{Episode 149 - 1} Uninhibited

I hardly know where to begin or how to go about writing about this episode, because there's entirely too much that I loved. From start to end, I loved every second! I'm splitting this episode into 2 parts because I have many, many details to talk about...

No matter how many times I watch this sequence, I always have a huge smile on my face. Gurmeet and Kratika really had a blast shooting for this: it shows in the way they dance with carefree abandon, reflecting Yash and Aarti's lowered inhibitions. When they're not dancing, they're always moving rhythmically, emphasizing the flow of the song and lip-syncing to perfection. It is extremely difficult to write about this song sequence because of their movements and expressions, but I can't leave this out of a post about the episode! Their smiles and laughter are contagious enough as it is...Add Jai Jai Shiv Shankar and Yash-Aarti under the influence of bhang to the mix, and the result is an overload of cuteness and lots of smiles!

The second the music starts to play, Kratika is swaying to the beat, circling around Gurmeet. They're both so in-character (as they should be, but this is impressive because they never cross into OTT territory and that in itself is laudable given the nature of the characters' situation) that I found it even more noteworthy that Kratika eases into the dance naturally, putting a spring into Aarti's step.

A fun "catch me if you can" game, with Aarti trying to grab hold of Yash while he slips beyond her reach - and he looks mighty proud of himself, too. 😆 His face falls instantly when he feels her grip on his shoulder and he has to face the punishment of Aarti pulling his head this way and that - the expression on Gurmeet's face is hilarious.

The dance step with the drum is super impressive! And right after Yash does his bit of showing off with the drum, he realizes that Aarti is tripping over her feet and he rushes over to her with a horrified look on his face. Just as he's about to land next to her, she straightens up (that's probably as straight as she could get at that point) and he skids to a halt behind her but stays there to catch her just in case she actually does fall...The step where she twirls and falls into his arms, he actually ends up dragging her backwards, only to get bumped out of the way by Aarti immediately afterwards. But he's not going to let it end with that! His ego has been hurt, so he bumps HER out of the way, or tries to, at least. She realizes what he was trying to do and gives him a pouty "katti!" gesture, but Yash diffuses her anger by doing that step where they move their heads from one side to the other (they did that in Galyat Sankli Sonyachi as well) and that does the trick. The dhol-man's arrival seems to spark off an idea in Yash's head - and Aarti's hysterical laughter encourages Yash until the dhol-man acknowledges Aarti's presence and tries to move towards her...A tussle ensues, with Yash trying to shield his wife from unwanted attention. Aarti tries to cover up her face with her pallu (whose idea was that? Kratika looks super cute frowning and pouting like that!) and starts stomping away from her husband...

Aarti: I'm leaving!

Yash: No! You're not!

Aarti: I'm leaving, Yashji!

Yash: No, you're not, Aartiji!

He pulls her back, kisses her hand with a flourish, and tucks it safely under his shoulder, nestling her close to him as she gapes at him in surprise but then beams happily and rests her head on his shoulder as he smiles in blissful, peaceful happiness. Picture perfect moment, thank you, Aman!

Aarti: Is this really happening? Yes...it IS!

Yash is jolted out of his moment of bliss by Aarti, who is apparently seeing double...quadruple? The editing to show a split-second of Aarti's double-vision was a neat little touch; with Aman and Yash together, there were four "people" for a second! LOL at Aman dancing around and then facing Yash's wrath when Aarti pays a little bit of attention to her friend. All Aman's trying to do is get some good footage from various angles, Yash! 😆

Bewildered Aarti is too cute! Kratika's "Oh my god!" expression when Aarti sings "aasmaan...haan" is just that: too cute! Gosh, there are so many little gestures: Yash and Aarti mirroring each other with their "sau Rab di!" gestures (which they keep doing throughout the song); during the "pyaala tere naam ka, piya" bit, with Aarti catching the "liquid" in her hands as Yash pours it; the two of them getting a bit too enthusiastic and almost falling over before locking gazes...

It's as if the world only consists of the two of them...that's how deeply they are pulled into each other's gazes. They don't look away for even a moment. If eyes are a window to the soul, then Yash and Aarti are looking deep into each other's souls in that moment, not wanting to let their eyes stray to another part of the face. It's evident that emotions are the driving forces behind their actions; if their self-consciousness hadn't fallen away for a while due to the effects of the bhang, I doubt they'd have found themselves in such an intimate stance in the middle of a crowd. But this is what they've been craving for, subconsciously. The pull of attraction has been building slowly, especially from Yash's side during this Mumbai trip, and we see how strong that magnetism has become. They gravitate toward each other naturally. Both of Aarti's hands are resting on Yash's upper body, almost wrapped around him; one of his hands rests well above her waist, while the other one caresses her hair before coming to rest on her chin. There's so much affection in their stance and in the way that they look at each other. I was reminded of Promo 4 when I saw this for the first time, because of their proximity and their obliviousness to the rest of the world...until Aman brings the entourage with him to pull them back to reality. A sort of random observation that won't really fit anywhere else: Yash pulls Aman's stole off, wraps it around himself, dances around, throws it into the air when he's occupied with more important things to do (ie, run away from the crowd with Aarti in tow) and Aman goes and picks it up off the ground! 😆 God, what a great guy Aman is! He cracks me up.

