Cannot begin to describe the wholesome feeling of the ardent viewer in me after Monday's episode. I didn't really read through everyone's comments yet, but bits and pieces jumped up at me as I went page to page - and I saw something about how the episode was notearthshattering awesomeness, but the sure signs of revival. I agree and attest. Perhaps it even was earth shatteringly awesome on some ways, when I think of what Sonal has in her hands to fix.
On which note - and not in context of the episode directly yet - I had this random thought about how wonderful it is/was that of all the shows and their extensive fan followings, we might just be the ONLY ones I know (if there are others I never knew them!) who have persisted and dissented and absolutely demanded the best ways we can for not the return of a lead actor, or a popular face on the show, or whined about actor swaps and whatnot - no. we have actually persisted for the return of a writer. - On a personal level, I find that thought more encouraging than I can say. But even on a general audience level - I think even if this is NOT an action that can gain blood and become a trend - the return of Sonal Ganatra given audience pressure - which I'm SURE has been instrumental at some level!! - is indeed a great feat! 👏 She's done a fantastic job for this show while and with whatever she's been asked to deliver, whenever, and if someone deserves to be fought for - it IS people like her! 👏 It just gives me a great feeling inside knowing some part of our well intended resistance could have (should have) played a part! She deserves to be back - AND the show, its cast and crew and it's real audience deserve her back too!
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Anywhooo, moving on to the episode. So you know the show is in the kind of responsible hands it deserves, when simple and basic nuances are gotten right. Simple things like Mohan - for all our resigned speculation over the saree and its many uses - enters the place same time as Megha and registers EVERYTHING - but NOT to be mesmerized! This is not his time or place or moment to have lovey dovey eye locks dismissing what he has on hand. No. I LOVE that the sight of Megha in the saree doesn't knock him out of his wits cupid hit, but actually does what can be SUCH a credible and plausible consequential follow up for a Mohan in his place given a Megha in that saree. He remembers the last time she wore it - not because she was looking like some god-begotten angel - but because the last time she had worn it had been one of the few EPIC moments in the evolution of their bond. It had beenone of the confessions - yes one among several - yet, since every time Mohan has confessed, the situation has somehow BEEN remarkable in its own way, it IS a powerful memory to be evoked by the exact sight of her as from then! I love how his gaze passes and catches and returns and lingers on her sight - and how his mind goes back to the confession. And how the exact words he remembers are sach toh ye hai Megha ke pyar main tumse karta hun... -Somehow in strange ways, the "sach toh ye hai" part could literally apply right here in this moment. Sach toh ye hai Megha, ke pyaar tum BHI mujse karti ho... - I LOVE the way this bit flows and just like that in the hands of a writer who knows EVERYTHING she works with, including every prop and costume - a saree repeat that created much random ado over the weekend makes ALL the sense in the world. It becomes - what you said Nur - this sweet sort of nostalgically tied up addition to the coming round full circle aspect!
I LOVE how both Mohan and Megha emote as this scene unfolds further too. Mohan has that suspiciously positive smile on his face - even at THIS occasion - and Megha is in throes! As some one who has singularly taken the decision for BOTH their lives contrary to BOTH their true wishes - Megha is such an unhappy person for that onus, while Mohan is that man from the farmhouse confession who in the middle of a mini crisis situation is suddenly firm on his feet planted on the ground, everything complicated around him suddenly simple, straight and clear! He's like some guy with matrix powers to see the clarity at atomic level - when all everyone else - ESP MEGHA - can see are the many tangled webs! Somehow, as I watch Mohan's smile in this scene, all I can think of is "simple... suljhi hui..." words that should NOT apply to this occasion and its consequences - yet, words that Mohan makes you believe DO apply, because he's here. Sigh... I just felt like the content of that smile, however brief, cut through the screen and I could totally FEEL it with him!
