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Today, with the showdown just hours away, all the players raced against the clock to get into place. Everywhere today, time forced the hand. The time for plotting and planning, delaying and burying the head under the sand was gone. Time had well and truly run out for a few people. And plans were set into motion, decisions were made and realisations dawned.
Time ran out for Laila when Rudra called time on their relationship of eight years. He was letting her live because she was a friend, but as of now everything, the friendship, whatever had been between them for eight years was finished.
And it was time for Rudra to acknowledge that he had feelings for Paro. Laila made sure that it was time. She rubbed his face in the 'us' that had slipped out of his mouth when Rudra was trying to deny that there was any bond between him and Paro. She held up his restlessness and need for Paro that she had seen on the night of the Sangeet ceremony as proof to the contrary. As further evidence she listed his worry for Paro, and the way he touched her, protected her, cared for her. He'd given her the right to have a right over him, Laila said. The same pain and suffering that Rudra had only ever shown for his mother, he now showed for Paro.
And Rudra, ordering her to leave, the better to silence her voice, found to his horror that he'd called her Paro! After that, her words echoed, flooding his mind with images of all the times he'd softened towards Paro and of Laila's relentless words, uncovering the truth. He found he could not shut the doors on his realisation this time.
Time was running out for Kakisa as she unspooled her plan to murder Dilsher. She had Dilsher's room prepped to go up in flames, handed the decoy a duplicate wedding dress, and gave her some last-minute instructions. Soon, on his son's wedding night, time would run out for Dilsher,
The Thakursa's men, under the able supervision of Bhima, were racing against time to conceal cash in baskets of prasad. The BSD would not touch the holy baskets for fear of provoking the villagers, and so they could be sure that the money would reach the Thakur's partners-in-crime across the border. One basket would be filled with fake guns for the BSD's express benefit.
Rudra could feel the time slipping through his fingers as he picked up his uniform. Had he worn his uniform for the last time? His life as he knew it would end in the morning when he faced his court-martial. A court-martial whose threat loomed ever larger with his failure to find proof for the border encounter. In despair he hugged his uniform to him, buried his face in it and let his fear, despair and anguish out.
And even his Kakasa's assertion that Rudra hadn't worn his uniform for the last time couldn't comfort him. Kakasa's words of wisdom, of support, that truth would not be hidden like the sun's rays at dawn, and that he'd have his moment in the sun too, although it seemed like night now, could only comfort him momentarily.
Paro, sitting in her wedding outfit before the mirror and realising that she had run out of time for the wedding, wondered what she had done to herself. Where had she brought life and where had life brought her? The wedding was three hours away. But she would not marry that monster. She would prefer to burn in her havan fire rather than marry him.
Even the sight of Rukmini failed to cheer her up. She already knew the tempest of her wedding was drawing close. But she vowed that after today Rukmini need never visit her because after today, the old Paro would be dead and gone. And as the butterfly flew away, Paro followed it out of her room, and came face-to-face with Rudra.
A Rudra who shut and locked her door after he entered the room. Leaving Paro intimidated and fighting mad. So she pushed him. And tried to grab his collars and shove him back, but her bangles got caught in his Sherwani. Why had he come? To frighten her?
Rudra had come to remind Paro that her time had run out. Would she sign the papers? Paro would not even consider that course of action. So, by default, a decision was made. In three hours she could start her life sentence with him, Rudra threw at her. Or maybe she would be free for life in three hours, Paro shot back at him. It was Bholenath's responsibility to protect her, and she had every faith that He would.
Today, the CVs gave us a fast-paced episode with plenty of action, but one that packed many an emotional punch too. Rudra and Paro were at the centre of the emotional upheavals. Rudra had to deal with a double wallop as realisation of what Paro meant to him dawned. He also had to cope with the imminent court-martial and all its implications. Particularly poignant was the scene in which he faced Paro for the first time after the realisation to plead with her to sign the papers and was turned down.
For Paro, there was a moment of epiphany as she realised, appalled, that she was hours away from the end-result of a course of action that she had set herself on. Highlighted by the fine lines: "Where had she brought life and where had life brought her?" But it was too late to back out now. Rukmini's sudden appearance told Paro that even greater turmoil awaited, but she could not know that it wasn't the wedding to Rudra to which Rukmini referred.
Kudos to the CVs also for the heart-tugging scene between Rudra and Danveer. đđđ After Dilsher failed spectacularly to give emotional support to Rudra when he most needed it, it was Danveer who stepped into the breach. Danveer who read Rudra's strained eyes, who patted Rudra's shoulder and offered bracing words that allowed him some measure of hope.
Acting remained a highpoint. Ashish coming face-to-face with a truth long-denied was fantastic! His touch remained sure in scene after scene, whether cueing tragedy or desperation. And Sanaya as the despairing victim yet with the spine of steel was in her element. And the supporting cast were compelling. đđđ to all for a great performance.
Waiting for dhamaaka Tuesday!
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