PR in the doldrums - Page 6

Originally posted by: soapwatcher1

Dear bee, I have offended you again and I did make sure to use the generic "however leniently one may see" not "however leniently you may see" in my previous post as I was merely trying to explain my point of view and not alleging any leniency on your part. You were extremely lucid in the last or last two paragraphs of your original post that you were not in agreement with how the CVs were portraying this. You were objective with your excellent analysis when you pointed out Arjun's facial expressions which indicated that he was not happy/comfortable doing/speaking as he was to Ovi. Your objectivity was not being questioned or seen as a reflection of your approval or disapproval of his behavior, I was merely pointing out that I was not willing to give him any quarter, I was being subjective. Hopefully neither one of us perceive differing opinions to be an imposition, as you so rightly point out it is our prerogative to watch the show how we will.

Yes, you brought up the ring incident first, very perceptive of you. The CVs have not explained it away and he is still not wearing the ring.

Hopefully, there is no more misunderstanding, dear Bee, sincerely hope so, as your balanced, logical thinking and analytical perspective on the episodes is something that I really look forward to reading.

Originally posted by: archverma10

Darlyne can u help me then dear? 😳 How do I post on SBS and SBB wall? I'm on my iPad and having a tough time cutting and pasting. Is there any way to copy and paste my post on to these walls?

Dear Bee5,

Of course what you have written makes good sense from one point of view, and I for one have no problem at all in understanding it. Nor do I have any problems with the approach – of setting out what the CVs are doing and explaining how, given the way they operate, we cannot expect much else. Your post is, internally, quite consistent, and very well done as well.

In fact, beginning with Purvi, despite the way she looks and behaves now, I would be prepared to accept your assessment that she is putting on a brave and cheerful appearance for the sake of her family. After all, it is not so easy to get over a love affair. It is true that earlier, immediately after the engagement and even the party given by Manav, she did not hide her sadness at all, even if she dodged any questions about her looking out of sorts, whereas now she is managing to look normal. Perhaps the reason is the one you have chosen. But if she continues on these lines without letting us know what she really feels, there will be a lot of confusion among the viewers. Something like the scene with the dhaba photo, even if not as traumatic, would be advisable, as you too have noted. The near complete absence of the voiceover, as a device for communicating to the viewers what the characters are thinking to themselves, is a great pity.

Now, there are two ways of analyzing PR. One is what I call the Bash the CVs option, which is self-explanatory. The other is to take the characters as real people, and analyse and assess their behaviour accordingly. It is only the latter that affords any room for interesting discussions, for otherwise we would be constantly lambasting the CVs to no purpose. Having adopted the first for Purvi, I shall use the second, which I prefer for the most part, for Arjun.

Now, any objective assessment of Arjun's behaviour, whether in the car episode and in the one last Friday, would be hardly flattering to him. This is NOT because I think he is beginning to be comfortable in his engagement to Ovi (he is always confortable with Ovi in general, which is quite natural seeing how long he has known her. Incidentally, it is impossible to understand how such a frivolous creature became the 'best friend' of the tough, hard-as-nails businessman that Arjun was. They could have had absolutely nothing in common, and Arjun is no ladies' man either).

I said as much in my post of last Friday, when I nixed the idea that he would have been ready to go to Goa if it had not been for the pressure of work. He would never have done that. He truly loves Purvi, and I still believe that he will tell Ovi and break the engagement the soonest that he can make it.

However, the sticky point is what he does in the meantime. He seems to be so obsessed by the need to prevent Ovi from learning the truth about himself and Purvi (the very opposite of what he wanted to do in the beginning, and this for a most ridiculous reason, as you have pointed out) that he seeks to scrupulously maintain an air of normalcy, and at times of genuine kindness and concern (as in the car episode) when interacting with her. This is bound to deepen the complications, which are bad enough as things are.

Your minute analysis of Arjun's facial expressions and body language at each stage of the telecon with Ovi is amazing. I watched that segment only once, and while I seem to have got the wording right, as for the expressions and what one can deduce from them, I would gladly accept your analysis.