I have to add that Nanhi's reactions throughOUT the episode were like EXACTLY the audience reactions! 😆 When Sanjay tells Manav's mother how her habit of joking persists, I rolled eyes, and the camera panned on nanhi doing the same 😆 When Mohan walked in through the door - the smile just hit. Nanhi, and me! When Mohan told Papaji in no uncertain words (even if they were hardly understood for the intention except by the count few) that he WOULD settle soon, and WOULD need HIS aashriwaad for it - Nanhi's small smile of sheer confidence in her Spiderman was my reaction - she wasn't DANCING for joy, but she smiled like someone who knew Mohan knew what he was saying and doing and all that! And I was her! When Megha made Manav wear the ring, and then Mohan made Megha wear the ring - my reactions were EXACTLY Nanhi!
I LOVE the moments that bring a smile to Mohan - because they are so pure, and poignant and hope-evoking ALL at once. Like when Ved tells Mohan he should settle too. Mohan just looks up with a briefly surprised then genuinely positive smile. Like Ved's words are one of his many signs to hold onto. And it makes sense, doesn't it? Yes, Ved is talking to Mohan,about Mohan - but somewhere, in the fact that he tells Mohan it is time he settled down too, he is, like an elder who wishes well and understands the making of a younger man, somehow reposing in Mohan the faith that he IS now responsible enough to take that responsibility! He has come to feel well enough of Mohan to wish for him to have a good life, and believe that he DESERVES no less! And that IS a sign for Mohan. Even if in a very twisted and indirect manner. When the time does come for him to claim Megha properly upfront - there will be this moment to look back to. When FIL himself wished for Mohan to settle. And where Mohan assured him he would, and ONLY WITH his blessings. In that future moment, if FIL somehow retains his reason he will see how Mohan, who HAD known all along, had NEVER intended to cheat or backstab. And he, Ved himself, had provided him the chance to attest that intention for himself!
Then there is the moment when Megha seeks blessings from Indu and gets them. It takes a Mohan Bhatnagar I say - to seek out positivity in THAT scene. To actually MAKE that scene significant in a manner neither Indu, nor Megha, nor anyone in the audience would possibly deem it otherwise. But just there in that moment when he smiles, through HIS eyes, the scene becomes so relevant - you hold onto it as preciously as Mohan will have you! You can just FEEL the kind of silver lining THAT moment IS for him in the middle of watching this excruciating ceremony. I love that Mohan looks on with this brief smile at the two women he loves, at two women who DO love him back, even if not always in ways he would expect or hope for. And whether or not by wish or will or otherwise, these two women before him are part of the scene they are BECAUSE of HIM. For him... Of course it's a silver lining. If this moment between them can happen - however many compulsive angles may have made it happen - he knows there will a time in the future they will be together, because of him, for him...
Talking of which - I LOVED how the ceremony was SHOWN to us from the eyes of Megha AND Mohan at random points. Not emphatically always - but in nuances for sure. Like Megha's expressions and reactions to ALL that her family does for this occasion. The guilt stabs bigger and worse - LIKE IT SHOULD. She's fooling these people - ALL these people. And for what? What do they ask of her after all? Just that she give her own life a second fair chance? Just that she be happy again? And then she looks at Mohan and she KNOWS it's NOT as if life hasn't given her a choice. Everytime someone from her family (and Manav's mother) invest their hopes - and "material things too" which matter that much to a modest family making MOST of things - she turns to look at Mohan and she knows. She's just made her own unfathomable kind - and you can see it written ALL over her face at EVERY point that she watched the ceremony proceed and her family "contribute" to it - that the decision is not FEELING as right as it should! NOT just on Mohan's account - and for that i'm all the more glad. Mohan IS one end of it - the biggest perhaps. But what I LOVED about this episode was how the scenes somehow built in these fleeting but stark moments where Megha should and did feel guilt on many accounts! I also liked how she sat through the proceeds in a strange guilt and resigned manner. Resigned was a BIG part of it. Even at all those moments when Mohan was being MORE than obvious (even before the ring gimmick) Megha raised eyes briefly at him, tears none too far, but just put it all down the next moment and continued to sit through it in the stoic manner of one whose CALLED the shots, and tells herself it HAS already come too far to change... Her resignation can have an interesting touch of "hope" she doesn't recognize - I sort of identify it in some manner with the way Mohan went through the whole girl seeing event. There was a hope in him too, that he didn't recognize, because it was living THROUGH Nanhi Jiji and Guru - for Megha, it is Mohan. It's like a tables have turned situation - where Megha is Mohan and Mohan is the trio. Megha doesn't realize this but her resignation is NOT complete till Mohan gives up! It lives in him, on her behalf too, until she is ready to take it back and deal with it, like he did in the mandir!
