Posted:
I have been reading a lot of posts on this forum... and have found that most campers, on all sides, have objection to Sultan being a gangster. I am just attempting to understand why a character like that cannot be part of regular story telling, so please bear with me.
Many people have objections to Sultan being the other option simply cause he's a gangster. They would have wanted a suave, educated successful 'guy' for Madhu, to go against RK. why?
why always a comfortable, rich, successful dude? why should our stories always get comfortable? When did the raw and earthy sense of romance vanish? and when did our idea of romance and the romantic man get skewed?
In context with the story, one rich, super successful guy already fell for her. What is the probability that another would too? Wouldn't it waste away the fairy tale notion of it all? And how would that man have connected with a very average middle class girl, who has no high aspirations but only her strong principles?
Let that argument alone. Why cant a gangster be shown with a human angle, in a romance? and it is being shown that he knows he's wrong. He holds himself responsible and blames no one.
If we go by the technicalities of the past alone, sultan had a more devastating past than RK . He was wrenched from his mother most violently and brutally.
At that age, left to your own devices, can a boy be expected to teach himself to control his instincts? his survival instincts? take morality lessons down there in the stinking trenches of society?
yet somehow this character has it, that notion of right from wrong, and good from bad. He didnt loose himself in all of it. and He is not propogating the idea of being a gangster.
I am not justifying Sultan's way of life. I am trying to explain that weaving such a character into a story line is natural and more real.Both madhu and Sultan have roots in the same section of society. There's a connection from that alone.
and , maybe its a personal preference, but I prefer real conflicts as opposed to imaginary ones that are constructed in an idle arrogant mind.
Bringing in gangster is not to influence people to be one. People aren't that gullible(I know some do give you that idea on this forum but..;) )
Its only free creativity. So yes, I like the fact that he is a gangster, not because that makes him strong and aggressive. He's already that. Being a gangster makes me feel like hes vulnerable, and scared for his son.. guarded with his emotions.. that he's a flawed man, who may never be able to rid himself off his choices, but who'd live with the knowledge and responsibility of those choices.
and then the changes wrought with Madhu in his life.. the sudden need to feel accepted in whatever small way possible. How cant such little, yet so poignant conflicts be appreciated? Why strive for superficial ones?
I am just taken with the father, and his son.. There is so much that Sultan cannot control and how he'd wish he could..
And then its the plain contrast between a boy who grows up to be a man against all odds, and the man who is still a boy, a disturbed headstrong boy.
its only about one's character after a certain point.
Sometimes I see Sultan , simply as a concept of a man. A real man. and with his bad choices and his good intentions.. and his weaknesses and quiet strength. and his pain and his reluctant smiles and his immense gratitude.
and those eyes, which see Madhu, from across the burning holi fire, cradling his son to sleep.
edit:
I do not mean to say there is 'love' already between them.. whatever that is between them is, all from his side. and whatever its is from his side, is inexplicable yet understandable..
I wanted to explore why Sultan is a beautiful contender for Madhu's affections, if/when that happens, despite his being a 'criminal'.
and romance , in a story, does not mean only the love factor between the man and the woman , and only if both are single.
Romance, at least for me , is an open ended story, the ever evolving character, the unresolved nature of emotions like love and the audacious nature of judgements:)
(I am genuinely not trying to sell you Sultan. Just sharing how , I think, a character like that enriches a story. A story for adults not kids. and again its addressed to people who are open to spontaneous evolution of a story and its characters, not to loyal-fans/fanatics.)
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