Originally posted by: sashashyam
Dear Pranati,
You are spot on about Soham's genetic inheritance from his aaji Savita. The way he was reared by Balan Yadav must only have reinforced these inherited traits: the ruthlessness, the total disregard for others when it comes to what you want, and the willingness to crush them if necessary to achieve your desires.
Why then do you add the qualifier that "I am not saying anything against him .. once he comes back into the fold of his lovely parents - Archana-Manav - he will shed all that negative avatar of his and outsmart his dad in the legitamate world... "? It is simply not possible to have such a fairy tale come true.
I can fully understand the anguish of all the people in the forum - of whom I am one, having followed PR from the beginning - who remember Soham as that heartbreakingly lovely little boy. Many of them want him to go back to a grown up version of that avatar once he has found his real parents. But in this yearning, many of them - of whom I am not one - forget one cardinal fact that CANNOT be wished away. It is this.
Vishnu/Soham is NOT a misguided little pickpocket or a petty thief whose misdeeds can be condoned once he turns over a new leaf. He is a confirmed, hard core criminal, who ENJOYS his criminal activities. When Balan tells Varsha that Vishnu has brought him much pride and fame in their dhanda, he means exactly this.
Vishnu is an expert kidnapper who has earned crores for Balan, and though I hope not, we do not know whether he has had to murder anyone in the process of making these crores. Do people think that kidnapping is a nice little game where money is taken only from those who can afford it and nothing nasty happens? They should wake up and smell the coffee, and quickly, and perhaps they should catch up on real life kidnappings turning into nightmares in Crime Patrol.
In what we have seen of him, Vishnu is not a reluctant recruit to his foster father's gang, he is a willing and eager participant is all the crimes they commit and is proud of his record in this field. Now, as and when he is captured by the police, what do people think will happen: that Archana will weep a few buckets of tears and Manav will make impassioned speeches and Soham/Vishnu will be let off? No way. Not even the CVs of PR can do anything like that. If even one of the umpteen kidnapping cases is proved against him, and assuming that there are no murder charges, he will land a stiff sentence in jail.
So, I do not see why one should assume as soon as they have this grand family milaap scene, all will be well for all concerned. Soham has a heavy price to pay for all his crimes and he will pay them, unless Balan takes all the blame on himself and exculpates Vishnu totally. That is a remote possibility , but it is the only possibility for Vishnu to get off scot free.
Even should this happen, Vishnu will still remain what he is, a ruthless protagonist who will stop at nothing when he wants to have his way. He will be a potential danger to society precisely because he is used to breaking the rules with impunity, and this attitude will not change even when he has entered "the legitimate world". He will not be Manav Jr. , but only Vishnu with a coat of white paint.
The key point I am trying to make is this: Vishnu is NOT a grown up version of the sweet little Soham we all loved. He is an unrepentant and confirmed criminal. That he became one because of circumstances beyond his control is indeed tragic, but if he had not had the seeds of these criminal tendencies already in him not all that Balan tried to teach him would have made him what he is today. Prahlada was also Hiranyakashipu's son, but his father was not able to make a rakshasa of Prahlad despite his best efforts and his threats. Balan, on the contrary, had a willing chela in Vishnu.
Ajay Devgan in Prakash Jha's searing film Apaharan, played a somewhat similar character, but he is pushed into this life of crime in desperation, as he is boxed in by the system and left with no way out. He never enjoys it, he hates what he has become, and in the end, he pays for his sins with his life, and is happy to be free at last.
Vishnu, one the contrary, has no qualms and no hesitation about adopting his present 'career', and no pity for his victims, whom he seems to regards in the way a butcher would look at a sheep to be cut up for the market. Let us see him as he is, and not as we would fondly imagine him to be. We should not glamourise a young criminal just because we fell in love with him as a baby.
Kidnapping (and murder too,maybe) are VERY serious crimes, and let us not trivialise them because the perpetrator is the son of Manav and Archana. Vishnu cannot just shake off a criminal record of this magnitude and simply walk across to 'the legitimate world' where he can then proceed to 'outsmart his dad".
It is a tragedy of monumental proportions for Manav and Archana, and my heart goes out to them, but please, let us not try to airbrush Vishnu and delude ourselves that he can return to the home fold unscathed, like the Prodigal Son, who, the last time I read the Old Testament, had not kidnapped anyone.
Shyamala B.Cowsik
Cricket
Rules & Announcements
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
