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Dwelling on the Details: Fire and Ice
{Episode 276}
March 13th, 2013: "Saanware...Tore bina jiya jaaye na..."
I don't know how others are feeling right now, but I am writing this moments after finishing the episode, so forgive me if my thoughts go off on tangents. For whatever these scribblings are worth...Starting backwards today...
Dousing the Flames
- "Bahut ziddi hai tu..." - So says Gayatri, her irritation with Aarti showing even before the latter has said a word. Yes, Gayatriji...Go and take a look at your Akash's wife Ishita as well. She's a bechari, isn't she?
- I'm going to keep quiet about the precap for now, but I personally felt so proud of Aarti when she spoke up and appealed to her mother-in-law (who is like a mother to her...Oh, that made me feel even sadder for a moment) about her concerns, trying to show her the lines that are being drawn within their household. If Gayatri is stuck looking towards the past, then Aarti is firmly rooted in the present, looking at both the past and the present to understand multiple perspectives.
- As soon as Gayatri made that exasperated, "I don't want to hear this, but I don't have a choice, do I?" expression, I wondered whether anything Aarti said would really get through to Gayatri. Fantastic acting by Zahida in this scene. I felt both frustrated and sympathetic as the scene continued.
- "Nahi! Bilkul nahi." - Love the way Kratika says this, the verbal emphasis highlighted even more with that frown and shake of the head. Aah, she is wonderful.
- This entire scene: this is what powerful yet understated dialogue delivery is. I think Kratika does this so effortlessly. What a contrast between Aarti's composure and firm tone and Gayatri's volatile, defensive rebuttal.
- Aarti agrees that Radha made a mistake, but when she tries to point out that Radha was the one who raised Akash as if he were her own son, Gayatri rolls her eyes...Okay. Agreed that Radha shouldn't have switched the babies - she did so in a moment of desperation, etc. - but look at what happened after that. At least Akash is alive and had a mother figure for all those years. At least he wasn't an orphan. Well, what's done is done. I'm not going to dwell on this point.
- Aarti's expression when Gayatri brings up "that woman" and how she embraced Yash with open arms despite him being "of that woman's blood" - A brief moment where Aarti seems to be thinking, at least to my first reading, "Despite...? You raised this child for 30 years and now I should feel grateful that he "still is getting everything" while he is bearing all this pain NOW for your sake? The fact that he is another woman's son is bothering you so much? Then what about everything that you told me about not differentiating between Ansh and Palak and Payal?"
- LOVE the way Aarti holds Gayatri's gaze with her own at the very end of the scene! Gayatri's eyes snap up to the face of her "ziddi bahu," reflecting outrage at Aarti's "accusation," while Aarti's eyes are filled with what seems to be an odd mixture of curiosity, disappointment, and possibly even a hint of indignation. Aarti seems to genuinely want to understand why Gayatri is behaving like this, because the household's equilibrium is at stake here...
Inflicting Burns
- Yash steps into the kitchen to fetch tea for Akash, as per his demand. Aarti turns around with the tea tray in hand to see her husband waiting, eyes downcast, head bowed...He doesn't meet her eyes even as she looks at him; he gives her a shadow of a message, "I have to go...I'll be back..." before turning away from his silent, concerned wife...and into Ishita's path.
- The tray almost slips from Yash's grasp. While Aarti's hands reach out towards Yash as she sees him stumble, it is Ishita who steadies the tray, touching him in the process. She pulls her hands away after he looks up at her and then down at their hands, after which Ishita proceeds to paint a picture of "Ishita the Victim," a sympathizer of Yashji's who understands how it feels to be treated so by Akash. "We are both Akash's enemies," she says..."He will never accept the two of us." Oh, she is trying so hard to say, "Look at how much we have in common." I'm not seeing that common thread as clearly as she is. Help?
- Yash doesn't spare Ishita another glance even though her words are hitting him; he silently leaves the kitchen, leaving Ishita standing there, looking as miserable as she can manage. Bechari indeed.
(Aside: I find it so amusing that Ishita looks so pathetically miserable while Aarti has this almost regal demeanor and composure even though she was silently observing this interaction and is very visibly concerned about her husband and her family...There's such a difference in the way the two women carry themselves. An indication of the contrast between their personalities, perhaps? Ishita lets hardships feed her bitterness toward the past and present, while Aarti draws strength from adversity and keeps moving forward.)
- Outside, Akash is waiting for his tea, reclining on the cushioned seat, acting as if he has been a part of the Scindia family and its family business for years. Yash bends to give Akash the teacup and saucer, his face remaining impassive until Akash angrily throws the tea at Yash. The quick expression of pride on Akash's face as he comes up with another way to provoke Yash is a great detail - it makes me cringe every time I see it. It's even more awful that Gurmeet's reaction to Akshay's action is spot on, because his yell of pain and the way he staggers backwards, clutching his shirt, conveys Yash's hurt so, so well in a matter of seconds!
- In spite of all this, Yash is the one who stops his brothers from responding to Akash. The visual of Pankaj, Yash, and Prateek standing together, supporting each other, with Akash on the other side, is one that I hope will be seen more if Akash continues to behave like this, although I don't have very high hopes of that happening right now.
- Gurmeet's expressions. The anger that blazes in Yash's eyes as he tries to suppress his rage, the burning pain that is reflected in every muscle of his body and in his facial features...Amazing, amazing moment!