Anyway - the ceremony through Megha's eyes. One more thing I thought of was how Megha HAD actually gone through this process once before. With Amar, on what must have obviously been a MUCH different note of emotions. Somehow I wonder when she watches the whole thing happen again, if it's even possible she doesn't realize the gravity of THIS! She's not a first timer at it! It's interesting though how she's NOT thinking of Amar AT ALL - because he's been wiped clean of the face of the Earth for good now 😆 - but the nagging is there anyway, the guilt - on Mohan's account. Somehow, while she could have been nostalgic in a very poignant manner about the last time these ceremonies had happened, in her face is only a resignation - mildly alarmed at certain points - of WHAT she's doing! And NOT with Mohan !!!
Then there's Mohan of course. And the ceremony through HIS eyes. I think THE MOST heartbreaking thing about watching the ceremony/episode through Mohan's eyes was how he did NOT turn away from it. Not ONCE. Kunal was an ace in the slightest of nuances that I cannot really justify with words - his eyes, as he TAKES it all in, AND watches it without blinking - it just shattered and shifted things inside of me!!! Just to THINK what Mohan COULD be going through at this point. Just to think he's WATCHING her go through this with ANOTHER man. There are fleeting moments of something flickering in Megha's eyes, everytime she turns to meet his gaze, like she wants Mohan to stop this from happening - of course she does too, even if she won't admit half as much - and Mohan's steadfast look in response breaks my heart! NOT because he is DENYING her that want she will not express even if her eyes dare to betray here in the slight passing seconds. But because he's WATCHING her PUT HERSELF THROUGH THIS... His pain in HER pain, and his pain, in his own pain! I LOVE that there is no accusation in Mohan's eyes. In fact at this one random point for the slightest moment I thought there was a flickering of it in Megha's eyes, because NOTHING in her meeting his gaze was CHANGING the way he just LOOKED on the ceremony proceeding. And even if that accusation wasn't there and I entirely imagined it, it did make me think of how Megha was taking this ABSOLUTELY freaking crazy step in her life, which could change EVERYTHING - telling herself it was all in Mohan's name - and how THESE are the kind of disaster decisions which make us bitter in years and years that follow about people who NEVER deserved it! If tomorrow she was to marry Manav and go off with him, she would spend a LIFETIME after NOT lamenting Mohan's loss, but coming to this weird self consoling notion that Mohan's OBSTINACY had compelled her to jump this live fire! Even if a part of her would always know the real truth, a part of her WOULD grudge him something he has NOTHING to bring about - except that he himself, to HER bad decision, falls victim! So anyway - even if there is no accusation in Megha atm - she makes way for it in the future. But back to Mohan. I LOVED Kunal?mohan not batting an eye. In a strange way it was even masochistic. Yet, in another way, it was just Mohan the brutal realist who confronts situations and HIMSELF to THAT extent. The extent which is more than occasionally not so much for his own good. There is a part of him that's almost like watching Megha sit through this as if, just in that iota of a chance, he wonders how long would it take for her to snap and get up from there and tell everyone the REAL truth. But that is probably only a subconscious part - or a really small conscious part. The greater part is just... a clinical observer of the proceeding and an utterly sentimental heart and mind "registering" the implication. His poker face may tell no one who doesn't KNOW what to look for in those eyes - but the few who DO know, can see it plain and clear. This is a travail one of a kind for him.
