Posted:
Like everyone else on this forum, I have been looking forward eagerly to the start of this much awaited show! Here are my thoughts regarding the first episode.
Ok so on the whole I thought this was a very good first episode. They both established the premise of the show very well, set the tone for the story and introduced one of the main characters.
Before I elaborate on the things I liked, I would say that my one criticism of the episode is how much they dragged the revelation of Aarti's truth when the viewers are well aware that she is not a kunwari ladki. The name of the show itself gives that away so why try to create suspense when there is none? I feel they would have been better advised to establish her as divorced right from the outset and have her conversation with her friend reflect that as it felt sort of strange. I mean, when the friend was talking about how to keep a man, him not looking at anyone else, I was wondering, won't that be awkward?
Other than that I loved the episode. I already love Aarti's character, because honestly, what's not to love? Yes, she is the perfect bahu and her goody-goodiness may have been grating but it was salvaged by her conversation with her friend, who is a good balance. This was a good omen for me for the rest of the show. It seems to have that element of youthful freshness. Aarti is a typical sati-savitri type but at the same time that her character is glorified for that, her friend makes fun of it. It is good for a character like Aarti to have such a foil so we audience don't feel burdened by her goodness and have someone through which we can also poke fun at her and lighten the mood. I really hope this friend plays a continuing part in the story as I liked her and her interaction with Aarti.
And of course the confrontation scene was the other one that really stood out! I loved Aarti's MIL and her speech. This scene again, set the tone of the show and announced to viewers that this is going to be a show about acceptance in the face of hostility and love in the face of stigma and hatred. The way that Aarti's MIL (don't know her name?) was talking to the woman with the son, it almost felt like she was declaring that this is not going to be a saas-bahu show, as it might have been if Aarti had married that woman's son. I loved the dialogues where she was talking about how women like her (isn't it uncanny how much she looks like the usual loud, TV saas?) had made the word "saas" nothing short of a curse. It really felt like she was banishing this typical image of "saas" from the show. We will have to see how well they live up to this promise though.
All in all, the first episode set a good stage and made a lot of promising promises to me as a viewer that this show, this story will be different, it will be real and it will be about happiness and love conquering stigma and hatred without foundation. This is not going to be a show about issues at a social level ie divorce, remarriage, societal pressure but rather a story of people and individual turmoil, in which these grander issues merely play a part.
So I am very happy with the way the first episode went as far as setting the stage for the story and its tone and I am looking forward to seeing how this story unfolds.
Oh and the precap was OK too. 😉
Added: I forgot to say, I loved Aarti's interactions with her son! Even though she has been through so much, it was nice to see how innocent and childlike she behaves with her son, how much she is invested in his little actions. I loved the way she made him understand why having two ice creams was bad for him, rather than just telling him he couldn't. Really nice relationships are being built so far.
Also, I liked how the question of her being at "fault" was brought up and the question of a divorced woman's position between being married and single. In English the word "single" means something entirely different from the word "kunwari" in Hindi, and the latter's more narrow definition complicates Aarti's situation more as per the way she dresses and acts. I like that they are bringing out these subtle complications.
Don't be surprised if I further edit with something else in a bit, when I remember! 😆
Ok so on the whole I thought this was a very good first episode. They both established the premise of the show very well, set the tone for the story and introduced one of the main characters.
Before I elaborate on the things I liked, I would say that my one criticism of the episode is how much they dragged the revelation of Aarti's truth when the viewers are well aware that she is not a kunwari ladki. The name of the show itself gives that away so why try to create suspense when there is none? I feel they would have been better advised to establish her as divorced right from the outset and have her conversation with her friend reflect that as it felt sort of strange. I mean, when the friend was talking about how to keep a man, him not looking at anyone else, I was wondering, won't that be awkward?
Other than that I loved the episode. I already love Aarti's character, because honestly, what's not to love? Yes, she is the perfect bahu and her goody-goodiness may have been grating but it was salvaged by her conversation with her friend, who is a good balance. This was a good omen for me for the rest of the show. It seems to have that element of youthful freshness. Aarti is a typical sati-savitri type but at the same time that her character is glorified for that, her friend makes fun of it. It is good for a character like Aarti to have such a foil so we audience don't feel burdened by her goodness and have someone through which we can also poke fun at her and lighten the mood. I really hope this friend plays a continuing part in the story as I liked her and her interaction with Aarti.
And of course the confrontation scene was the other one that really stood out! I loved Aarti's MIL and her speech. This scene again, set the tone of the show and announced to viewers that this is going to be a show about acceptance in the face of hostility and love in the face of stigma and hatred. The way that Aarti's MIL (don't know her name?) was talking to the woman with the son, it almost felt like she was declaring that this is not going to be a saas-bahu show, as it might have been if Aarti had married that woman's son. I loved the dialogues where she was talking about how women like her (isn't it uncanny how much she looks like the usual loud, TV saas?) had made the word "saas" nothing short of a curse. It really felt like she was banishing this typical image of "saas" from the show. We will have to see how well they live up to this promise though.
All in all, the first episode set a good stage and made a lot of promising promises to me as a viewer that this show, this story will be different, it will be real and it will be about happiness and love conquering stigma and hatred without foundation. This is not going to be a show about issues at a social level ie divorce, remarriage, societal pressure but rather a story of people and individual turmoil, in which these grander issues merely play a part.
So I am very happy with the way the first episode went as far as setting the stage for the story and its tone and I am looking forward to seeing how this story unfolds.
Oh and the precap was OK too. 😉
Added: I forgot to say, I loved Aarti's interactions with her son! Even though she has been through so much, it was nice to see how innocent and childlike she behaves with her son, how much she is invested in his little actions. I loved the way she made him understand why having two ice creams was bad for him, rather than just telling him he couldn't. Really nice relationships are being built so far.
Also, I liked how the question of her being at "fault" was brought up and the question of a divorced woman's position between being married and single. In English the word "single" means something entirely different from the word "kunwari" in Hindi, and the latter's more narrow definition complicates Aarti's situation more as per the way she dresses and acts. I like that they are bringing out these subtle complications.
Don't be surprised if I further edit with something else in a bit, when I remember! 😆
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