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Today's episode marked the return of Rudra to his erstwhile home. The home he'd been forced to leave and hadn't stepped in for more than fifteen years. The home he'd never have set foot in again, but for the girl.
The girl who was out cold on the seat next to him. Whom he'd chloroformed when she'd begun to unravel at the news that she was now effectively dead to the world. That Parvati had ceased to exist. Unable to do anything about it, she'd given in to her despair and asked them to shoot her - to make the fiction a reality. He'd been so focused on the success of his Op that he hadn't factored in her reaction, so it was just as well that he'd had the knock-out drops at hand. This way, she was infinitely less trouble and, more importantly, wouldn't know where he'd brought her.
This home, his home...This arrangement of bricks and mortar that framed so many memories. Bitter ones, like his last memory of his younger self refusing to leave. Telling his father to go if he wanted, but he would stay in this home and wait for his mother to return. Never mind that she hadn't come back for a month. She would eventually, because she loved him. No, it was his father who needed to understand. But then Kaki, who was also his mother's sister, had told him that his mother wasn't coming back. His mother, she'd said, who didn't care a whit for the Lord, would hardly care for her child. At that all the fight had gone out of him.
So many memories...He could use a drink to wash out their harsh aftertaste, dull the pain. But he swallowed them down neat, drawing in the air through his mouth to cool the burn, and threw open the doors of the haveli, stepping into yet another flashback. This time a sweeter one, of playing with his uncle, of his mother's fingers combing through his hair, of his mother kissing his forehead, pinching his cheeks, of him laughing, happy, of love so strong that it stung his eyes, even now...especially now.
So he did what he was best at: blinked rapidly to clear his eyes, firmed his lips and channelled his emotion into purpose. He strode into the courtyard and waited till he caught their eye. Then he ordered all the strangers out. Only family need remain. And when they hesitated he made them obey at gunpoint.
His aunt breathed his name, stiff with outrage. But he wasn't cowed so easily now. He just pulled the doors to and embarked on a search of the premises. It was just as he was leaving the dining room that his hand found the back of the chair. They said that the flesh has a memory of its own. That must've been why his fingers magicked up the picture of happy families, of his mother feeding him. But he was more in control now. And without faltering, he strode out into the courtyard and summoned his aunt and that other woman over.
His aunt, fire in her eyes, tried to reprimand him about the proper way of greeting the elders of the family. So he told her flatly that he had no family, underscoring the point with his gun. She may have obeyed, but the insult demanded payback. It wasn't long coming.
As he went to lock them in she told him that she'd know him anywhere, after all she knew her sister, and he had his mother's eyes. No, she didn't need guns to draw blood. But he couldn't let himself care. It was only a job.
That's what he told himself when he cradled Paro's body against his own, and carried her over the threshold.
So after all the action yesterday we were back to emotion in today's episode. And this time we felt Rudra's pain. Ashish made Rudra's suffering in returning home so real that it was difficult to watch at times. But it was also eminently satisfying to see him walk rough-shod over his aunt, and give her a dose of her own medicine. That was the scene that made me cheer today. 👏👏👏
The actor playing Rudra's aunt was more than adept at making us hate her for her cruelty to a little boy, yet we could empathise with her outrage at being ordered around in her own home. Clearly, she was Rudra's equal and the face-off between her and Rudra was spirited stuff, which makes me look forward to more. 👏👏
The Thakur was his suave self today, finessing his assembled mourners like a maestro conductor until they produced the right notes. But his overconfidence may well produce a false note, as he's been asked to meet some challenging demands in getting poor Nandu back for Mamisa. And even his old reliable seemed patently unhappy about the fate of the brides who'd crossed the border. The Thakur may have tuned up that instrument with his explanation, but it only takes one strident chord to ruin the show. Tarun's performance as the opportunistic, ruthless, cunning, two-faced Thakur was brilliant! 👏👏
Which brings me to Paro and her fresh bereavement! Just when she thought she had nothing more to lose, she loses her self! Sanaya made us feel for Paro, helpless Paro, with yet another reason to hate Rudra, and whose only thought is how to get away from him.👏👏👏
Convincing acting today from all quarters that makes me want the next episode to play tomorrow instead of on Monday! 😆
CID
Ishaani
