I know I said I'd post on Friday, but...why am I even explaining?😆
Phwoar! What an episode! I should have guessed that if girl's entry was stunning and boy's entry spectacular, then when boy meets girl... well the world had to rock and roll!😃 And PaRud literally set fire to the sand, that's the kind of blaze they lit!
Okay, okay, I'm getting ahead of the story...So, Paro and Bindi pick up Paro's bridal outfit which conceals a sack of money for the Thakur. The girls are unknowingly ferrying this contraband cash, which, the shopkeeper learns, has come under the BSD's lens. Desperate to get them away from his premises, the shopkeeper gifts Paro an intricately framed hand-mirror that's caught her eye. But Paro is frozen at the sight of the men in uniforms. And although the shopkeeper manages to send the BSD on the wrong track, he knows the danger is not past. He instructs his men to retrieve the cash from the girls even if it means killing them...
...And so he sets into motion events that ensure that Paro's path will cross Rudra's. But first, it is PaRud's mirrors that strobe and counter-strobe one another in a luminous flirtation all their own. The morse-code foreplay continues with the mirrors on Paro's bag winking at Rudra, while he crouches on the red earth to finesse his motorbike.
And then, it's time to get serious.
As if on cue, the sun sinks into a red-hot backlight catching in relief the man throbbing by on his bike. Paro cries out as he rides on unheeding, intent on his destination over the crest. And as the marauders seize her again, she gives up hope. But just over the hill, the man wheels the bike around and returns. The signals have worked.
Now it's time for physical communication, as lessons are handed out all around. The driver hits the ground in an arc. And as the mini-tempo crashes to a halt, the fight begins in earnest.
Paro flies towards her rescuer giving us our moment of the day: As Paro pelts towards him, Rudra puts his arm out, catches her arm and swings her to safety behind his body. And Paro holds onto him. And peeking over his shoulder, she catches sight of their combined reflection in the hand-mirror. What does she see, I wonder? Surely, not just a fierce warrior protecting a damsel in distress. Paro definitely sees something because she checks for a moment. Perhaps it's Rudra's eyes slitted in fierce concentration, or perhaps it's the elemental heat of the moment that catches and holds her gaze. Whatever, this was a wow moment for me! Hats off 👏 to the direction, for layering the moment with sensuality.
The blaze burns brighter moments later when Rudra tackles Paro to the ground to escape the bullets, and the momentum sets them rolling in a tight clinch, until eventually Rudra comes to rest on top of Paro. But even as Rudra breaks free of some invisible spell to chase after Paro's attackers, they fire and manage to wound him. And as he staggers, they hit his motorcycle, which erupts in a ball of flame.
And trying to disperse the fringes of her brand new nightmare, Paro is catapulted back into the depths of the old one.
As I said, what an episode!! I'm still catching my breath.😆
I don't know about you, but if it burns any brighter tomorrow, I'm gonna be toast.😃