Can you have it all as a woman?

Remakes can always be hard especially when you have watched the original. I enjoyed the Turkish version and when I read the serial was being made, I was little excited but also cautious. Must say they smashed ep 1 right out of the gate! 👏

I am a little shocked that the serial is going for such a serious realistic entertainment vibe. Katha feels like a real woman. Not one of those female leads who gives tons of lectures without having an iota of life experience or gives random dialogues of "super woman" without actually doing any work. She isn't stuck in the kitchen and wearing full makeup with glam clothes.

she is not going around sprouting bahu type dialogues or that typical style. the kitchen actually looks like a real life kitchen!!!! wow, a non-kitchen politics drama but the kitchen actually looks like it is being used and real cooking is done????

the drama is showing a female lead on the run who is determined and super pragmatic and practical. there are many dramas where we see a female lead who is all about sacrificing for the family and doing many things but it always feels tad fake because of the over cheerfulness. instead, we have a mature female lead in her 30s who is more of a hustler. she isn't smiling her way through work but rather just being a professional.

as a yoga teacher, she doesn't look super fit but someone who teaches it really as a side hustle. she is friendly but not randomly giving gyan or over friendly advice -- the yoga students don't even realize that katha is a widow with a child and think she is single. so there is a friendly distance that she maintains as a professional.

with her boss, she is trying hard to get the next assignment but her status as a mother means she may get overlooked despite her talent. while the boss has the best intentions as arav is not well and he does need her, it is also true that katha needs the money and the work. so there is a great tension in that conflict and that is what centers the drama -- that is a page out of so many women's life where they have to figure out how to balance work life balance along with family commitments. it is true that there is so much pressure on women to put family first but what about when you need the paycheque? what then? as katha rightly points out, women need support and without it, how can you earn?

we also see how katha is such a tough cookie -- she is not breaking down over her son's diagnosis but has learned to live with it and focus on the practicalities. this is a caregiver's mindset where there is no time for rhona dhona. she can say the words "blood cancer" without breaking down. she is able to calm her son when he is feeling sick with a simple mental exercise. what I loved about those scenes is that there is no sad music floating to make you feel bad. nope, the drama isn't going to dip its feet in tragic feels.

so even with this disease hanging in the air, katha is determined and super practical -- she needs money. she is not crying about how life is unfair and how she is stuck handling the bills. she is not feeling sorry for herself or that she is tired. she is well aware that in order to earn money, she has to sacrifice her time with arav and she believes that is the best call under the circumstances as arav can get better provided he gets treatment.

can I also say how relieved I am with the characterization of arav? so many of these baccha serials tend to be annoying. either the kid is a super brat or the kid is giving adult dialogues and giving advices or a combination of both (horror!). here, the kid feels like a regular 8 year old boy -- neither too bratty and neither too irritating. no random advice for adults and instead, he is bent on playing cricket. the vibe between katha and arav feels natural -- in many serials, it can feel very artificial but here, it feels like a regular mom and son interaction who get on like fire crackers. they are a team.

we also get the glimpses that she had a very happy marriage but he passed away. however, she does not go around putting on a sad face or telling everyone she meets that he is no more. that is part of her but not something that identifies her. so it was interesting seeing how she interacts as a broker -- she doesn't tell them immediately that she is a mother or she was a wife and can understand where they are coming from. instead she is focused on selling/renting the house out and does a great job of highlighting the features of the apartment. she does not use her life struggles as a way to sell but rather lets her work do the talking.

also loved how she is so firm when it comes to money issues -- this isn't a pushover who is going to give discounts because she cannot say no and feels bad for people. she may help old couple cross the street but when it comes to her job, she expects payment as per the job. no sacrifices for random people. wow, a non-mahaan lead!!!! 😆

so we have two very realistic conflicts that centers the drama and what I really love is that the drama is not choosing to go down through a rhona dhona track. instead, this is a drama about surviving, of pushing through, of grit and of perseverance. it is tough to be a working woman with family commitments when you may not have the support and really need the money. it is also tough to be a caregiver when a family member is going through treatment that is prologed. so there are both practical as well as emotional challenges to both these issues and the drama is showing us a tough cookie -- someone who feels very real.

kekeke... I wrote a super long post about katha. so I will try and keep it short in terms of my impressions about the male lead viaan -- what I liked is that he feels like a man in his 30s. sometimes the dramas gives us a man child as a main character and it is hard to imagine such a man leading a big corporation. instead, this is a character who really feels like a businessman. he is in control and he is sharp. the dialogues with him negotiating and discussing terms with the client felt like a real conversation as opposed to a typical drama fluff.

I was really struck by the client explaining why they are under a time crunch -- the sheikh he is working for needs to showcase this project in order to attract investors who they have been losing. in turn, the sheikh is placing pressure on this beard guy to deliver. if mr. beard does not deliver, then he loses potential lines of future work. so he in turn pressures viaan about unrealistic deadlines. this is a real life aspect of the current business climate.

each corporation is under pressure and they in turn pressure their contractors who in turn make the sub-contractors come up to impossible demands. we are running like rats in a machine and at what point do we fall from exhaustion? what about those who work with and under sub-contractors to deliver those unreasonable tight deadlines? how does it affect those employees? what about their personal lives and their own work life balance? so I like how the drama is touching on these aspects in an entertaining way but grounding the business angle in realities.

also, like that we have not gotten the full info on viaan's rather negative view about women. why does he think that women are only after money and all relationships are transactional? his friend ishan is cheerfully giving him side eyes but we don't get much into their personal life because this is the time to work. there is a kind of realistic working friendship vibe in that ishaan knows how viaan is and how they work together as colleagues. so it is nice that rather than overload in info, we are getting slices about the other characters including the male lead. so far, so good!

