"Everyone sees what you appear to be, few experience what you really are.
Niccol Machiavelli, The Prince
There is something intriguing about a character who is fed to you in bits and pieces. In morsels of such delicious intensity that they end up whetting your appetite further. Each bite leaving a lingering pang in your stomach, each bit turning you more ravenous. I think in Lord of the Rings this is the reason why Sauron has the power to send goosebumps up your spine. He's hardly ever there. In reality there's not much power he has. But in there lies the technique. Not revealing him, letting this air of suspense build, letting you imagine because imagination, of course, is such a powerful thing to have. Because once we're left to our own imagination we let the characters rise into such omnipotent roles with powers to wreak havoc on our brains.
Now I won't compare Ranveer to Sauron for obvious reasons but I find it almost a meticulous, carefully crafted technique to keep him in mystery. Because that's who he is. 3 episodes in and he leaves you with more questions than answers. The answers are nowhere in sight but the steel in his eyes, the calculated stride, that remote callousness in his face, that absolute insensitivity to any emotion. Does he cry? Does he feel fear? Is he ever disappointed? Does he love his family intensely? Does he feel the way we feel? Or is he indifferent to the raw potent allure of emotions that more often than not make us imperfect and impulsive, loveable and crazy.
But you don't know because this is part of his facade. You will never know what he feels. You'll never know what he wants. Because he's just ahead of the curve. Sometimes we cannot look at our own emotional patterns from a logical point of view because we're too attached to the moments. But for someone like Ranveer who doesn't even let a hint escape through the surface, emotions almost feel mechanical. As if they're a specimen he can put under his telescope and analyze and use them as mechanically as possible.
"The lion cannot protect himself from traps, and the fox cannot defend himself from wolves. One must therefore be a fox to recognize traps, and a lion to frighten wolves.
Niccol Machiavelli, The Prince
He appears to be a man of iron control. A man who never loses his cool. A man who views the world from a lens of indifference enjoying a spectacle. To be that powerful, to be that rich, to reach such a height and to stay at the top you've to become someone else. So what is it that Ranveer loves most? power? Spectacle? Pretenses? What drives the man?
Because perhaps right there is our answer to this very conflict that seems to brew up in the show as a whole.
I don't know whether he'll be good or bad, grey or outright villainous, but I feel as if the more we'll know him the more there will be to know. And that is just straight up fascinating.
"Never attempt to win by force what can be won by deception.
Niccol Machiavelli, The Prince
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Hooked to the show! I guess I could write like a 1000 words essay more. The key highlights are the pace, the characterization. The sheer contrast between the rawness of Kabir's emotions to the almost mechanical stance of Ranveer. They're different and the difference is stark. And absolutely love how Aanchal isn't straight up white.
These are three people who see the world with three perspectives. Ironically if you could summarize their ideals in one line it'll be the same 'as long as you get to your desired destination, it doesn't matter how you got there'
RIDA.
CID
