Posted:
And that ladies, and ladies, was the sound of my heart breaking...
What a powerful moving scene that was - and what phenomenal performances by the boys! I'm sorry, but this post is going to be all about the boys - Mansi aka Gulaal can get her share of limelight tomorrow, because knowing her she will shine no less...
But today was a man's world!
Watching Neil and Sushant in these 15 last minutes of the episode made me realize why I had been going on for days, to watch these two share screen space - bond, and interact! What a treat it was, to watch two amazing actors like that, execute such high end drama without an iota of melodrama attached! My heart went out so direly and terribly to both - that for the life of me, I couldn't have picked one over the other! Oh if I continue gushing, I can go on all night - not to mention I can probably watch that scene over and over enough times to lose count when I'm not yet half way to having had enough of it!
[on a completed unreleated note: OMG Neil!!! Hahahaha! He's totally meee bless him! Reminds me of all the undergrad Friday nights we'd go clubbing and under 30 minutes of being out their in the loud music and yelling over it, my vocals would begin to fade away 😆 So that a majority of my Saturday mornings were marked by sounding like a toad 😆 No kidding, it was deja vu watching Neils vocals suddenly dip, and oh what a wonderful natural effect it had on the scene itself! ]
But without digressing.. here goes Mega Mind Monday 😎
Honestly, I can't decided if I'm heartbroken, or simply overwhelmed by how good that showdown was. Worth every penny of the months that have been spent in wondering when the cat will be let out of the bag, and how! If ever a climax lived up to its hype so completely, this did! And I'm pleasantly surprised at how little Gulaal's role in the entire Kesar provocation was, contrary to all our speculations! I have to confess I couldn't but smile at Gulaal feeding a grumpy Kesar - who would not have missed notice of this moment any other day, any other time - and the timing of this gesture from Gulaal was almost like she tried to pull off the oldest trick in the coy book and distract Kesar away fro the great brewing fury! The way she gave him that bite, was like she was desperate to try anything to get his mind off the 'battle field'! Like a little boy could be distracted with his favorite candies! Well tried Gulaal, alas, not every day is Galool day... sigh!
So of course, the confrontation had to come, and did! Occupied the span of the entire episode pretty much, and yet, not a second too stretched, and except for the absolutely last few moments, the way the camera didn't overplay on zoom ins and outs of the character faces - what a bloody relief to watch a showdown, that was all about showdown!
When they showed Dushyant hitting Kesar in the precap, I was like, oh boy, he didn't really just do that! But he did - and honestly, I don't blame him! The build up to his lost control was so credible! Kesar was hammering a nail that was hitting every wrong point! As I said on my Friday post, that fact that Kesar has still no idea about why Dushyant murdered Vasant was glaringly obvious today! The fact that he was taking one shot after the other at everything - niyat, imaandaari, parivaar, khot, swaarth, apne liye, jhooth... while it was all false in the literal sense, it was all also true in a twisted way, and hit some sensitive nerves. Not that Dushyant had never been the selfish and greedy brother - but his albatross-ic sin had in fact nothing to do with money, business, control, power et al. It was all about lust vs love for Gulaal - and Kesar has no freaking idea! So when he went on challenging Dushyant's intention for the family welfare, his purpose behind the good deeds, his selfish endeavors and secret means, and what not... Dushyant, who has had a very hard week behind him, has been guilt ridden for all the wrong reasons that he has nothing to do with, has just been proven wrong about taking the dahej decision all by himself, and most importantly is clueless about Kesar's knowledge of his role in the Vasant murder - was fair enough to defend himself. In every line that he spoke in his defense, was only plain truth - and so he could say it looking Kesar in the eye, with the grand conviction that was visible... except to Kesar, it could appear nothing short of treacherous hypocrisy! If Dushyant had backed off, and looked guilty at an point - the situation may yet not have gone so out of hand... the fact that Kesar's allegations were all wrong, even though his literal facts were right had to get through Dushyant's stoic outside, eventually, and it did! All the reform that he shown in ten years, the man that he has become and what it has taken him to go through the repentance is something no one can empathize with, really! And so every word against him - that was wrongly levied as an accusation, had to pinch, and there is only so much a man can take! So when his patience broke, out came the physical counter!
