but do bear with me. There are a lot of conflicting ideas I'm trying to navigate. Would love to hear what anyone might like to say. 😊
So. Even with all the talk about the show losing its freshness all of a sudden, I have actually been thinking for some time that they're doing a decent job of the post-marriage dynamics - at least theoretically. I get the concepts they're trying to flesh out - two cultures merging with difficulty, sure. In our country girls still move in with the boy's family after marriage, and trying to be a part of the family you marry into is about more than just being a good bahu. I feel like we're so used to seeing this trope being warped and melodramatised on Indian television that its appearance does condition us to respond to it in a certain way. There are, however, more ways to look at it than just Sona trying to be a typical bahu. It can be seen as Sona trying to really be a part of the family, especially when she can sense that the head of the family hasn't actually accepted her as a part of it yet. It's human for her to want to be one with them. Dev voicing what a lot of us have been feeling supports that idea too - that while it may seem like she's trying too hard to fit someone else's ideal bahu mould, what she's really trying to do is feel accepted as someone's own. Having said that, I did think Sona would deal with this differently - that she wouldn't need the trappings of customs and vrats to prove her worth to what is now her family too. Therein lies a fundamental problem I have with the writing of her character right now. They could have done what they're doing now, without making her look meek and hapless all of a sudden.
Similarly, Dev. One of the biggest problems my mother has always had with saas bahu shows is that between the saas, bahu and saazish, the beta lives either in blissful ignorance or naive confusion, eventually reduced to a depressive wreck. Dev being in blissful oblivion right now, however, fits. In my mind, it aligns itself exactly with the way he has been developed so far - it is typical of him to want to believe that everything is perfect, just like he did when he told his mother about Sonakshi the first time and thought she was over the moon with happiness. My question, though, is how long his blissful oblivion will last and when it will shatter, how it will shatter. There are so many ways the writers can go with this, and at the moment, I'm a bit nervous. Because for me, pretty much everything I have hoped for on KRPKAB hinges on how they make his character deal with the situation that will inevitably arise.
Third, the rest of the family. Barring mother superior herself, every other character - annoying or otherwise - is more or less consistent to what they were when we were first introduced to them. Maami - the most saas bahu element of the show as far as I'm concerned - has always been the most saas bahu element of the show. Her language has always been melodramatic and her ways always wily. Vicky has always been obnoxious. Neha has always been snarky and resentful, envious of everyone who has what she doesn't. Sure, she lost a bit of her bitterness when she found love in Ranveer, but I always felt like they set up her marriage to fail. I, for one, had always anticipated trouble in her middle class paradise. So her coming back home is not really a surprise. I had not, however, imagined her being this rude to Sonakshi out of the blue, for no fathomable reason. So that part of the episode today really hurt, somehow. Especially since she had looked fairly happy during the wedding. This sudden switch in tone is weird. I don't know what the writers are thinking there.
And finally, Ishwari. She is the one character who seems to be really played around with. First, it is so difficult to decipher what she's really thinking now. There are the obvious instances where she draws a line between her family and Sonakshi as an outsider - like today - but there are times where she seems genuinely nice. She's not scheming or plotting, but her signature emotional manipulation is perpetually at play, not to mention her supremely moralistic, is parivaar ne tujhe bohot kuch diya hai reminders. Like he wasn't already shouldering the weight of that bohot kuch diya hai chants. And here I thought family was about being there for each other, not about keeping scores. Also, her aversion to Sonakshi making her do crazy things like justifying Dev's outburst without having the foggiest idea what happened is just sad. It is not at all in line with the way she handled Neha when the prospect of her marriage to Ranveer first came up. That Ishwari, though still neurotic when it came to her son, was at least rational and objective about other things in life. This Ishwari is all twisted up.
So basically, while I understand to some extent where the writers are coming from and where they're theoretically trying to go, I do feel the execution is a bit off lately. The tone of the show is too negative sometimes, which makes me really sad. I'm not saying I want them all to live in lala land, but a little more balance would be nice. I mean, DevAkshi are married. I'd like to experience the happiness the very idea of them being married gives me, a little more than I'm able to right now, what with an on-the-edge Ishwari, scowling Bijoy, cocky Vicky, wily Mami and snarky Neha. Contrary to how KRPKAB used to keep things simple, too much is happening at the same time right now. Maybe some more space to breathe could help, for all characters and sub plots?
🤔
Pyaar Kii Ye Ek Kahaani
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
