After watching the last 2 promos I feel like the show is turning back into the show I signed up for. A Period Drama that highlights the atrocities that women during that time faced (with some evils still prevalent) and how one man dreams of making the society a better place for women to live in.
I know a lot of people will be wary about the Heera Mandi Brothel track since Bondita/Aurra is very young. But I think the creatives are going to handle this well just as they handled the marriage to the old man and sati track by making Bondita unconscious and protecting little Bondita from the trauma. Who knows how many young girls and women in the past have gone through these same evils of being forced to marry old men or going through sati while being conscious the entire time. I can't even bear to imagine the fear and sufferings they actually went through. In this track I feel Rasiya will be the one who will protect and shield Bondita like a mother hen until Anirudh finds her. Through Bondita they will bring to light the plight of the women in brothels as well as the evils going on there.
One complaint I have is regarding the way Mini and her family are behaving. It is supposed to be a show of the 1920's but their part seems more like the 2020's. I mean which girl during that period would always be at a neighbour's house where there was not even a single lady? Which father and grandmother would leave their daughter alone in the house and expect the neighbours to care for her in times of trouble? Even parents nowadays are more protective than Mini's father and Dida. And how come no one in Tulsipur was talking when the married neighbour would spend hours taking care of the girl, taking her to doctors alone, ballroom dancing with her etc etc? Most rich girls during that time had companions who were girls. Why does Anirudh have to marry Mini to take her to London? If the family couldn't go they could have given Koeli a few new sarees and sent her along with Mini and Anirudh or they could have sent another female companion. They are so rich I'm sure they could have found a companion for her. Why couldn't Anirudh argue like that? Sometimes I feel that Anirudh's brain is like a dormant volcano. Most of the time it is asleep and one day it will suddenly erupt destroying everything in the way just as he destroyed the fear that caused Bondita's bed wetting, and then it will go back to sleep. It's high time his brain wakes up and connects the dots and realises the truth about Mini's fake drama. There are enough clues, all he needs to do is use his Barrister brain.
I'm not sure what they wanted to show through the Mini blindness drama. It was not even required for the Brijwasi track and catching Bondita red-handed. Binoy single handedly masterminded the whole thing and Mini's drama was not even required. All Binoy needed to do was keep a peacock feather on Bondita's desk and Anirudh would have still run to Brijwasi. Maybe they wanted to bring up the topic about 2nd marriage. But I don't think it was that impactful as it looks like Anirudh has reached a stage where he doesn't want to marry Mini, more because he will never give Bondita's place to anyone else rather than because polygamy is an evil against women. If they want to show the evils of polygamy they can even use Saurabh and Sampurna effectively. The can show Anirudh and Bondita helping Sampurna and fighting against polygamy as a team. They can show about dowry deaths, female infanticide, widow remarriage etc etc. This show has so much scope. I hope I am not getting my hopes too high.
P.S. the new promo gives me hope that Anirudh has started practicing as a Barrister. It's high time he uses legal means to make a difference in the society rather than just screaming and shouting and giving very impressive but useless speeches.
P.P.S.
This is just my opinion. According to me, the separation track was one of the most powerful and impactful separations I have ever seen on Indian Television. I know some words like daag and chehara kabhi mat dikhana were a little too harsh for a kid, but I think they were setting the base for the Heera Mandi and extented separation and guilt track. Everything about those 2 episodes impressed me, right from the phenomenal performances by Pravisht and Aurra to the direction, cinematography, editing, background music etc. Kudos to the entire team.