However, Bee, what does this prove? That he is shamming when trying to keep up the faade of normalcy in their engagement? But we know that already. That he is now deeper into the quicksand, as she is encouraged by his accessibility and apparent warmth, and thus lays even firmer claim to him – to his time and his undivided attention? This was predictable once Arjun started down this road, and it is going to only get worse. How long can he dodge and prevaricate and mumble his way out of sticky situations?

In the process, he is not only deepening the disillusionment with him that Purvi feels, but he is also doing Ovi an increasingly serious injustice. She may be an airheaded limpet, but she is not at fault in any way for the mess in which all three find themselves right now. The longer Arjun tries to protect her from the second shock of her engagement going kaput, and the more he tries to do this by behaving normally with her, the more she is going to become obsessed with him and possessive of him. When she learns the truth eventually, the blow will be that much harder to bear. She has done nothing to deserve it, and if Arjun were not our (flawed) hero, I would call him an irresponsible fool, if not a cad. Not only for what he has done and is doing to Purvi - who at least knows the score and also, in her heart of hearts, that is her that Arjun loves, whatever he might be doing at the moment - but even more so for what he is doing to Ovi, who does NOT know the score.

There are ways for him to maintain the engagement for some time longer and yet keep Ovi at arm's length. He does not adopt any of them. Instead, he expects

(a) that Purvi should be 'understanding' of his self-created predicament and allow him to cry on her shoulder till such time as he is ready to clear things up,and

(b) that Ovi will be equally reasonable when he finally does so, and will let him go with a minimum of fuss.

It is pure folly. From what one knows of Ovi's temperament, he will be in for a hard time when she learns the truth. Purvi, poor girl, has no choice but to take him back, given the compulsions of a happy ending in the penultimate reel, but left to themselves, both girls would probably prefer to deal him two solid kicks in his backside and propel him out of the door!

Shyamala

PS: It seems to be an unwritten rule in TV soaps (which are in august company in this respect, beginning with the Mahabharata) that while the bad are devious, cunning, resourceful and successful, the good are terminally stupid and pathologically inefficient. Till the TRPs drop alarmingly, and it is decided that the time has come for good to triumph (Satyameva Jayate, and they never told us when the Jayate part would materialize, did they?). Since we are not yet at a TRP of 1 for PR, it could have been predicted that Sulochana, for all her grand declarations in the precap, would never manage to pip Savita (we call her Taraka, Janhvi and I, after the Rakshasi who was killed by the young Rama, when on his way to the Sita swayamvar) to the post on this.

Originally posted by: sashashyam

Dear Bee5,

Of course what you have written makes good sense from one point of view, and I for one have no problem at all in understanding it. Nor do I have any problems with the approach ' of setting out what the CVs are doing and explaining how, given the way they operate, we cannot expect much else. Your post is, internally, quite consistent, and very well done as well.

In fact, beginning with Purvi, despite the way she looks and behaves now, I would be prepared to accept your assessment that she is putting on a brave and cheerful appearance for the sake of her family. After all, it is not so easy to get over a love affair. It is true that earlier, immediately after the engagement and even the party given by Manav, she did not hide her sadness at all, even if she dodged any questions about her looking out of sorts, whereas now she is managing to look normal. Perhaps the reason is the one you have chosen. But if she continues on these lines without letting us know what she really feels, there will be a lot of confusion among the viewers. Something like the scene with the dhaba photo, even if not as traumatic, would be advisable, as you too have noted. The near complete absence of the voiceover, as a device for communicating to the viewers what the characters are thinking to themselves, is a great pity.

Now, there are two ways of analyzing PR. One is what I call the Bash the CVs option, which is self-explanatory. The other is to take the characters as real people, and analyse and assess their behaviour accordingly. It is only the latter that affords any room for interesting discussions, for otherwise we would be constantly lambasting the CVs to no purpose. Having adopted the first for Purvi, I shall use the second, which I prefer for the most part, for Arjun.

Now, any objective assessment of Arjun's behaviour, whether in the car episode and in the one last Friday, would be hardly flattering to him. This is NOT because I think he is beginning to be comfortable in his engagement to Ovi (he is always confortable with Ovi in general, which is quite natural seeing how long he has known her. Incidentally, it is impossible to understand how such a frivolous creature became the 'best friend' of the tough, hard-as-nails businessman that Arjun was. They could have had absolutely nothing in common, and Arjun is no ladies' man either).

