Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind...I haven't made a long post in a while and this one is looonnnggg. You have been warned.
1. Was it cliched?
YES.2. Was it disconnected?
YES.3. Was it rushed?
YES.
4. Could it have been better? A thousand
YES.
5. Did the track change?
YES. Big time.6. Was it too good to be true?
YES.7. Most important question: Do I care about any of the above today?
NO. NOT EVEN ONE BIT. For today, escapism won. 20 minutes of feel good stuff. 20 minutes of happy. 20 minutes of reassurance that things should be too good in fiction because that's the whole point dammit! 20 minutes where it was so easy to just focus on the good and forget about the rest. Bas. Monday is another day.
This past week, in two of my posts, I had said:
What I want is a constant reminder that at the very least ASR's character will stay intact because every other character has taken a hit just to keep him intact. I want the love story to stay intact. A resilient Khushi and defiant ASR, both in love and for the right reasons.
Honestly anything other than marrying strictly for love will put us back to square one and all the growth will be out of the window. Logically - it does not make sense but then logic rarely plays a role. The makers are too hell bent on the nafrat portion of the tagline although it has been overplayed and overdone. Every time a conflict arises or a disaster strikes, just can't have ASR go back to this mode and Khushi being a doormat, putting up with it every single time. This will not be love, but abuse.Much more than rejoicing in the wedding, I am relieved that the love story and the characters stayed intact. The combined growth for Arnav and Khushi as well as the nuance and individuality of both of them was maintained throughout. I saw the impulsive, judgmental ASR but I also saw the growth in the character overshadow the reactive ASR. I saw hints of broken down, dependent Khushi but nothing overshadowed her feisty and confident persona. I don't know what will happen tomorrow but for today, thank you Gul and Co. for not reducing your characters to mere puppets of circumstances! thank you for using their situational setbacks to give them depth, understanding and maturity. The biggest of all, thank you for bringing them together for the only logical reason:
Love. A special mention to nayi soch - finally someone blamed a man for a wandering eye. Oh and telling off an elder that she is wrong. Thank heavens for little steps in right direction.
I had reserved judgment on the last scene yesterday because I didn't want to jump the gun as the scene hadn't played out completely. Sari insisted that I watch the flashbacks again (ignoring the drunk driving), so I did. When I combine the flashbacks, the last scene and beginning of today, here is what I understood:
His past made him ASR. His past made him cold, ruthless, devoid, hollow and everything that Arnav was not. He was resolute in his decisions but not necessarily merciful. His first reaction to everything: anger followed by a hasty decision with complete disregard of the other person and the consequences of his decisions, punishing the innocent, end justifying the means. This was the ASR before he fell in love. When Khushi came along, things changed, albeit slowly. ASR started to uncover Arnav, still resolute in his decisions but with mercy, concern and thought, more proactive than reactive. His flashbacks comprised of all the moments he realized he hurt Khushi, punished her for no reason. If it hadn't been for this change, we would have seen ASR call off the wedding punishing both Khushi and Garima. Now on to the dialogues:
"Un sawalon ke jawab dhoond raha tha jo ab tak mile nahi hai" - He is still ASR, he believes
"duniya beraham aur matlabi hai". What were the sawals? Why him? Why can't he be happy? How can he be with someone who is somehow connected to his dreadful past even though not responsible for it? Is he abandoning and dishonoring his mother by being with Khushi? How come he couldn't control his destiny? He wouldn't be ASR if he didn't ask these questions.
"khushi jab mujhe tum se pyaar hua tha .. mein yeh nahi jaanta tha ke humare past aise jude hue hai. yeh bhi nahin jaanta tha ki jis past se mein itne din bhaagta raha woh meri shaadi ke din iss tarah mere saamne aayega" - Acknowledgment of the truth. Also, a clear message that if he had known about any of this, he would have made a conscious effort to not fall in love with her. He wouldn't be here, he would've walked away and that too after punishing her. This is ASR, taking control of his decisions, his destiny.
"Khushi aaj mein yahan sirf tumhari wajah se khada hoon jahan dard, dhoka aur nafrat ke alawa kuch nahin hai " - BUT he is here. Duniya is beraham, there is dard, dhoka and nafrat, yet.. he IS here. Standing in front of her, because of her. This is Arnav.
"Khushi tum nay mujhe yahan khada kar kay meray saaray sawalon kay jawab dila diye" - Just the mere fact that he is able to stand in front of her, for her is because of her only. She showed him the way. He can be happy, he should be happy, that is what his mother would have wanted. Khushi is not responsible for his past. By moving on, by doing right by Khushi, standing by his love - he is honoring his mother, her teachings, her belief in her chotey that he will not punish the innocent. All because of Khushi. This is Arnav, his mother's chotey.
