The ep Friday, 15th March 2013 (ep.#220) was a superb ep.😳
Both leads had great scene-material and great dialogues, and DVD simply floored it. Superb performances, and a riveting ep.⭐️
Madhu's dialogues were taut, effective and hardhitting without ever slipping into melodrama, and DD held the emotional spectrum throughout with exquisite nuancing.👏
And VD rocked the fine shading of RK's dialogues and reactions brilliantly.👏
RK's dialogues and sophistry - especially the razor-sharp play on old lines - were a sheer delight in wit ⭐️, even when the sentiments made one long to hit him hard on the head with a cushion from the vicinity.😳
And surely Radha could have avoided overdosing on the glycerine at least for such good dialogues as she had today?😕
Can she never be shown emotional in any scene without the tears overflowing?😕
It is truly unfair for the story to have saddled Madhu with such an unflattering nickname as 'Glycerine' when she is *leagues* behind her mother-in-law in apparent association with that item (especially when they could give Trishna the nickname 'Heroine').
Madhu arrived at RK's place calling for him, and ran into Dips first.
Dips wearing those unflattering spectacles while reading was an unexpected touch, taking the characterization a bit beyond taunting and seduction-attempts.
Are the CVs going to - finally - gradually stop her dangling after RK and have her concentrate on what she does have (her husband) instead?
Anyway, Dipali makes very unclassy comments about Madhu's supposed lack of classiness.
Apparently, calling out in a raised voice for someone not present in the room offends Dipali's finely honed sense of decorum.😡
And may one say that the chawl jibes are getting really irritating.
Presumably the purpose of having Dipali's comments interspersed was to keep distracting RK from unrelenting focus in his vicious confrontation with Madhu.
Admitting to being a bit conflicted about the slap to RK.😕
The previous slap - to Madhu from Padmini - actually served no purpose.
But Padmini is a strong woman and selfless mother, and her fear for her child and protective intent made her slap readily understandable.
Just didn't like it because Madhu was getting slapped, and that too with no actual consequence to it.
But the slap to RK was absolutely necessary.
He was making an accusation - more and more directly - that he himself believed not even a little.
And his need to have Madhu reveal who the unknown man was ensured that he was prodding with no intent to let up until she broke her silence in fury at the slur and screamed out whatever her actual association with the unknown fellow was.
Actually, the strategy was sound and might have worked perfectly on Madhu - but only if anyone other than RK were putting it into practice.
She would have defended her virtue against the slur by explaining at the very least that she had no improper connection with the individual.
But unfortunately for both these two proud obdurate wilful convoluted people, each may be counted on to react to the other in most or all matters in a manner they would not with others.
Madhu had responded with Sultan's two separate threats to RK's life by - the first time - escalating an uncharacteristically toned quarrel with RK after returning home to find him clearly worried and waiting in the chawl courtyard.
And the second time, she had accompanied Sultan after seeing RK in the vicinity to get harmed, when she had previously been uncowed by the threat to her own wellbeing.
And she has since then added to her covering efforts by lying to her mother about exactly who was threatened that caused her to submit to Sultan's demands on both occasions.
So the chance of her telling RK a truth that would endanger him and that she had lied to her mother to cover?
Most extremely unlikely, especially if it was to clear her reputation to a man who - from what she remembers of their drunk night - adores her unstintingly so long as he's not in his senses.
So RK was saying something he doesn't believe, and that to someone who knows that he assuredly doesn't believe it at the core.
So Madhu had no motivation to cross the line from outraged anger to the infuriated clarification RK was aiming for.
And even in that viciously prodding mode, RK twice paused - once to backhandedly reveal his constant faith in Madhu by being shocked at her taking the money from him, and the other time to stop Dipali yet again in her taunts.
If he must endure Dipali thanks to her being senior bahu in his mother's 'happy family', then he now uses Dipali to serve his purpose as compensation to at least some extent.
But she fails to understand - as in all else - that her mistreating Madhu is acceptable only if it is by his will for a specific immediate effect. Not otherwise.
RK finally truly attacked Madhu with the slur's full weight only when - goaded by his insinuations thus far - she hit out that there was only poison between them.
She wanted to hurt him with words to match the hurt he was causing her, but she forgot that RK tends not to think of hurt in that manner.
If he is struck at, that cannot be the last attack.
If he is actually discomfited or hurt, then he must needs strike out even harder.
If Madhu truly wants to win any confrontation with him, she need only look shattered and spill a few tears, and she would win every round.
Neither his pride nor his obduracy last in the face of her visible anguish.