But I remember saying this once before - Mohan's capability of dealing with INTENSELY testing situations is REALLY REALLY good! It's something innate in him partly, something he has cultivated on a personal level partly and something that is plainly a professionally acquired attribute. The way he CAN keep his head under the most IMPOSSIBLE TO NOT CRACK from sort of situations is something that hasn't just happened to him, but something we've SEEN in him from time to time. It is the extreme happiness - like the probability of Megha's love reciprocation - that turned him goofy and looney 😆 - but thankfully he's back from that weird-o-land trip and currently everything that Bhatnagar is made of. The greater the consequence of a situation, the better is his ability to deal with it and resolve it. The greater the stakes, the faster he is on his feet - his performance being directly proportional to the rise of risk quotient is such a RARE gift, yet one so characteristic. Not in the form of being this man who constantly NEEDS challenge to keep himself busy - but just as someone whose mettle just grows exponentially with applied sheer and stress!
And so - no surprises, Mohan in the middle of the dimmest moment of his life to witness finds such a spark in the Indu-Megha moment. Then springs back to all his element with the whole mithai opportunity - and all you can do is rejoice and marvel and just dote on a guy with SUCH AN AMAZING sense of recovery which ENTIRELY overlaps with his COMPLETE awareness of how the problem is FAR from resolved! He just EXISTS with those two concurring and countering states - one of such sheer chance grabbing and the other of being solemnly in all awareness of the big picture - Mohan Bhatnagar just does NOT lose footing in every spot where anyone else would. His anthem just sings another rhyme. When you're happy and you know it lose you step... 😆 Out here, in the middle of this spot - he reminds me of what Jiji said to him at the mandir of how humne toh puri koshish ki thi ke balaa tal jaaye, par jab kisi ne khud dubne ka faislaa kar hi liyaa ho toh hum kya karein! - No. Mohan is one ace up on his entire trio of an army put together. Even when his kisi ne dubne ka pukka faisla kar liya ho - HE will NOT let her get that far!
I thought there was another very interesting thing about this episode in terms of things coming round full circle. Remember the last time they were in an engagement. And Megha was dressed just like this? And telling Mohan to GO, GET HIS LOVE BACK? Mohan's following the advice now - and HOW! He IS getting his love back - by hook and by crook and by all other means you can't imagine! Megha sold him these LOFTY ideals of how love always prevailed, of how everyone deserved that second chance, of how one should NOT let their love go by them for A, B, ... Z reasons - but GET IT BACK - and remember how we ALL talked about Megha giving him more ammo than she realizes to come back AT HER? It's all happening now. Every single belief that he NEVER had, but SHE sold him, and planted it FIRMLY in his heart is coming back to her - to save THEIR day. Whether or not she thinks she wants it is immaterial. Because Megha once said true love prevails and Mohan is going to prove her right! I loved how when he entered the house, and Megha entered from the other end -their eyes met and Mohan remembered the confession scene - this smile of GO GET YOUR LOVE BACK just shone THROUGH his person! Not overconfident. Not agitated. Not OTT. Just, being Mohan. Being someone who takes every next step with great thought, with great QUICK thought and never fumbles in his step when it REALLY matters!