While Aarti is praying, Yash takes it upon himself to throw flowers on her. A very sweet gesture of unintentional (or intentional?) reverence, respect, and playfulness, along with a phoolon ki barsaat throwback!

Aarti's tired, she wants to rest, but Yash has other things on his mind. Even more cuteness! Gurmeet and Kratika are so fantastic when it comes to expressing emotions through song while staying in-character!

Nuances I loved:

- Gurmeet-Kratika's punctuated, syncopated movements: there's a genuine "statement...continue" sort of sawaal-jawaab exchange here, conveyed through their reactions.

- Aarti's pouts, so innocently child-like, and Yash's interrogative "Hmm"s.

- The contrast in Aarti's exhaustion and Yash's mischeviousness: Yash looks slightly put-off by Aarti's requests to sleep; he counters with a very energetic response that involves pulling her close, but she pushes him away in annoyance with such force that it sends her backwards until he catches her and pulls her to him. He concedes defeat and puts her head in his lap, but his attempts to pat her head in a "comforting" fashion aren't well-received (LOL at Aarti's temper tantrum and Kratika pounding her fist on Gurmeet's leg! Both of the times she sings "soneeey do" are adorable). But he obviously doesn't care what she thinks, because he takes things a step further by walking his fingers up her back and onto her head, causing her eyes to shoot wide open...no rest for Aarti yet! I almost thought Yash was leaning towards Aarti in anticipation of a kiss or something because he looked very startled when she stuck her finger on his chest and began teasing him back instead of responding to him in the way he'd expected, whatever that was. This stanza is definitely my favorite because of the sweet naughtiness of it all! Yash's goofy smile as Aarti does her bit to proclaim him being "beimaan" is absolutely adorable, as is their sequence of "sau Rab di"s and the pointed look that Aarti gives him. Oh, Gurmeet...Oh, Kratika. Why must you be so fabulous?

- "pyaala tere naam ka, piya": Aarti says: "Me? Oh, wow!" Aww. I may be reading into Kratika's gestures too much, but after I got over how sweet that looked, I wondered if Aarti's insecurities were being reflected in a humorous, subtle way here. Maybe, maybe not, but the moment caught my attention because it seemed like such a spontaneous reaction. Perhaps that's the irony of it all. Still, it's very, very sweet.

I love how Yash stumbles after Aarti, trying to reach her while she's ambling off in another direction. He manages to grab her shoulder, but she's knocked off balance, which knocks HIM off balance. He steadies himself by grasping her arm and wrapping himself around her in a very close embrace. That action was significant to me for more than one reason. Yash's eyes close as soon as he pulls Aarti up against him, and he has that same peaceful expression that he had earlier. Aarti's immense affection for her Yashji shows in the way that her hand comes up to caress him before she turns to face him directly. There's something so sweetly sensuous in the way Aarti turns, looking up into Yash's eyes while he gazes down at her, and in how they immediately, subconsciously reach for each other. He holds her in a loose embrace at first, looking at her with warmth in his eyes, and she smiles and responds to his own smile by resting her head on his shoulder...and together, if only for a moment, in the midst of the crowd, they have found peace.

We catch Yash and Aarti in the middle of a conversational exchange, probably after the first "Aartji, mujhe kuch kehna hai" and Aman is having a grand time witnessing his best friend and her husband share a few light-hearted moments.

"Aartiji, mujhe aapse kuch kehna hai."

I think our dynamic duo (plus Aadesh) must have had fun shooting this, too, if the shadow of a smile on Kratika's face is anything to go by. Serious kudos to the director and actors for keeping everything real, and more importantly, understated! From Yash/Aarti's little chuckles to their repeated action of struggling to pull themselves to the edge of the sofa seat corners (and I thought that was a really nice touch) to the half-dazed expressions and drawn-out, sleepy manner of speech, all the details came together to create a very natural, entertaining, poignant scene. The mood shifts in this scene are incredible, and I have to thank the people behind the background music for that, as well.

