Saras, Kumud & SC - Why & What next?

- Posting a couple of my posts on the mess and summation from last epi discussion on arshi's CB 31 May thread.

- Full credit to various contributors arshi, happychappy, vaishali, infofan, hunnybunch, smrth, kaadal and many others who helped figure out the context and way forward...couldnt have done this without all their inputs.

- we have developed a theory (lead idea smrth) that this can still be salvaged and actually made part of a more intense love story...and why kumud is behaving the way she is..

- basically now it is saras turn to return the favor and rescue kumud from her emotional distress.

- you could refer to the CB thread for detailed discussions if interested .

- Have made some edits since this is a seperate post...

the problem I see is in the show screenplay where SLB has creative control...

...SLB is used to making movies in which a lot of ideas need to be compressed and expressed in 3 hours...this results in not having to deal with exploring depth or drawing out the length for extended screen time...fit smaller story elements together (add 4 songs, 1 comedy track, 1 villain, 1 vamp, old parents, 2 lovers, one formula)...and a huge dependency on using the visual medium to deliver messages... phir...3 hours mein show khatam paisa hajam...

when applied to a complex story ...this inexperience is showing...add to this the trp revisions... and this mashup.. ..

I am now wondering whether the subtelty we fans like is intentional or plain inexperience / lack of understanding of the medium?

really disappointed with the totally fractured presentation from the proposal to the PMS scene itself and its aftermath...

why are they are trying to scrunch up too many ideas / concepts / emotions into 5 minute timeslots without working on the characterisations?...

For e.g.
1) saras and kumud's understanding of love --> so hurried (radha / dandiya).
- If this was explored more deeply, with more scenes with dialogues / exchanges between kumud and saras we would have been better able to appreciate kumud's consent for PMS and divergent reaction after PMS --> did not happen.
Though in the the novel the plot hinges on letter exchanges through which both fall in love without seeing each other --> why could not some elements of the letter contents have been used to create scenes which clarified both's different perspective on love?

2) saras public declaration --> so hurried (kumud gets taunted, saras decides to announce)
- This proposal had to declare saras love for kumud, the journey he has travelled, how important kumud is to him. At least one epi / half epi with better dialogues would have gone far in clearing where saras was coming from and why he drove the move towardsPMS --> Not even a half episode on the declaration, its all over in 5-8 minutes.

3) Add all the noise of the wedding, Saras rai, kumari, guman antics --> Why mix it with the story pivot? Could it not have been pushed later?

4) PMS & aftermath --> half baked ...entirely dependent on visuals for pre / act itself...no post act.
- why did they have to jump straight to the aftermath hysterics--> we dont even get to know what really happened till kumud is shown straight - away hysterical and full of grief / remorse...where is the step (could be a simple scene of kumud thinking by herself) which shows her coming to realise the enormity of the step she has taken and how it goes against her morality...which gets converted into grief and remorse
- without this critical step & missing #1, most viewers and even fans of the forum cannot relate to the total reversing of her character...this creates so much confusion and character inconsistency among viewers / fans who have built up an image of the leads in their minds..

5) add the frantic desire / attempt to move the story to the next act...and you will see getting added more 5 minute story elements...its like a sand pile...just adding more and more sand to the pile...sooner rather than later... without a proper foundation its going to collapse on itself.

...its already resulted in a plain butchering of the characters the leads (specially kumud since she's in the dock now for totally portraying a 'different' version) have tried so hard to build and portray...

...request to CVs would be to please give adequate screen time and dialogues / scenes to build the characters perspective and story...


This has been a life defining / changing event for both...not just on the physical level but on the mental level...both did not plan for it and were not ready emotionally too...but still their love drove them towards it...They went from barely holding hands to PMS in an instant with no stages of mutual intimacy in between.

... this event and the way it happened has changed both of them irreversibly...and like a spark, it has lit a fire in the emotional areas of both of their minds regarding what each means to the other...both have no doubt that they love each other DESPITE the PMS and the way it happened..

...but because of this event, they have progressed in a blink of an eye from puppy love to the real thing...now the hard part begins...

...old concepts / perceptions put in place when each was alone in his / her universe are being burned off...new ones which factor in that they are a couple now & that changes EVERYTHING because they are a couple now are being forged ...

...this churning is causing each to relook at their perception / understanding of their own self worth, their duties & obligations as individuals and as a couple, their duties & obligations as a couple to other common relationships, their individual place / role in the world, their role / place with each other, what is private, what is intimate, where does each one stand on ideas / beliefs with respect to his partners, what is each willing to hold on to and let go, what takes precedence etc etc...

I think if SLB wants to show their love deepening into a very substantial, intense, pure, full of mutual trust & respect, janam janam ka saath types, a private space where only each other can enter & no one else...the theory that it is now saras turn is the only way he can do so...

..now it is saras turn to rescue kumud from her emotional distress...she does not hate him / his love...but herself...if he does resolve her conflict...this lady is not going anywhere come what may..


BUT if SLB wants to screw it all up now and move towards a superficial seperation...he will use this in a very ham - handed way and move on...