Enough's been said of the ring exchange - which was an ace on EVERY LEVEL of "na bole tum na maine kuch kaha" and SAB kuch HO BHI GAYA 😆 I loved again, how they showed the "tables turned". Mohan was now PART of the disruption gang which had come full force to ruin HIS chances with that Ridhima girl not so long ago! The way Nanhi and he just TUNE in their planning made me think of how Mohan KNOWS first hand how capable this chota bomb is of delivering the goods 😆 And when Nanhi just smacks and drops the ring and covers it with that oh-so-innocent-not sorry, Mohan's shake of head and brief smile said it all - of course Nanhi Daadimaa would know HOW to be the next fix-it-all after him 😆 She may not be Mohan's blood - but she's ENTIRELY Mohan groomed these days and it just SHOWS 😆 Now alot can be wondered about as for the appearance of an identical ring in Mohan's pocket - the very unplanned antics of the four-some falling in place so conveniently the height of "coincidence" which just continued to favor Mohan's camp - but of course, given the awesomeness that WATCHING this sequence was, I'll just put it down on "intentional providence" 😆 Aakhir show ke leads ka MOTTO hi hai - ache logon ke saath humesha acha hota hai 😛 Toh hora hai acha ab! 😆 I found it randomly funny that Mohan's "special ring" for Megha was a misfit! Of course, providence to design a spot for him to slip it through - but the point is, it was NOT perfect. Just like Mohan. Yet... when heslipped it through, it fit snugly ever so! ☺️ perhaps this wasn't intentionally symbolic, and I just read more than there is - but to me, THIS is what Mohan and Megha's coming together has always been about. These imperfect people and their imperfect ways and lives which would NEVER fit together in a million years of "theorizing" a fit for them - yet, practically, when you put them in common space - they would just HAPPEN to fit! Contrary to all logic and theories and any other book rules that had feared otherwise! Mohan and Megha could be the most misfit couple by any norms - yet they fit. They fit like their mutual grooves of imperfections were made to fit NO ONE but themselves! And so does the ring...!
As for Manav, I doubt he's a sham. I think the stage IS truly set up for another Mohan in error scene. And it made me think of how this is the second time Mohan could be in serious error about a "really good guy" technically speaking! Amar first. Manav now. Again - it seems like a full circle coming to complete. Mohan had fallen in all his graces by being wrong about Amar, contrary to his instincts. This time his instincts are obviously fueled by what he WANTS this to be - Manav a bad guy could be a much easier solution to the problem, than if he was a gem. The question of course is, do the writers HAVE a plan for WHY they want Mohan to go wrong again? If Sonal is going to have even an exclusive say in the execution of this - I'd put some of my money here for sure. JD se toh umeed kabi ki ni maine, and I'm not going to start now!
Khair - so overall, I LOVED the nuances of the episode. Every character seemed in place today - of course I've just come to blind myself to the BIG PICTURE scenario of what Megha is doing. But even on those grounds I was glad to see them show these moments, like Manav's mother giving her kangan - which were like implications of her VERY bad call on MULTIPLE levels - and not just wrt breaking Mohan's heart which may yet have been a forgivable offense on account of sheer humanly denial. The precap with Nanhi seems more real than drama too - and on that note would make for another great ace in showing the wrong consequences of her decision which she hasn't bothered LOOKING into for whatever unfathomable reasons! As for Indu - a character I mentioned wanting to watch out for because apart from Megha and Mohan's brigade, she's the only one else who would KNOW what was happening every second! And her reactions, I can safely say were not disappointing. There was an unwilling mother not happy entirely but much relieved at what seemed past then alarmed AND not pleased with how her son was going... yes. Indu minus of words actually does a good job of putting forth the message right.
FIL is confusing. I'll rest it at that. I can't decide whether this is just his one dimensional idealist goodness blind to ALL else - or they're just doing what they do with him often - cut him curves just whenever convenient... Khair... Mohan and FIL scenes still, randomly, are good to watch. Maybe Kunal's words about doing scenes with Anjann ji resound - but overall, FIL and Mohan together scenes are also what I wanted to watch from much before when Mohan was an utterly misunderstood case. Because they ARE two genuine people together. And in their own awkward ways do make up for strange gaps in each others lives. Ved has no Amar anymore. And Mohan's boycotted his Mr. Bhatnagar for the longest time. In odd strains I find their symbiotic bonding quite touching!
And bas. Hogaya mera Delayed because my mail had subtle reminders of how I was "working" from home and not "taking a vacation" 😆 So I took the cue and finished some work quickly before coming back here where I know I'll get stuck again!
Abi I'm guessing everyone's gone... but well! It was a great episode, and I don't mind transiently talking to myself either 😆
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