Posted:
That one word in yesterday's episode was so powerful in what it wrought that I think it deserves a topic all of it's own. Even if it's just me rambling about it. 😊
What was most striking was the way Shivaay said it. Shivaay had been so _emphatic_ and _harsh_ in his pronouncements and his orders to Anika at the wedding venue.
That Shivaay, when he has to say the word that unravels the madness of despair in Anika's mind about her brother's death, says it softly, almost carelessly, as if it was no consequence, not really. And so I was completely unprepared for what came after that
I guess it also helped that the Anika before that ''boom'' also was the Anika of old. Snarky. High on confidence. Just a little shaky. But dismissive of what Shivaay could do to shake that confidence. After all, she has been there before. He has tried to break her confidence before. He hadn't succeeded. Why should anything be different now?
After the "boom'', came the surprise: he hasn't tried that hard before. Not really. Everything that had happened before looked like it had just been a game for him. Like a cat who plays with the mouse, to learn what it can and will do under pressure.
This time, when Shivaay really needed Anika, he put everything he had learnt to use to capture her to come out with more than what she expected, and what we expected.
''boom''.
Now it seems inevitable that it would be soft. After all, he didn't need to be emphatic or harsh. He knew he was going to get her. But man, what a way to play that word! Perfection in a story, grabbing our attention that way, trapping us in the delicate wave of his hand.
Keeping us there, though, took Anika. Who had a greater depth than Shivaay Singh Oberoi, the master of the chess game, had expected. No matter how well he thought he knew her, it wasn't enough.
When she ran, crazed with grief -- ''boom''! he ran too, pulling us along, to catch her and desperately bring her back to reason. Even in the ridiculousness of the setting, with his droids and their matching cars, the only thing that I could focus on was the struggle between Shivaay and Anika.
What struck me later was that there was physicality in that scene. He twisted her arms behind her, firmly, explicitly. But this time, it did not offend. It looked like he had no choice, no other way to calm her.
It stood in such stark contrast with the earlier scene where there was another ''boom'' moment: Shivaay's contemplative eyes going cold, moments after Anika's slap. I keep wishing that the writers had written the scene that followed with a different kind of physicality.
May be that's a tough wish when the writers, the directors, the actors, the camera folk, the rest of the crew are working to entertain us for six days a week. Maybe we would have more ''boom'' moments if this was a five day show. Or maybe not.
No matter. Take a bow, crew of the show. That moment? The ''boom'' and after, with all it's theatrics and it's flaws -- that was pure magic. Thank you.
(I tell you, for a Hindi TV serial on Star Plus, this show can be unexpectedly, amazingly fine! Are my prejudices showing or what? 😆)
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