- "Yashji!" - And then Aarti runs down the driveway, pushes Pankaj aside, and questions her husband about what happened. She takes in the wetness of his shirt, and from that point on, throughout the drama that ensues between SP, Gayatri, and Akash, Aarti's attention is divided between those three and her husband. Yash's focus remains on his parents and Akash, but Aarti swings between being aghast at Akash's actions/Gayatri's reactions and being concerned about the burns that were inflicted on her husband. Her focus always returns to Yash, who has suffered both physical and emotional pain for no fault of his own. The rest of the family leaves; Yash says nothing, and Aarti studies his face, trying to read the emotions beneath the stoic mask that he is struggling to put up again.
- She is at the end of her tether because her Yashji is being hurt in more ways than one now. "How much more will you tolerate?" she asks, receiving no answer. "Yeh koi Satyayug nahi hai, aur na aap Bhagwaan. Aap insaan ho, Yashji..." It's not wrong to fight against injustice..."Kab tak chup rahenge aap? Kab tak?" Her words and broken voice sink in and he does not meet her eyes, choosing instead to leave her standing there alone to wipe her tears and gather her strength again. They had hoped to integrate Akash into their family, unaware of the possible complications that could arise. Now even if Yash bears insults and injustice silently, Aarti is more aware of their surroundings and the changing relationships within the confines of Scindia House. How long will it be before Yash's patience wears thin? How much can he withstand?
Soothing the Pain
Aarti expresses her frustration to Yash as she gathers ice cubes for his burns. He listens to her, replies cryptically, and then lapses back into silence. Even now, he cannot meet her eyes, because he knows that she might be able to sense the emotions that are driving his behavior and giving him the strength to bear all this...She turns his face to hers, and still he looks away. He doesn't have to look at her directly - she can read his eyes and see his sadness. He may be keeping quiet because of those conditions that Akash made that morning, but at a deeper level, he is taking these blows for his mother's sake, for her happiness. Aarti has picked up on that, based on Yash's behavior today ever since Gayatri trusted him to be strong for their family.
"Aisa nahi hai ki mujhe unki takleef, ya mujhe unka dard samajh mein nahi aa raha hai...Lekin main...Main aapko aisi takleef mein nahi dekh sakti...Bilkul nahi dekh sakti..."
- Beautiful, beautiful moment. I love this part of the scene even more because of the way Aarti's gaze shifts repeatedly from her Yashji's face to his chest. Every time she sees the burns, it becomes harder for her to speak and restrain the tears welling up in her eyes.
- Aarti applying the ice to the burns...I want to take a moment to thank the PV Team for not making this into a long, drawn-out, overtly (and artificial) romantic moment or something of the like. This scene is beautiful because of the meaning behind the gesture of soothing the burns with ice, of calming fire with water. It is beautiful because of the smallest details and natural interactions between Yash and Aarti...I like that the burns from the hot liquid actually appear to hurt Yash and that both Gurmeet and Kratika respond appropriately (realistically) to the situation with the ice. I could see Yash and Aarti's pain very clearly, so thank you very much for that!
- Yash flinches as the ice startles and hurts him, Aarti pulls away and looks up at him quickly, worry in her eyes, tears still trailing down her cheeks. She takes his hand and holds it, trying to offer him support while getting the cold water onto his chest unimpeded; he ends up helping her as best as he can, guiding her so that they end up alleviating the pain together. A few more tiny moments that I love: As Aarti finishes up with the ice cube, Yash looks at her tear-stained face, places his free hand on top of their joined hands, looks at her again, and gives her a slight smile as if to say, "I'm fine now, Aartiji. I'm all right." She tries to smile in response but can't quite manage it...He looks up at her again, intently, as she turns to put the ice away, as if he senses how much she is hurting because of what has happened to him, and then when she places her hands on his knee, he immediately covers them with his own and eases her into an embrace. They relax against each other, supporting each other like they always do...and I love the little moment when Aarti looks at Yash's chest yet again and closes her eyes painfully. God, how much more will they have to bear if this is only the beginning?
- Ishita stands fuming in the doorway, lep in hand, Scindia bahu necklace and all. Yash and Aarti haven't noticed her - why would they, pray tell? - and she continues seething until she can take no more of the loving husband-wife's closeness. *SLAM* And she disrupts the one moment of peace that Yash and Aarti managed to find after what feels like ages. I thought Ishita was going to melt the bowl with her own hands or something. The way she stands there watching Yash-Aarti with that expression on her face. Whatever thoughts were running through her mind, they don't seem to be healthy at all.
- Aarti is the one who takes the initiative to stop Ishita from leaving ("Oh, sorry, I'll come later..." Thanks, but no thanks. *rolls eyes*) while Yash doesn't look at Ishita once after he and Aarti looked up to see who had come barging into their room. Ishita wants to apologize on behalf of her husband ("You know his temperament..." she says) and tries, in vain, to draw Yashji's attention to her. She lingers in the room for a while after Aarti takes the lep and begins to apply it on her Yashji's chest...Both Yash and Aarti are completely oblivious to Ishita's presence once again, and Aarti is so focused on spreading the lep that the slamming of the door, announcing loudly that Ishita has finally left, startles her slightly but doesn't deter her attention from her priorities.
Anupamaa
Cricket