Which still raises the question how in the world he managed to perform that mandap fiasco in the face of her visible anguish and going contrary to his most immediate reflexes.
But let that confusing point of logic rest on the altar of the CVs assuredly greater intelligence.
Likewise, if RK truly wants to bring Madhu down, harm to himself - or the possibility of it - would work as well. And vice-versa.
But both of them have too much ethical pride to use weapons of such tactical worth that would be tantamount to an admission of knowing that those weapons have been unfailingly effective, except on the one MEIEJverse night when the CVs grand 'twist' set all the characterization and logic at naught.
And RK's reaction to the three people who had been following Madhu around - taken along with his later that night perusing and then tossing the photographs of Madhu snapped by one of the three - was confusing.
He had told Bittuji to find out who the unknown man twice seen with Madhu was.
Had Bittuji hired the three but mentioned RK's name to them to ensure Madhu was to be treated with courtesy if push came to shove?
Or had RK left the aspect of finding out the unknown man's identity to Bittuji, but also assigned the three to follow Madhu?
Bittuji's reaction *seemed* to show upset of a calibre that might perhaps be different than simply in defence of his bhabhiji.
And he did not *appear* accepting of Radha's being right in slapping RK, nor did he waver towards Madhu in his reactions through that scene.
His scorn and irritation in pressing Dipali towards removing herself appeared to be the only verbal vent he had for his unhappiness with what had transpired.
As for the slap, I would have actually preferred that Madhu be the one to slap RK, and that too one on each side.
She needs to slap him two more times to get the count to a complete 7.😳😆
But slapping or disrespecting RK in the presence of specific others beyond a certain point would fall into the societal boundary Madhu is still mindful of even to Dipali's continued advantage.
So she could hit back sharply only with words, and thanks to her husband, she too has now developed the knack of very believably saying everything she does not mean.
But the slap did need to be delivered to stop RK in his going relentlessly forward on a track that he would not pause on and which was sure to yield no result however hard-throttle he went, since both husband and wife have an absolute though extremely convoluted priority in protecting each other from peril.
The only regret is that it was Radha delivering the slap.
If Madhu couldn't be the one to slap RK in front of all of them, could not Padmini have accompanied her to slap him at the appropriate moment?
It's not like Padmini slapping Madhu previously had been of any use.
Why couldn't she have been scripted to slap RK instead?
Or did the CVs feel that a slap in addition to a baddua to the son-in-law was taking saasuma too far out of conservative acceptable territory?
That baddua was the gentlest mildest 'The Little Prince' variation I've ever seen in a Hindi serial, especially considering who it was aimed at.
It had been already almost entirely in effect for years, and was not in effect only during the time RK found joy in his conjugal life with Madhu.
In fact, that curse had been RK's routine even at the highpoints of love with Madhu.
He smiled and laughed only because of Madhu, he felt truly loved (despite doubts and insecurities) only by Madhu.
He has sent Madhu away.
This is the equivalent of someone has been poisoned, but returns the only antidote to you, and you curse him "You're going to suffer because of the poison".
Padmini's curse was almost wholly already in effect before she ever said a word.😕
Presumably Padmini had no idea just how definitively not a happy fellow in his personal life her son-in-law was behind his semi-private persona.
She has seen him warm, but has never realized the full extent of his vulnerabilities because Madhu - after realizing those vulnerabilities - was always careful to preserve her husband's image even in front of her family.
Padmini has no idea that it was entirely because of her daughter that sleeping soundly and going about in good cheer very recently became a habit for RK - a habit that he had already just decided to break off with.
RK ousted Madhu from his life, and was guaranteed to live in as much bitter smirking pretence as earlier, a loner even surrounded with the 'family' his mother had so thoughtfully provided to live shamelessly and in extravagant luxury off his earnings.
And considering Trishna's preposterous and far more effectively worded baddua having a traumatizing effect for one night that I was shaken simply by watching, and Madhu outstripping all standards for emotional strength and resilience by being coherent the next morning...
Have very little expectation of any sort of prolonged effect of Padmini's baddua.
Let the series just show it getting into effect soon, so that we can get past it.
Spent more time worrying about Trishna's baddua bearing fruition than seeing the MEIEJ world coming to a halt when the dratted thing came into effect.
Radha's dialogues had some truly terrific lines.
Only flaw was that she had either too many dialogues or too much tears.
The son is glittering sharp-edged high-drama in outstandingly superb alt.😳⭐️
The mother is a crescendo of melodrama that can set in tedium even in the middle of some very good lines with tears that seem to pour so constantly in so many scenes that sympathy and empathy both go a bit dry.
