I love Lee. Let's get that out of the way so Rumya fans (of which I am one) don't assume I'm hating on the guy. I LOVE Lee. And while I have strong misgivings about the future of his career, I wish him well. But that does not mean I want Rudra to end. And nor should you. We should want Rudra the character to NOT be scrapped, to not have his tracks ended with a trip to Never-Again-Seen-Land or by him being sent to some relative's house or, GOD forbid, Rudra being killed off.
The issue for me is this: Rudra the character, has more value than just having Leeneesh the actor who is playing it. All actors, even main heroes like Nakuul and Barun have said it-- they are only as good as the character study they get, and the writing that has created them. The converse of this logic is -- the character is a product of writing, not just acting. Gul does this better than any other producer out there-- she creates CHARACTERS that are iconic, and then casts actors who become those characters and thus, take iconic status in our imaginations. And that, my loves, is WRITING, and excellent, instinctive casting.
I had no idea who Lee was until he burst onto my screen, just like the Om Deewanis didn't know who their Kunal was until Omkara happened -- but my point is, I still don't know who Lee is, as a person. Nor do you. I don't need to support his career choices by boycotting this show. He's a young, talented actor, pulled out of relative obscurity and supporting roles, to become RUDRA SINGH OBEROI, which is how I met him. So the truth is--Lee is not a person for me. I see him as RUDRA, the creation of Ishqbaaz, and I love him as Rudra Singh Oberoi the Playboy comic onscreen.
And while no one can (or should) discount dialogue delivery, acting and excellent chemistry that Lee has created onscreen- at least 50% of that is writing and not just the actor delivering the performance. So thinking Ishqbaaz is somehow cut at the knees because he is leaving doesn't make sense. To mourn the loss of an actor makes sense--but to be honest, I don't want to mourn the CHARACTER'S loss-and nor should I have to.
The problem with removing Rudra is that for the first 150 episodes, the story actually balanced out between the three brothers with Rudra and Shivaay having their own story arcs quite established. Kahani ke teen hisse is not over, not in the true emotional payoff of the concept. SO-- If Rudra Singh Oberoi is killed off now, it will be something, GIVEN THE STORY ARC of the previous 250 or so episodes --- it will be something that NO ONE -- No Omkara on DBO, not Shivika or the others on Ishqbaaz, can recover from. They cannot do an extended death scene and then three weeks of angst and then on May 1st go back to business as usual with a giant Rudra picture and a garland in the living room. Not in EITHER show.
That ending is possible with Dadi, Prinku, anyone else, really. But NOT an Obro. And certainly not the youngest one, the one the other two literally brought up, and are affected by the most. Rudra is not a character who can die and leave the other three main characters whole.
An accident is a copout. And if he's killed? I'm leaving Soumya out of the equation here-- what will Shivaay Anika and Om do with this death? This is leap of 20 years, second season, new generation stuff, not just an ordinary loss here. Because this will break, permanently break, Shivaay. It will immediately remove Omkara's story arc from slowly working towards his love story with Gauri, to a full blown return to addiction-- especially if say, that most vicious vamp left, Svetlana, is responsible for Rudra's death.
So here's my take, and I hate it, but needs must. Let Lee go, and hopefully let him succeed at his new project. And cast another guy as Rudra, to take over the mantle Lee is leaving behind. These actors are out there, you know. Good ones, exceptionally talented people who'll give their left arm to be part of Ishqbaaz. Like Gul or hate her--her shows are a certified route to superstardom.
We'll hate the new guy. We'll swear never to watch IB or DBO ever again. We'll cry, re-watch old episodes, and swear eternal loyalty to a guy who is leaving his story half way through, for what he assumes are better opportunities. But then we'll tune in. 10 episodes in, maybe 20. They'll have to do some seriously intense story lines to introduce the guy well, to hit the ground running. And--given Gul's ONE genius-- fantastic casting--- we'll find that the guy she selected is not so bad after all. Then, we'll watch out of curiousity and find.. hey, he's giving Rudra new flavor, new quirks, and okay, he's hot too.
And thus, the story continues. And Lee--please do yourself a favor and look at what happened to Baun Sobti, a man who's superstardom you cannot even begin to approach right now. A man who's cult creation ASR still resonates throughout the world in dubbed runs of IPKKND, and who is still mobbed wherever he goes. And look at what actual WORK he could do, what actual INCOME he could earn, even with that super stardom-- whether in Bollywood, or on TV. Since 2012, till now, its been 5 long years. Barun has come right back with Gul, come right back to working for, and with, the woman who gave him all this. So leave on good terms, my love. Chances are, you'll be needing her, too.
***sigh***
Anupamaa
