My Journey with BV- Revelation to Liberation

Replacement of characters in daily shows is not new and to an extent replacement adds freshness to the show, IF replacement brings suitably potential actor/actress. From the day news of Prathyusha Benarjee's quitting the show is out, I have seen huge hue and cry on the forum. Forum was buzzing with numerous posts on character vs actor, original vs replacement, personal bashing, criticism and many more. I know, the replacement of any lead character is never easy and eventually the show spell heartbreak for majority of fans...nothing new in it. While some are happy with the replacement, many are not; and few like me are trying to connect the dots between PB's and T' anandi as the transition was absurd---lacking the subtlety and innocence of the character to a great extent.

This post has nothing to do with the present actress; it's a futile effort to rediscover the Anandi, I have seen, known and related to... You are'll free to debate or differ from my POV but cordially. Don't mistake me as PB's fan or Toral basher as to me saying NO to X actress doesn't mean YES to Y actress and at the end both are just characters and I'll appreciate whoever brings life to the character; Of course, I am yet to see T's Anandi; so far I have seen her lending skin to the character and the soul is still missing; that may be due to writers fault, directors adaptation or my imperfect eyes...!!

My Journey with BV from Revelation to Liberation:

I am watching BV from day one; the show has had a tumultuous journey, seen many ups and downs, been plagued by one constraint for too many and yet the fact remains that BV had many deeply touching moments...magical moments...heartbreaking moments...heart wrenching scenes...some finest performances...effortless chemistry...magical eye locks that have made it possible to digest the worst of the show. We all knew BV is not a usual soap; it has unusual content set in rustic background. The show was never rosy, mostly grey and at times even darker, but trying to showcase such issues itself is a big thing in today's context. (Of course, the content has a huge business potential).

BV attempts to explore the human relations and emotions in a subtle realistic fashion. The main stay of the show is to look at the progression of the child bride into a young woman and her journey towards womanhood amidst betrayal, rejection, social stigma and insecurity; it attempts to look at the finer emotions, complicated relationships, social obligations, deep rooted insecurities, haunting memories, sub conscious desires and some extremely relevant social issues. BV may not stand out as a realistic master piece (has its share of flaws) but it did show real and raw emotions to an extent, though not pretty appealing yet honest in a way

What does the show mean to you all? Why you all loved it so much making you to revolt against the replacement? What is the outstanding quality of the show that kept captivated you all along? Here I'm not talking about actors/actresses, romance, chemistry, inner qualities, expressions or struggle...I'm trying to look beyond that, the nucleus...that made the show what it is...Undoubtedly it was, is , ANANDI--the biggest reason to watch the show that kept me captivated through most part of it ...

Amidst the bashing and personal inclinations I'm still trying to find the Anandi, the definitive characterisation I have seen and known for about 3 years. Here, I have purposefully left Avika's anandi; she played as phase of life and made way for progression. Avika's anandi has created a loyal fan base for the show; though the present characterization is different from Avika's to a major part still the transition was very smooth; it's a natural progression from childhood to youth and PB fitted the bill. She was fresh, bubbly, confident yet composed. Many people on the forum find PB's A as drastically different from A's A and the logic is simple- she is no longer a kid. Conditioning of children starts from the day they are born and in case of girls the conditioning takes a new level with the onset of menarche.

Avika's anandi characterisation itself is SURREAL, we hardly find 8 years kid with such strong personality but again I view this as a part of dramatization to establish the concept of Child Marriage- to show how a spunky, inquisitive, naive kid goes through social conditioning, family upbringing, societal pressure, baggage of relationships transform her into calm composed self unlike her child hood. Unlike many who are drawing similarities between Avika's A with T's A, I disagree as human psyche is not provided with on and off buttons; childhood is a phase of life and passes away, with the phase your way of expression too changes but the nature may or may not. Avika's anandi is a REVELATION while PB's anandi is a PROGRESSION.

New Beginning and Liberation:

Anandi is a COLLECTIVE IMAGINATION of numerous roles a woman portrays with ease and elegance. After a very long time, I have seen a DEFINITIVE woman character on Television that had depth, elegance, innocence, poignant, insecurity laced with undying confidence and strength in a truly realistic fashion. She represents and inspires many women who aren't independent; socially and economically YET challenges the set of morals, customs defining the woman's role and relationship against man and society.

The remarkable part is anandi's portrayal as tormented wife; the characterisation and portrayal is splendid. She made a NEW BEGINING that marks the Journey of an ordinary village belle to find footing, identity and liberate from the past ultimately brings an extra ordinary change in the neighbourhood; she has not transformed/ redeemed by making a lucrative career; nor has a makeover turning to western outfits but remained grounded to her roots and core values yet brought the change in the society. She has channelized her energies for a mission; a mission to liberate many other girls from the shackles of social evils yet remained the way she is... She represents that set of women who mould themselves according to the situations, adapt to changes retaining her true nature yet make their identity at the grass root level. She is an ordinary woman with amazing strength that spills out as natural imbibed QUALITY AND NOT AS EXPRESSION, enabling many ordinary girls/women to identify with her.

The track dealing with Anandi's liberation from her husband, her past and memories is touching and pragmatic. At times I found the track irritating but still it was realistic. Ending a relationship is never easy; ending a marital relationship you have grown with, investing years of life, friendship, and love is even tougher. She held the memories close to her heart; as a source to drive the strength and energy to fight her battle; a battle against her own insecurities and haunting memories for self liberation. Her emotionally distant behaviour and aloofness get on our nerves but it makes her even more attractive and enigmatic for the opposite gender. liberating from past is different from divorce, specially when the past occupies most part of your life; you can always get over people but getting over the memories either sweet or bitter is tough as they wont disappear into vacuum and sit in your sub conscious memory; this is all dealt in a very realistic way unlike some shows which show this in spur. to me, the story of Balika Vadhu has ended the day she spilled her subconscious feelings for Shiv to CM. Except showing her as MLA or Minister, I don't see anything interesting left though the present Jagya's track is a good but showing him as flippant every other day is irritating. I take this as male version of anandi,and hope they deal the track subtly making us empathize with him.

Thank You Balika Vadhu, for this wonderful journey with extremely wonderful anandi; though I'm no longer religious with the show, still i'll try catch whenever possible.

Originally posted by: nandininandu

While some are happy with the replacement, many are not; and few like me are trying to connect the dots between PB's and T' anandi as the transition was absurd---lacking the subtlety and innocence of the character to a great extent.

Of course, I am yet to see T's Anandi; so far I have seen her lending skin to the character and the soul is still missing; that may be due to writers fault, directors adaptation or my imperfect eyes...!!

though the present Jagya's track is a good but showing him as flippant every other day is irritating. I take this as male version of anandi,and hope they deal the track subtly making us empathize with him.

Thanks for the post.You said it all so well.You summarised Anandi character so beautifully.

Those lines in red - I completely agree with you.Like you I still trying to connect the dots.Those dots sometimes are there and sometimes they just not bothered to provide us with the dots so that we can connect.The writers seem to forget to provide us with dots.

T has not managed to capture the soul of Anandi.I think it is the duty of the writers and directors to make sure the soul of Anandi is seen through her performance so that our imperfect eyes can appreciate it.

The lines in black- Very interesting thought.I only saw J and A as the rail tracks that run in parallelBoth such contrasting personalities forced run together as parallel tracks.It will be very interesting to see how the inherently weak natured Jagya overcomes the same problems that Anandi has faced in her journey.Of course it would be so much more difficult for him but it will definitely make a very good story if it is handled right.