I said as much in my post of last Friday, when I nixed the idea that he would have been ready to go to Goa if it had not been for the pressure of work. He would never have done that. He truly loves Purvi, and I still believe that he will tell Ovi and break the engagement the soonest that he can make it.

However, the sticky point is what he does in the meantime. He seems to be so obsessed by the need to prevent Ovi from learning the truth about himself and Purvi (the very opposite of what he wanted to do in the beginning, and this for a most ridiculous reason, as you have pointed out) that he seeks to scrupulously maintain an air of normalcy, and at times of genuine kindness and concern (as in the car episode) when interacting with her. This is bound to deepen the complications, which are bad enough as things are.

Your minute analysis of Arjun's facial expressions and body language at each stage of the telecon with Ovi is amazing. I watched that segment only once, and while I seem to have got the wording right, as for the expressions and what one can deduce from them, I would gladly accept your analysis.

However, Bee, what does this prove? That he is shamming when trying to keep up the faade of normalcy in their engagement? But we know that already. That he is now deeper into the quicksand, as she is encouraged by his accessibility and apparent warmth, and thus lays even firmer claim to him ' to his time and his undivided attention? This was predictable once Arjun started down this road, and it is going to only get worse. How long can he dodge and prevaricate and mumble his way out of sticky situations?

In the process, he is not only deepening the disillusionment with him that Purvi feels, but he is also doing Ovi an increasingly serious injustice. She may be an airheaded limpet, but she is not at fault in any way for the mess in which all three find themselves right now. The longer Arjun tries to protect her from the second shock of her engagement going kaput, and the more he tries to do this by behaving normally with her, the more she is going to become obsessed with him and possessive of him. When she learns the truth eventually, the blow will be that much harder to bear. She has done nothing to deserve it, and if Arjun were not our (flawed) hero, I would call him an irresponsible fool, if not a cad. Not only for what he has done and is doing to Purvi - who at least knows the score and also, in her heart of hearts, that is her that Arjun loves, whatever he might be doing at the moment - but even more so for what he is doing to Ovi, who does NOT know the score.

There are ways for him to maintain the engagement for some time longer and yet keep Ovi at arm's length. He does not adopt any of them. Instead, he expects

(a) that Purvi should be 'understanding' of his self-created predicament and allow him to cry on her shoulder till such time as he is ready to clear things up,and

(b) that Ovi will be equally reasonable when he finally does so, and will let him go with a minimum of fuss.

It is pure folly. From what one knows of Ovi's temperament, he will be in for a hard time when she learns the truth. Purvi, poor girl, has no choice but to take him back, given the compulsions of a happy ending in the penultimate reel, but left to themselves, both girls would probably prefer to deal him two solid kicks in his backside and propel him out of the door!

I thought that there would be stasis in PR till Soham and Varsha were paradropped into the narrative, seeing that the Arjun-Purvi track is going nowhere in slow motion, whence the 'doldrums' in the caption. But it seems now that there is some high drama in store for us on June 7, when Savita exposes Archana to Teju and Ovi as their aai.

Now that would be something to look out for, not because of what Archana will do, for that we knew already, and her ashen face in the promo only confirms that she is going to bow her head before the storm and take all the insults with saintly forbearance. What I am waiting for is Teju's reaction to the shock of the revelation. She is quite a favourite of mine, and I have high hopes of her. So I am keeping my fingers crossed for her not to let me down!

Shyamala

PS: It seems to be an unwritten rule in TV soaps (which are in august company in this respect, beginning with the Mahabharata) that while the bad are devious, cunning, resourceful and successful, the good are terminally stupid and pathologically inefficient. Till the TRPs drop alarmingly, and it is decided that the time has come for good to triumph (Satyameva Jayate, and they never told us when the Jayate part would materialize, did they?). Since we are not yet at a TRP of 1 for PR, it could have been predicted that Sulochana, for all her grand declarations in the precap, would never manage to pip Savita (we call her Taraka, Janhvi and I, after the Rakshasi who was killed by the young Rama, when on his way to the Sita swayamvar) to the post on this.