I love your analysis! Everything felt real in the show. Nothing was over the top. I could relate to Katha as this is the life of the every day woman. I consider normal women as superwomen based on all the things they get done in a day.

All of us have our shares of trouble in life but we don't really have the time to feel sorry for ourselves or even cry about it. I liked her pragmatic attitude. She is a busy woman with clear priorities, and does not indulge in self-pity. So refreshing to see a strong female character on ITV!

I like the fact that Viaan also comes across as a strong man, who knows how to assess situations and react accordingly. It will be interesting to discover his background in order to understand his point of view on women.

I can't wait to see the interactions between these 2 characters. I think that we are in for a ride😊

shalzie -- I was so surprised by how they have written and portrayed katha. am so used to these silly unrealistic portrayal of 'super women' in our serials. they seem to sit around all day in the kitchen or they are forever giving random advice to all sorts of people. there is a kind of weird cheerfulness that is grating after a while to watch. makes me want to facepalm.. a lot! 😆

like you said, regular women don't have time or energy to be doing rhona dhona. putting food on the table as well as fulfilling your family obligations is mostly mundane everyday challenge. there is no real time to feel sorry for yourself and nor will you be getting a good name everywhere. there is a finite amound of time, energy and resources and this means for one task, we have to sacrifice another. that is reality and I love that they are showing it here.

katha has to sacrifice her time with arav to make money. it is not like she is doing a perfect job as mom or any of her professional duties. she is not getting assignments because her boss knows she can't do those kind of crazy all-nighters with tight deadline assignments. she is late to meetings while running in between traffic. these are all mundane regular everyday challenges and I love that the drama includes them in her intro.

and viaan is also coming off strongly and more importantly real. what I like is that ishaan rolls his eyes but viaan is saying is not untrue. there are lots of women who are looking for sugar daddies and just waiting to collect money. so you can see such dynamics anywhere in the world. so if you are surrounded by that everyday, that is normal for you. so rather than bitter, viaan sounded so matter of fact which made it interesting.

also the business angle finally felt like a real corporate negotiation. just as katha has to hustle, so does viaan because there is lots of compeition. there is always another firm who is willing to cut you down and offer promises such as tighter deadlines and corners even if it makes no sense.

so yes, the first episode was certainly great and I hope the drama continues to be good. however, I am going to temper my expectations because we all know that after a good ride comes the absurd in tvland. 🤣

Hi mango ji thanks for tag. Keep tagging me in your posts.

I'll get into this bandwagon, somehow I'm kinda not ready to start till a few more episodes are up. 😊

I have the same problem! I have grown up on American shows. My mum used to work and had to balance her work and personal life. There was no time for unnecessary stuff. If she was in the kitchen, it was to cook food and not look good while having monologues🤣I come from a place where there is no drama and respect matters.

Just imagine how hard it is for me to relate to a typical ITV show!

I can relate to characters like Katha & Viaan. I am a professional. I have the responsibility of my family. It is very hard to manage both but I don't sit around crying nor expecting other people to support or save me. I love good stories and strong characters. Both come across as very strong. The icing on the cake is the casting. These 2 will create magic.

I understand about the expectations part but 2 of my fav shows were on Sony. So I will be hopeful 🤣

Good going with discussion, Mango ji and Shalzie🤗.

Today is my typical day, running around, time pressure to see if I can make it to all commitments, do my teaching bit, take care of insecurities from students while still giving them the autonomy under supervision, so they can eventually grow to take good care of people, sticking my neck out for any mistakes, watching like a hawk so nobody gets hurt etc. etc, and etc.......

So, yeah Katha sounds so real, a day taken from any busy woman's life👍🏼when you get pulled in all directions. Giving us a slice of metropolitan life with its conveniences and its vices is even better.

This morning, my learner and I had a spirited discussion about guilt that hits us as women when you have to leave a not so sick child and come to work. Damned if you do and damned if you don't, as you have to clear your other calendars inconveniencing people who may have waited for a long time to see you. Either way, guilt toh pakka whichever decision you make To show the same predicament with Katha is surreal for a TV show👍🏼

I watched the episode 2 as well. How beautifully Katha described the soul ( rooh ) of heritage buildings ???? Unhein ek baar pooch lena chaahiyien, unhein zinda kaise rakhein⭐️ Bejaan cheezein hi sahi, that emotion sounded so soulful and touching❤️

If you guys haven't watched Silsila, watch it only for Aditi, you will love it❤️ The story will creep you out, but eventually how she deals with that gore leaves you satisfied for the most part👍🏼 Another contemporary story, with a very strong FL. Mauli came to my rescue when Pragya is tanking

I don't know this hero, he did a decent job, no dramatics, very matter of fact👍🏼

Looking forward to more discussions here with you guys.......

Pooja, try it out. I liked both episodes......

Good review of the episodes by you, Mango Ji. 👏

I’m watching this show after seeing Aditi’s stupendous acting in Silsila serial few years back.

Originally posted by: Swetha-Sai

Good review of the episodes by you, Mango Ji. 👏

I’m watching this show after seeing Aditi’s stupendous acting in Silsila serial few years back.

yes, I watched silsila too; though to be honest, I wasn't a fan of any of those characters including mouli and just enjoyed th discussion and the train wreck factor. the forum was entertaining to say the least. 🤣

I watched the 2nd episode. Can't comment much due to time constraints but I really like this show. Mango and Mili, many essays can be written on these eps🤣

Hope the makers do not spoil this show. The quality is really good up to now.