Radha and Padmini both have rotten luck. Their slapping their kids gets so hyped, but has hardly any effect.
Why in the world was the slap included in either scene from the mothers?
Both Madhu and RK feel emotionally wretched but proceed on their own angles, and those angles are focussed if not aimed on a first-priority-thought at each other.
Padmini's slap was accompanied by her fear for Madhu's safety.
Radha's slap was accompanied by dialogues where she had not the least idea what was going on.
She speaks of Madhu as a daughter but doesn't actually think of her as such.
Otherwise, she would have at least paused, not to believe her son's imputation but rather to react as Padmini did.
Not the slap but the petrifying worry that overwhelms.
Why was the fact that Madhu was disappearing for nights not worth worry to the mother-in-law but only to the mother?
Radha's not just primary but *only* focus was on what her son said, the outrageous insult implied to the girl's honour.
Not even a secondary concern was even a shred of worry for the girl she was *saying* so much in defence of.
She knows Madhu's character and honour.
She *should* have been as terrified as Padmini for what cause would induce the girl to stay out repeatedly overnight.
But then, Radha is *not* Padmini.
The woman even subconsciously seems to always be focussed on *her* son, what people may think of *her* as a mother.
And she should have slapped her son when he first disrespected her? Really?
Was that not after she brought the wonderful Kukku Bhatia home as his 'father'?
Over a decade of believing every lie that Kukku said about her own son, and she still has no shame that she failed as a mother, in a way far more *her* fault than simply not slapping him for *his* mistakes?
And then continuing to take a fortune from him for years to spend on her second husband, his son and that son's wife - and 'grand lady' gestures like benevolently organizing events her own son disliked but at his considerable expense, further cementing her own image as a traditional and wealthy lady?
Radha has never felt ashamed of any of her own actions or selfishness vis-a-vis RK *or* Madhu. Not even once.
RK may later wish his mother not to leave and act to ensure it.
He had endured the three other Bhatias for her sake for years, so his fondness for her has always been a weakness that all three of the others could count on.
Just a few days with Radha and her Bhatia kin removed from the house would be so much of a relief.
After all, Sikki and Dipali have no right to remain in RK's home except that they are stuck to Radha.
While I have no hope that Radha will leave the series for another city for long if at all, it would be an immense relief.
Felt less terrified for Madhu and RK with Balraj Singh Chaudhary pointing firearms at them, than I do when Radha starts talking with maternal fondness suffusing every word and selfishness in every intent.
Irregardless of how much *her* son and devoted bahu Madhu may hurt, they had to be speeded along so that her 'happy family' situation could be restored.
Which would be fine in the short-term to get them back together under one roof, but having them both grant her authority for the foreseeable future...
I trust Radha to be selfishly shrewd and conveniently loving (the extent of which Madhu is even more unaware of than RK), but never either loyal or selfless.
She has not shown herself to be even a percentage of the admirable and worthy mother that Padmini has always been.
RK did need to get slapped, but if the confrontation had been just between him and Madhu, then Madhu would have felt free to slap him, maybe even twice.
So Radha being the one to do the slapping seemed rather less effective than a private scene between - and slaps from - Madhu to RK.
Was it merely to add in for dramatic effect Radha's decision - in Madhu's presence - to remove herself from the house?
Or is that going to be something she will be dissuaded from?
RK had started to look emotionally carved by the slap and his mother's words, but Madhu's one line about being ashamed of having ever loved him shook him far worse.
After all of that slap and dialogues from Radha, it was still only Madhu who was RK's thought-focus that night.
His recent filial attention to his mother has been with Madhu as the absent guiding-spirit.
But while - constant filial love aside - his regard for Radha withered away long back and had only recently started to revive, Madhu has long since become the one person who matters most to him. And vice versa.
Madhu *should* have flared and told him that he was an inadvertent ingrate, and it was to keep him from getting killed that she had gone with a gangster.
Could he kindly now deal with the matter so she would not be stuck on his account in such a mess any further?
Actually, she may yet tell him that.
But she did not when her virtue was being impugned because the reassuring knowledge that the idiot loves her but will not admit it is even more soothed by Bittuji's reassurance that RK does not remember anything of the night of being drunk together, more specifically revelation of feeling from her.
And instead of slashing at RK that deeply, she cut at him with words far less decisive than she could have used, and held silent about her reason, protecting him rather than use the weapon of truth that would have effectively avenged the hurt of his insult by proclaiming him indebted anew.
But even when their obdurate defensive pride hones their tongues and tempers on each other, they yet desist even then from that which they actually believe would imperil the other.😳
