I am just going to say this. There are no small roles, only small actors.
Sanaya is a powerhouse of talent, and she is playing Paro with subtlety and poise. I do not know how many actress would manage to convey a certain mysticism, a certain aura of being touched by the divine without being in the pooja room half the time, but she does. Her dialogues are simple, but the life and dimension she brings to them is quite simply, outstanding.
I get more from Paro than I get from some goody two shoes heroine who is always doing arathi, helping everyone and taking crap from a psychotic saas. I get more from Paro than I get from any so-called modern, urban, self-obsessed heroine whose idea of feminism is to be obnoxious to the male lead and the vamp. I get more from Paro than a privileged princess bahu who is loved by one and all, from the grandfather to the dog.
I get a strange mixture of waif, woman, girl and mystic, who has strength and fraility in equal parts in every fibre of her body. I get a woman who loves with the strength and the power of a tsunami. I get a woman who shows, in (reel) real life, the power of that love. I get a woman who brought a Jallad to his knees just by loving him silly, never giving up on him. Can we even fathom how much strength of purpose, how much faith, how much clarity and insight into that dead heart it takes? I get all this, beyond Paro's somewhat whimsical, simplistic dialogues, her determinedly optimistic view point. I get her inner vision of Rudra. I get all this from Paro. I get a girl who marches to the beat of her own drum. Who addressed the important stuff first, like trust, like love, like acceptance, like forgiveness, like faith, before planning birthday parties and asking for bangles. And if I get all this from a character played by Sanaya - a bindass, crazy, SOBO girl, then imagine what she is doing to capture all this and give it to me and others who see her like me,
Paro is the most complex and enigmatic role Sanaya has ever played and I am blown away by her performance every week. Her very honesty and straightforwardness takes us beyond the ho-hum realm of MUs and white lies and fake egos, into stuff that really matters. I have been married 19 years, and Paros selfless love makes me ashamed sometimes. It would not if Sanaya was not completely convincing as Paro.
Khushi had a great comic streak to her, signature statements, exclamations - very easy to like, very easy to understand and Sanaya pretty much hit every episode out of the park, from what I hear. I watched very few episodes of the show where she essayed Khushi. And that is because the story of that show did not impress me, did not convince me. If I did watch any episodes, it was for Khushi only. Please, by the way, do not throw interviews at me where she said that Khushi occupied a special place in her heart - she also said that she had a lot of time with Khushi and is hoping to make that connect with Paro too.
People say that Paro has no back story. Well, so don't a lot of other female leads. Zoya in Qubool Hai shamelessly neglected her adoptive parents (Api and Jeeju). Khushi did have a huge backstory. Paro is among a lot of others who .. once they are married ... do not have any ties with their homes. This is not an underutilization of Sanaya. Its just the way the story is. I have a problem with it yes. But in the first ten episodes, Paro's entire life is revealed. Her parents slaughter, her upbringing by Maama and Maami, and later by Maami, her penchant for the needle, her beauty and nature making her the favourite of Thakuraiyin, her innovative streak, her helpful nature, and her acceptance of the fate meted out to her by her elders.
You are all welcome to watch between Dec 30 and Jan 13!
Paro as she evolves, holds Rudra at the center of her life. If he is happy, she is happy. Quite simple. And he is a terribly wounded person. She sees that he has to heal, if their relationship is to have a future. And therefore she is nurturing him like crazy, because God knows, he was pretty much left to the elements and the desert (emotionally) by his parents. And his love emerges from the healing wounds to his heart, in its true, all consuming, all embracing, form, the raging eternal fire to her tsunami, that is her reward. She is getting, in rich abundance, what she is giving. I hope as this new track unfolds, she will feel the power of Rudra's love for her.
She fell in love with him in the first place because, he kept her alive, he protected her above and beyond his real call of duty, and he never treated her as dispensable. Even when he growled at her the whole day.
But I digress. The point of this is --- is Sanaya being underutilized as Paro?
My answer --- if Paro does not convince you, then you do not get Paro, or you do not get Sanaya's portrayal of Paro. If Paro convinces you and you get her, then Sanaya is not being underutilized at all!
I used to watch a show produced by the same house as Sanaya's previous show. The ML after about six to eight months, was reduced to a 3 minute scene for every episode, because the producer decided to take an insane direction to the story. Yet, those three minutes were what we all waited for. He was that good. Was he underutilized? Did he leave the show? Did he end up very unhappy at how his character ended up? The answer to all is yes.
Sanaya is playing a role now that has families moving houses for her sake! The new track is very promising for her. Lets wait and watch and not expect her to be like Shahrukh Khan or even N T Ramarao in movies where he used to play four roles at a time! She is different, smart, hardworking and extremely professional, and I think she is taking her skills and ability to new heights as Paro. I wish her all the best and look forward to each day of RR.
A young friend of mine on the IF forum, different show once said to me, displaying uncommon wisdom and clarity - some things are epic only once. If they come back, they will not have the same magic. But a new generation, a new trope, a new avataar, makes it fresh.
I realize that I am in the middle of a lot of folks who hold diametrically opposing viewpoints. I am not bashing you, so please dont bash me.
Oh, and don't even get me started on Ashish playing Rudra! I started watching RR because of Ashish, and was blown away both these insanely good looking and talented people!
I will stop now!😆
Edited by Oldestfan - 11 years ago
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