Ahhh what a pretty thread. I can't wait to read people's stories of getting hooked!!
I have a really strange one, but here goes.
You know how Twitter fandoms can sometimes get super toxic? Some random tweets showed up on timeline mocking one of the scenes from this show, by some other fandom, during one of those random Twitter wars. While it was a mocking tweet, I found the shots and the cinematography so gorgeous, it stuck with me. This was the sindoor scene at Charminar from episode one, and this was back in the first week of the show. I was also a huge fan of the previous show by this production house, though it derailed quickly, but I figured if I can get a good 50-70 episodes, why not? I made a mental note to check it out, and binged the first six episodes that weekend.
Now for the part, jahaan mujhe joote padenge sab se. I was extremely put off by Raghav's character in those episodes. He came across as extremely aggressive, and made some very misogynistic statements. Having seen shows with an angry-young-man male lead (especially the trend of justifying unforgivable behavior under the guise of 'past trauma', which I thought they might do) and not interested in getting invested in one more inevitably toxic and abusive relationship which would just make my BP shoot up in later episodes, I decided to cut my losses. I actually have messages which I sent to my friends- "The aesthetics of this show are so on point, and the leads are hot af, but I can't with the aggression and misogyny. What a shame."
Come next weekend, I had some really mind numbing work that I had to do, and I needed some background noise, so I again binged the next week's episodes in the background while doing my work. I stayed in this slightly disengaged mode for another week or two, where I would just watch clips here and there and catch up on written updates. They did soften up Raghav a smidge, and dial back the misogyny from the very first few episodes eventually, and that's when I started watching full-time, around Mansi's wedding functions and the subsequent Lion track.
By now I also had another ridiculous reason for watching- my closest and oldest friend is named Raghav, and he's as different from Raghav Rao as chalk from cheese. He's one of the most humble, sweet, non-confrontational, and low-key people one would ever meet. And he hates ITV shows with a deep passion. So, like any good friend would do, I kept sending him clips of Raghav Rao behaving crazily, Pallavi screeching his name, just to get on his nerves. You guys cannot imagine the kind of bribes I've been offered to stop watching this show 🤣🤣
And aise hi dekhte dekhte, I ended up getting super invested. Raghav surprised me by deviating from the typical route of the angry young man in such shows. Pallavi's spunk impressed me beyond words. The way the show tied humor, drama and romance together in a realistic manner was just very endearing to me. And I have wanted to see a story where we go from enmity to friendship to love in ITV for a long time, instead of the switch from passionate hatred to passionate love, with no foundation of trust and friendship, which we see very often. I like that this show is demonstrating that chemistry is not all about the ML manhandling and pushing the FL up against walls.
I'm not able to pin down any particular scene, but I think it was around the wedding that I really, truly fell for the show and went from superficial, casual watching to getting deeply invested. It was from the day of Raghav's MU being cleared, and his instant regret that I started waking up at 6am to catch new episodes. Felt too good to be true- the ML realizing his mistake because of him being a genuine good person who effed up, and not because he's now in love? Unheard of! I also appreciate how Raghav and Pallavi hold their own, in terms of strengths and weaknesses. Probably just cynical after past experiences, but I've seen pairings where the guy is just criminally abusive, and that's countered with, "Yeah, but see, she can be so annoying and idealistic, so she deserves it", which just feels so unjust. And since then, I've only been getting more and more into the show and the story they're telling.
God, sorry, this got way too long. But I really loved going down memory lane. Much like Pallavi and Raghav, this wasn't love at first sight for me- far from it. Went from instant dislike, to begrudging appreciation, to genuine fondness and now I'm absolutely in love. Thanks for the tag, @Bee222!
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