I am just hoping:
1) that he chooses above logic...the pieces are set to leverage this event and distress to really show how deep real love can become...
2) if he does go for #1 he uses proper length of time, crisp dialogues, and not do 5 minute jingle-like scenes.

...so the suspense will unfold in next week...

P.S.

Wanted to share:

...have been thinking why I continue to give such a long rope to this show...never have to any other show...

This quote from Gladiator probably comes close to my reasons:
There was once a dream that was Rome. You could only whisper it. Anything more than a whisper and it would vanish... it was so fragile.

...It is in a fragile state right now...it has so much potential to showcase Ise Pyaar Kehte Hai...and I just hope it doesn't vanish.

Posting this so that it makes some sense to us fans on the entire mess which started with the PMS...

Inputs most welcome...

Excellent analysis hotdogg, I hope CVs are reading this, they will get an insight into what's bothering us!

You have nailed everything beautifully!

I too feel that some scenes / tracks are being rushed here, agreed with your point no 1 there. I hope SLB considers time.

Thursday's episode was confusing, yes we didn't know what happened until Kumud talked about the PMS thing.

Saras will come to Kumud, but it may take time coz he is devastated for her calling what happened a SIN. Kumud too is feeling guilty of what happened. They both are going through a difficult emotional phase now, I too am very curious to know how this unfolds. Hoping for the best.

Wonderfully summarised hotdogg. Haven't been able to catch up all the comments on CB and was thinking when I am going to read all, so thnks for the excellent summary.

Originally posted by: kaadal

Wonderfully summarised hotdogg. Haven't been able to catch up all the comments on CB and was thinking when I am going to read all, so thnks for the excellent summary.

There has been so many track changes lately and I somehow feel mostly changed a day or two before and then shot, the results are what we see...hurried scenes, incomplete dialogues and rushed editing. We had seen so many spoilers but none of them were seen. I sometimes feel the team got too much worked out when the TRP's started dropping, all the changes and trials started soon around that. Looks like the team guessed TV audience want everything hyped, showing them in a simple way doesn't give any excitement so started adding up Guman-Dughbaa faceoff's, even Guman-Kumud and Kumari's hidden actions behind Dughbaa. I can almost say they guessed right, this seems to work but there doesn't seem to be a proper balance on the tracks, everything seems to be rushed out for what I don't know,...to get the TRP's stable so that they can move on to the dramatic separation.

As for the half baked PMS I somehow feel we will still see it but if not maybe it might be due to not getting approval from SP since it is in 7.30 slot. If this is not shown, this sadly shows the channel hold on the makers of every show to change any scene according to how they want. But I agree with you, everything seems rushed and the characters which were being built up strongly suddenly seem to waver so much that we are not able to connect to their thoughts. Now the only way to understand them is through proper dialogues and more compact scenes and hope the makers realise it soon.

I really hope what Samarth and you all have predicted comes true. I am holding on to your faiths otherwise seeing Saras I almost felt he is going back to his shell and we are on square one. Maybe one more step to strengthen the relationship before Guman uses her big weapon the PMS and brings down the entire vansh. If SLB decides to spoil the game here, not sure if he will get to see his TRP stabilised so maybe this might work the positive way.

Tomorrow might give us some idea on where this is heading, let us see.

Excellent post i really want cv's to read this...see from last few weeks i have been thinking same thinkin i don't y they are in 5th gear in storytelling,they need to slow down a bit...i m really not likin current track

Such a wonderful analysis. This is something which has been in everyone's mind from a long time, but ur analysis was a treat to read :) The time span between falling in love, proposal and then conssumation was too short, they didnt show how their love got more intense and strong, IDK why so much hurriedness is shown. The conssumation scene was not shown properly, we r just forced to use our brain cells for almost no reason, the scene was not even a proper romantic one -_-

If they showed the conssumation sequence properly, with due respect to the INDIAN TV , they would have rocked the TRP charts :) but eventually it wasnt even shown, so much hype was created for almost nothing. I really liked the character of kumud, but after that scene i couldnt connect to her like really why was she crying like a looser, wasnt she also in love, and she actually referred to it as PAAP which it wasnt :( I wanted to see how saras and kmud get closer to each other and understand each other but they jumped to propsal and then sudden conssumation. I hope they atleast show their emotional trmoil nicely and use the potential of the actors atleast -_- lets hope for the bst.

ok BTW is there any way to mail this post to the CV's?

Excellent analysis covering expectations and disappointments...wish they use such valuable feedbacks in fine tuning our favourite watch. A product with such talents and potential as SC is.

you know...all great shows have built sustainable trps and multi-year runs by remaining true to their story & characterizations...even the high trp ones we we may not like, they still have a loyal audience who identify with their partcular show..

So you can never increase trp marketshare by discounting the story or the characterizations...

What still doesn't change is that our show & its story are unique and have the potential for greatness...there is a loyal and dedicated fan-base which is still growing...

maybe the PH is new to this medium and panicked...and made such a mess...

as people have said here...CVs need patience and belief in the story they want to tell..

I sincerely hope someone is listening to fans on this & other forums and planning on correcting the mistakes...so that this show fulfils its full potential...