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Today's was a delightful episode with a strong vein of humour running through it. The CVs showed us Paro, Rudra, Sumer and the Thakur engaged in some sort of negotiation. And gave us a brief glimpse of Rudra marching off to meet Aman on a gunrunning lead.
Watching Rudra leave for work that late at night made Dilsher vent about the BSD - an unreasoning task-master, and one that demanded extreme loyalty. His brother couldn't help but point out that the job meant everything to Rudra. And Rudra was in a right coil. His border shootout case had become the talk of the BSD. And you could see the devastation in Rudra's eyes when his integrity was questioned. And while Danveer felt Paro's pain, Rudra was her protector, not her enemy. Paro would have to rethink her opinion of Rudra.
In the event, it was Paro's heart and not her mind that she used to revise her opinion of Rudra, a little bit. She'd gone to give Dilsher his asthma pump and stumbled upon Rudra's letters to his mother. Ragged-edged pages torn from his school notebooks filled with his best handwriting. Earnest, heart-felt pleas dripping with pain, frustration, bewilderment, promises. Negotiation. Bargains that no child should ever have to make. That he would drink his milk, eat-up all his veg, sleep by half past nine, wake up on his own by six, be a very good boy. Surely then his mother would return.
Sharp stabs of rage and frustration, that screamed of failure. "Don't come back. I hate you. Don't come." And instant, overwhelming apologies. "Forgive me. I was angry. Please come back. I don't hate you. I love you very much..." Renewed negotiations complete with pictures because it had been a month. She must have forgotten her son a little. So he was sending her a photo to remind her how he looked. Except he couldn't really send them to her - he didn't know her address. So there they were - a lonely pile of pages unsent, pleas unheard, promises wasted, negotiations failed before they had even begun.
More evidence than Paro cared to examine of a child broken and a man unhealed. It was impossible to remain unmoved. So, letter in trembling hand, Paro let the tears fall. Each drop erasing her deep-etched opinion of Rudra, washing out the black with compassion and a new understanding. A re-calibration of the best kind. One that flowed naturally without effort of will. She would never be able to view Rudra in the same light.
A few doors away, Sumer was engaged in an altogether different sort of negotiation. With great difficulty he had managed to extract his mother's mobile, while she slept unaware. But there had been a nasty moment when his father had bumped into him as he left her bedroom, and knocked it to the floor. Sumer had no choice. He sat down, hand hiding phone. Much to his father's amazement. And he was going to remain there, he told his gawking parent. He'd been scolded all day by his mother, so this was his protest. He wasn't going to budge until his mother came out and made amends. And he didn't care if his father was convinced he'd lost his mind. Not even the warning that he was rousing a snake would deter him from his negotiation, he told his disgusted parent. And rejoiced when his father threw in the towel and walked off.
That left the road clear for the most important negotiation he had even contemplated in his adult life. With Raja Thakur. Except that the Thakur wasn't picking up his phone.
To the Thakur already fuming over the earlier deal where 'that woman' had had the temerity to ask him to do her bidding, to tell him that he would he get what he wanted when he met her terms, Kakisa's phone call this late in the night was the last straw! The nerve of the woman. "Cut the phone!" He ordered his quaking men.
A disgruntled Sumer was left wondering why the Thakur wasn't picking up. Not for long though, as his phone rang moments later. And an irate Thakur made his position clear. Raja Thakur Param Singh Tejawat never took phone calls. Although he made them when he felt like it. And that was the way it would remain, no matter what she thought. And another thing: nobody called him this late at night, and she had better not either. And then it was Thakursa's turn to be disconcerted as Sumer managed to slide his apology in.
And used that opening to lay out his deal regarding Parvati. He was the man of the house, and at the end of the day, his mother was just the housewife - brilliant when it came to managing husband and kids, but not when it came to deciding the fate of life and livelihood.
Thakursa foresaw some entertainment coming his way, and begged the lad to continue. "You've struck a raw deal Raja Thakur," Sumer expounded blithely, unaware of the feelings he was rousing in Raja Thakur's breast. " Get rid of Rudra and you'll get Paro!! What guarantee is there that with Rudra in hand, you'll get her?...Only I can put paid to Rudra."
At this, the Thakur saw fit to insert that he couldn't understand why a man of Sumer's capability had been kept out of his mother's negotiation. It mattered not a whit, Sumer asserted, confidence undented. In spite of being left outside the door, he 'd got just the right deal for Thakursa. And elaborated, on the Thakursa's invitation. He would deliver Paro to the Thakur for a mere six lakh rupees. The Thakur wouldn't even need to kill Rudra for it!!
For a moment the Thakursa's emotions were incomprehensible. Then he smoothly took over the reins. Not six lakh - Kunwarsa didn't know how to negotiate. Here, he'd set out the deal - if Kunwarsa brought the girl to him in three hours he'd get 10 lakh rupees, in two hours 15 lakhs, and in one hour 20 lakhs. Now that was how you negotiated. Now Kunwarsa'd better get off the phone and get to it.
A lovely episode today. The CVs gave us much to savour. The light touches with Sumer, Danveer and Thakursa were the highlights. There were a few downsides: the brothers' chat jarred. It was a clunker of a plot device to tell viewers what to think and to usher in Paro's re-assessment of Rudra as a trustworthy man. Paro's tears over the letters left me strangely unmoved. But Sumer, Danveer and the Thakursa more than managed to salvage the episode, leaving me frequently in splits, and with every intention of replaying this episode just for them.
Plot-wise, our predictions on the RReview thread have come true. Sumer is indeed fool-hardy enough to cut his mother out and try and raise money out of the Thakur using Paro as bait. And is confident that with his superior manly skills he's got Paro all wrapped up and delivered. Poor Sumer!! He won't know what hit him when he unrolls that carpet! And Kakisa is about to get her fingers burnt!! The stage is also set for Rudra to disappear, although surely only after the Mehendi. But that's a little later. I can't think beyond Sumer's little surprise. š
Acting-wise I was pleasantly surprised by the actor who plays Sumer. The comic touches were spot on and never OTT. And Tarun was delicious in his essaying of the fuming, frustrated, arrogant, Machiavellian, diabolical, cat-playing-with-mouse Thakur. ššš To both for compelling performances.
Waiting for tomorrow night and Sumer's surprise!!