Of course the slap shook up Kesar! His conviction of being right and Dushyant being wrong runs so deep ... you cannot blame him any more than Dushyant for his outburst. Yes, temper gets no one anywhere good. But one cannot expect him to change the innate person that he is overnight. He has his demons, significant ones, and those that have never been rightly addressed, much less mitigated, so although he's matured into this person who can hold it back inside for the most - a wrong moment coupled with wrong evidence coupled with wrong provocation and coupled with counter reaction had to rile him up! Kesar would not be true to his element if he had agreed to sleep over the matter at this point! So he confronted, did not get the answers he wanted, instead got told off from every other quarter, which was additionally siding up with Dushyant - what was he to do? Unleash even more fire! And it went on, until he was hit. But oh, if Dushyant thought hitting Kesar could knock him into his senses, he was dealing with the bullheaded version at this point, and so wrong about it hence! Interestingly, at this point the expressions on the faces of especially the 'good' people in the house had begun to look shocked in half minds. Those who had started out as totally team Dushyant, were just a little shaken up by Dushyant raising a hand at Kesar, no matter the venom the latter was spewing! So the matter went from bad to worse, what had started out as a question over money grew to matters of trustand betrayal - Kesar saying ye paison ki baat nahin hai Dushyant Bha ... was so much in perspective, its amazing he can still think one straight sentence in that out of mind mode! Family members tried to dissuade him still, although more feebly this time - but Kesar was beyond solace! The fact that Dushyant proceeded to launch a speech of his own god intentions and only one dimensional welfare thoughts for the family, did not help the case at all... And Kesar shot back with the jhooth! It shocked Dushyant - such power of offense and hatred from Kesar, and in a way, if we see his psyche he wasn't wrong in being appalled by how far Kesar had gone into the round of insults and accusations! In a way, it was something like Gulaal had faced and felt at Kesar's hands, when he had just gotten back! Not knowing exactly what was brewing this hatred inside him. She had deemed sending him away to boarding as his reason, and naturally it had not made sense that he would hold it against her so strongly, so he had baffled her with his offensive. Similar was Dushyant's status today. He has no idea about Kesar knowing the Vasant truth, and to him Kesar blowing one matter of money so extraordinarily out of proportion was just beyond tolerance after a while! So he retaliated, which angered Kesar further, and then it was like an uncontrolled chain reaction - leading to the ultimate Nuke Blast! Phew!
Brownie points to the CVs to not end the episode on Kesar's face at his first mention of Vasanat Bha ko maar daala ... but to take the scene forward, today itself - and not put us through the last five minutes of today, as first five of tomorrow again - and especially the way MB reacted! It was so real for him to hit Kesar - not out of doubt for Kesar being wrong... the sentence tujhe hosh hai tu kya bake jaa raha hai was so shaken up... it spoke volumes of MB's reaction, which was not, as it literally appeared, in distrust of Kesar's words, but in disbelief of his own revelation at that. Deep down, he knew the second those words were spoken, that Kesar would never, ever, make a wrong accusation like that one. His hitting Kesar was almost like venting out the first of his reaction to the ultra-shocker ... and so powerful it was hence, that it knocked a young strong boy like Kesar off his feet (anyone think the slaps were real?! Dude! They looked larger than life 😲 Excellent acting by Neil, the way he went sprawling on the floor, the way he was physically imbalanced by Dushyant's hit ... it looked bloody real!) Anyway - if MB had in fact been in any doubt over Kesar's statement, he would not have found the need to ask Dushyant... Fact was, the shock of realizing it was true - he was in momentary comatose of paused realization mode of some kind - so like even as the realization came, it did not hit, like he'd held it physically away from him at an arm's length, and consequently he hit Kesar, then turned to Dushyant with the question... For those who've seen Inception - it was the seeping of realization in MB was like a dream within a dream within a dream within a dream - 4th level speed... so that was nano second movement 😆
Phew - this post is totally blab - no analysis whatsoever, cause I'm just gushing, but the scene was so so good! To imagine we've waited for this for weeks and months... the fact that we all knew it would come one day - and that it would be a showdown, to imagine that it has been preceded by some extraordinary confrontation sequences, each better than the other and so the scope expected from this GRANDEST of all showdowns was supposed to supersede all rest, and that it did, so effectively 👏 Sushant and Neil, yet again, were bloody brilliant! There was no Neil today - it was all Kesar - like all his life, Neil had only been Kesar! And while his side had the support of so much dialog and anger, and zealous emotional outburst, Sushant Singh had to exude the same power in a more grown up, pained, quieter yet offended way... his lines were far and few as opposed to Neil's but his expressions were fantab - the way these two matched up each other in the scene - Oh why must Dushyant go! I so wanted to watch these brothers together for such a long time... and now when I do, its for the last time!
Pity! I shall always regret not getting my priceless Kesar-Dushyant memory to cherish! But besides that - hats off to the writers, and even more so this once - to the actors! They shine through, each time, better than before!
xx
JZee
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
Writers Corner: Books, Stories & Poems
