Abhay Raichand : The saint , the devil the myth, the man.
The intense ice blue concentric circles, the classic rude and high cheekbones, the smug and mysterious pursed mouth , the signature angst , the trademark fiery look , the lean masculine frame that tells you a tale of pathos, poignancy , sacrifice and endless suffering that he counters with an unnatural and abnormal strength . He is not a man , he is not a vampire. He is an EPIC. He is the stuff that folklore , campfire stories , bedtime tales , dreams , nightmares and above all classic sagas are made of.
ABHAY RAICHAND .
The moment you look at him , settled in that royal armchair like a recovering lion and his eyes looking intensely into the fire – you actually FEEL what it is like to have him back on screen. A single frame with Abhay burning holes into the screen with an intensity that has 'Abhay Raichand' stamped on him , you understand that just why this protagonist is the soul of this show. Its like the creatives have switched on a button and – M.A.G.I.C .
And how has the Byronic Hero returned? Crying ? Heartbroken? Shattered? Sobbing over Maithli or pining over Piya? Weak? …..NO.
Maithli's spell, Piya's separation , the life of a frozen fossil only made him suffer . All these emotional , psychological and physical turmoil , upheaval could not take ABHAY out of Abhay. He still stays the powerhouse that he always was. He has come back as he had gone – brave , decisive , courageous and as immovable as a mountain. He stays the man with a plan and man with a decision .
Abhay doesn't want anything from his past life. NOTHING. He seeks no happiness, he seeks no love , he seeks no solace , and he seeks no Piya. Staying totally in sync with his character , Abhay sticks to his resolve of releasing Piya from the dark fairytale that is actually her life. He loves her , yes and he always will but he seeks no love , no hugs , no tears and embraces of reunion and no release into the sunshine. For him , his and Piya's chapter was closed the day he took away her memory and locked her pink life into a secret trunk.
When Abhay had taken a decision , he had meant it and he was right. Piya just had to be released because he had nothing to give except darkness and continuous threats to her precious life either from his obsessed lover or from a million other villains who think Abhay is some kind of an apple tart that they need to pounce on. Abhay had seen that how close Piya had come to losing her life only because she had dared to love him. From the day Abhay met Pia to the day he fell in love with her to the night that he saw last of her , Abhay knew that one day , he will have to release Piya back into her normal world…..
So, is it any wonder that when an emotionally wrought Haseena tells Abhay that Piya is his light , his soulmate and that he should just go and take her in his arms , give her memory back , the man refuses? For Abhay , Piya is happy , content and bouncing in a life that is normal , beautiful – a life that he has designed and engineered for her. The Piya that Abhay created an year ago is living a cool life of a mortal. Her love is true , he knows but he refuses to dust it off and let her see the mirror. Abhay wants to stay an enigma , a fading memory , a shadow of some other lifetime ………little does he know how he kills Piya , every day.
There is no emotional weakness for Piya in Abhay or maybe there is but he masks it very well. Its touchy to see him glare at the fire and tell Haseena that it doesn't matter how and what Piya feels for him – he refuses to accept her love , he refuses to accept her heartbeats and he refuses to accept Piya. Because accepting her means putting her back into the abyss from which he had released her. And like always. Abhay's tears die in his eyes . They want to fall out but Abhay doesn't let them. For him, decisions of life can only be shaken by emotions , not decided by them.
So, this unfathomable strange man who still stays a mystery after 190 episodes shuts his heart and tells his shocked and shaken mother that his job is to protect Piya from the dangers that loom over her because she loved him. He is not going to run into her arms , he is not going to give her precious life and precious memories back to her. He is going to protect her until he is sure that she is not in any danger. And then……..this saint , this devil, this myth in the name of a man is going to dissolve in a darkness that will be beyond Piya's reach.
Connection , as they call it. Abhay was not in the jungle near Piya's house.Infact, he was not in Dehradun and yet….. Piya heard him. What was that? Cosmic intervention ?
And if you are the slightest bit angry that Abhay is not reuniting with Piya and sticking to his 'stay away from me' stance , remember the basic root of the character that was declared to you in the very first promo.
" Koi aag se bhi to poocche uske dil ki . Jise bhi pyaar se chhua uski bass raakh hi mili. "
" Its easy to blame the fire for destroying everything but how do you know what the fire holds in its heart. It has no permission to love because whoever it touches, turns to a handful of ashes. "
Sometimes, I think Abhay is one man that am never able to do justice to in words. Or should I say I cannot gather him in words. He is actually beyond all logic , all understanding , all definitions and neither the creatives know what kind of a landmark character they have ended up creating, nor does Vivian Dsena know that he becomes somebody else everytime he dons those black robes and jackets for a shot. When the camera rolls, VD ceases to exist and Abhay takes over. That is the power of this character.
In my job, I have seen more often than not that a character suddenly becomes so powerful that instead of the writers driving it , the fictitious , non-existent character begins to dictate the writers and the actor portraying it. It is a surreal feel and only a writer who writes fiction or an actor who has played this kind of a character can understand this. In PKYEK, Abhay Raichand is that character who rises above the bloopers, the beaten tracks, the run of the mill scenes by his sheer power and persona.
That is why….Abhay is ABHAY. Welcome back .
P.S- So, any more doubts that Jay is the engineer of Abhay-Piya RELOADED? Hmm? More than anyone else, its Jay who is happy and insanely happy that Abhay is back. He worked hard for it and you have to hand it over to the wolf in question – WHAT. A .PLAN.
Love and luck always,❤️
GOD bless everyone.🤗
Ye Hai Mohabbatein
Mangal Lakshmi