If it weren't for Khushi, he wouldn't have contemplated so much in grief, he wouldn't have recalled the pleasant memories from his childhood, he wouldn't have known the difference between justice and punishment, he wouldn't have asked questions before pronouncing judgement, he wouldn't have LOVED. Yes, him showing up at the altar is a testament to Khushi and her love that she was able to peel back the dark layers from ASR and let Arnav shine. ASR might have not changed his views completely about the world but he learned to look at it in a different light. He evolved and Hallelujah for that!
A lot of people thought that the dialogues seem disconnected but when I put everything together, they made sense to me. They showed both ASR and Arnav - a contrast in decision making on what ASR would have done and what Arnav did, hadn't it been for Khushi.
It seems that the forgiveness for Garima came a bit too quickly, considering how conflicted Arnav was shown after the revelation. The obvious answer is the track change. But I can also argue, it came just at the right time. Any more dwelling on this would have questioned the character growth given how well he understands and accepts Khushi. He knows she is happy when others are happy, for him to move ahead with Khushi, it can only be done when he accepts her for all she is, which includes her bond with Garima. The accident, his "maa" and the agni - all were signs leading to this, old ASR is no longer there, he is his mother's Chotey now, Khushi's Arnavji (thanks Sari for this!). Not to mention, there have been subtle hints throughout - his talk with Anjali about moving on, numerous run-ins with Dadi about the same. He wanted to move on, no doubt! the question remained about the Garima equation - it seems he took his mother's advice to heart, not punishing the innocent in any way - directly or indirectly. This was the jawab for his sawals. Khushi's faith in him which made him seek out his mother's fondest memory, gave him courage to walk away from darkness and towards light and that too with a clean slate. The reason for his forgiveness might change tomorrow depending upon the direction of the story, maybe he knew something else about his dad which cemented his opinion about him, who knows! But for today - this is what made sense to me given what was shown on the screen.
Other important things: Arnav's nod to Anajli - he wasn't asking for permission, but he was acknowledging her place, she is hi Di, the one he protected after their mom died. Also, affirming that her place does not change in his life because of Khushi - All in character for ASR.
Khushi stopping Dadi - Also very much in character. I would have been surprised if she hadn't done that. She lives and breathes for other people, it is important for her to make an attempt to please everyone, she still believes Dadi has a beating heart and is an important part of the family. It wasn't a SP bahu act for me but rather a typical Khushi thing to do.
What is an IPK episode without symbolism and hidden meanings? Plenty of hints, plenty of nuances but after 3 days of nonstop, nerve-wrecking drama, my brain needs a break. Maybe over the weekend, I'll stir the pot and force Sari to lose some brain cells with me 😉
For me, the love story has always what mattered with just the right amount of drama to act as a catalyst. Every time the makers switched the order of importance, the show deteriorated and the TRPs took a nose dive. I don't know where the story goes from here . One thing that logically made sense to me was this: today was the high point in the show - the culmination of the love surpassing the hate. If we were to go by the tagline "
Nafrat pass aanay na day" was today put to rest in my opinion. They are together now in love, so nafrat lost. "
Mohabbat durr jaanay na day" - I would like them to not take this too literally 😊 Obstacles are welcome, as long as this picture stays intact.
A special something for Visi:Kuch beetay huay lamhon ki yaadein hain
kuch khoye huay palon ki baatain hain
kuch nami ki baarishain hain
kuch hansi ki saazishain hain
yuhn to bahir sawera hai
par thehra kahin andhera hai
aik tareeki apni ore kheenchti hai
nami ki barish main zindagi bheeghti hai
tanhai say daaman chudana mushkil hai
Khud say nazar churana mushkil hai
khud say khud ki jung main
mujhe kahan kuch haasil hai
shayad issi liye tumhain pukara hai
roshni tareeki ka doosra kinara hai
ab aaye ho tau thoda ruk jao
pal do pal kay liye
aik barish, aik saazish kay liye
kal main na hoon, tum bhi na ho
barish na ho, saazish bhi na ho
kal agar mile, shayad ajnabi hon
shayad hansi na ho, sirf nami ho
per jo aaj hai, us ko dekhtay hain
sochtay nahi, bas mehsoos kartay hain
barish ki tarhan, saazish ki tarhan! (Happy Birthday Visi - I hope aap ko duniya ki sari khushiyan milain 🤗)
Pics: Ippy - my love, my sunshine 🤗
Edited by joenet1234 - 12 years ago
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