Before I say anything else: I LOVE the music during this part! Okay, moving on. The little pause and Aarti's silent chuckle intrigued me quite a lot...I'm not sure if that was a significant pause, but if it was, maybe it was meant to convey the recognition of irony: Aarti gently encouraging Yash to confess his feelings or whatever he wants to say, while she herself had to restrain her confession and demonstrate her affection through nonverbal cues and other actions that wouldn't upset their relationship and the promises they'd made to each other. Oh, and Aarti's voice! Kratika's voice is like velvet...I love the soft, smooth, tenderness in Aarti's voice as she speaks, reflecting the soft expression on her face.

Aarti's "Are you really going to say something?" expression followed by her face falling ever so subtly as Yash "Main woh"s his way into an anticlimax made me laugh. Aman's raised eyebrows ("Is Yash really going to confess?") and Aarti's barely perceptible pout and frustrated look are priceless, no wonder Yash couldn't hold back a laugh at the look on her face. Once again, super impressive how we can actually see Aarti's face transitioning from a very light smile, as she anticipates what Yash is going to say, to a look of realization that he might not be able to say it after all, to an expression of mild yet obvious irritation at his tendency to keep his feelings bottled up inside of him. All it takes is his good-natured chuckle to send her reclining into the sofa seat again. His happiness means everything to her - and she is the cause of that happiness, whether she realizes it or not.

Yash's confusion at Aarti's laughter reminded me of the Baawra Mann sequence and a few of the other Mumbai moments where he couldn't understand why Aarti was laughing; this particular moment exemplifies a spectacular series of mood shifts. It took me a few seconds to figure out that Yash was "hurt" because his pointed nose is dangerously sharp. When I did, his miming and Aarti's reflexive reaction became both funny and sweet. Yash doesn't take offense at Aarti's comment, like Aman assumes he did. Yash plays along with Aarti, observing his nose and then demonstrating his acceptance of Aarti's observation by miming. Also, Aarti is initially perplexed by Yash's actions, but she realizes very quickly exactly what he is trying to do. The understanding that they share only keeps getting stronger, and that is such a beautiful thing to see through little moments like this. Aarti nearly jumps in her seat on the sofa when Yash lets out an exclamation (I love the mirror-image expressions on Gurmeet's and Kratika's faces; they do that quite often) and she does what she always does out of impulse: she rushes to soothe his pain. Another throwback, this time to their suhaag raat, when she accidentally rammed the bathroom door into his arm.

Yash makes an assertion, Aarti starts to protest, but they are interrupted by Aman, who had become invisible to them until now. The poor guy was happily recording, and now he finds himself a target of Aarti's wrath (while Gurmeet takes a mini-break in the guise of Yash, LOL). Aman's face falls spectacularly as Aarti points a finger at him, but he's not one to back down, especially if this can loosen Aarti and Yash up even more.

The mood shifts as Aarti gazes affectionately at Yash, HER Yashji. Loving words tumble from her lips, heartfelt and pure, innocent and true. "Mere Yashji sabse achche hai. Sabse achche...Sabse zyaada handsome...Koi nahi unke jaisa."

Aarti means every single word she says. Every syllable is filled with immense love and respect for her husband, the man who accepted her Ansh with open arms and earned her love and trust in return. Ansh had asked her to say that his naye papa was handsome once...he had placed his mother in an embarrassing spotlight the second time that word came up; she hadn't confessed it then, but she told Aman later, proudly, that her Yashji is extremely handsome. She retierates that now, with conviction, effectively grouping her respectful admiration for him with a tinge of desire. Her Yashji is one in a million, she knows.

Aarti sends a glare Aman's way, and the mood changes again. LOL at Aman's expression when Aarti tries multiple times to put a finger on the tip of her nose. Ah, and Yash provides a gesture of support for his wife by sparing a drowsy, amused smile from his place on the sofa as Aarti laughs. Aman is driven unceremoniously out of the house by his dost-turned-dushman, and that's the end of that. "Besharam kahin ka," Aarti says, after nearly flattening herself against the door to close it in her inebriated state. "Pati-patni ki baatein sun raha hai," she mutters to herself, having forgotten that she had been the one to suggest that he stay with them for a while. "Maine toh Aman ko jaane ko kaha tha. Yeh toh power bhi chali gayi!" Gah, could there be a better way to end a scene than that? The perfect combination of humor, child-like innocence, and bhang-influenced Aarti. It can't get much better than that, but it does...And that's for another post.

{Episode 149} [Part 2] Uninhibited: Kya Sukoon, Kya Junoon, Humnawaa...: https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/punar-vivah/3198048/episode-149-2-kya-sukoon-kya-junoon-humnawaa

relived the moments.. 😳

cant wait for the rest..

You've got a great sight for details, love the way you've described AarYa's dance when Aarti wanted to rest but Yash didn't let but then he finally gave him and let her rest her head on his shoulder...The relieved look on his face when she was in his arms was just BEAUTIFUL ❤️