So far, He hasn't killed anyone.
If anyone has been seriously damaged by his plans, it's been himself. And yet, today, Shantanu, for me, graduated from mildly irritating interruption to the Parud romance, and moved onto becoming full-on scary. And its not because of what he almost did-- its because of what he almost said. Welcome, Baisas, to my second analysis of the Rangrasiya's strangest villain, and the focus of my recent obsessive interest--Dimples McHulkman, Officer Shantanu Kumar himself.
At this point, I think we need to make peace with three things about the villain that were completely unknown until today's episode. Things that will affect PARO and RUDRA. Because now, frighteningly, Shantanu has started to interest himself in their lives, and not just in their deaths. Please bear with me if I cover old ground--- when someone interests me, I go deeep...
(1) He IS a BSD officer: Had he been an infiltrator, a man who has murdered the original Shantanu to take his place, when he's talking to himself in his monologues, he would not have called himself "Captain." He speaks of himself with his title.Had this been an assumed identity, why would he do that when he's talking to himself? A slip-up by the CVs? It's a glaring one if it is, and I don't think it is that. The CVs are actually not too sloppy on this show, you won't see many bloopers in the surprisingly tight writing on Rangrasiya's script. He calls himself Officer Shantanu Kumar for the same reason Rudra addresses himself as Major Rudra Pratap Ranawat. Because that's his identity, his title. BSD.
Then there is the language he uses, very army like--- he refers to his "mission" when he is speaking of driving Rudra insane or when he talks of his "operation" when it comes to killing Paro. Of course, then there's the fighting skills, where Rudra, the strongman from the Baraat scene cant hold onto him. That speaks of army training. Finally, I trust V K Singh's words, and Aman's diligent background checking, even though they have clearly decided to piss me off by NOT giving me Cutie Pie Aman on TV--- ASR ki Aman ki tarah phone pein hi kaam chalana hoga. So V K Singh AND Aman have done background searches and are confident in Shantanu's abilities, and in his records. Those records must contain pictures, mission details. People who know him must be people V K Singh spoke to, to have this much confidence in the man. In this day and age, it's not exactly easy to replace someone permanently and not get caught.
(2) He does NOT know anything about Parud : Beyond--- "murderer =Rudra" and "wh**e= Paro." Nothing about them, as people, or about their love story. That's strange, if he was aware about Varun's entire death story, he would have to know that Rudra guarded Paro to keep her safe, to be a witness to his arms smuggling case, where the main suspect was her dead husband, Varun. If he was a part of Thakur's terrorism circle, wouldn't he already know all this anyway? Every last man working with the Thakur knows what happened at the Baraat Massacre, and its aftermath-- including how, and why, Rudra and Paro are together now.
Today, Shantanu asked about how Paro ended up with Rudra--Their love story, their background, why she married HIM. If he knew what his brother was doing with Paro, and why he was killed, and how she ended up with Rudra, why was he asking, with genuine curiosity? He is starting to see the difference between the two people he's here to kill, and he has started asking questions about WHY these people are together, anyway. Previously, Paro's life story did not matter -it was enough that she was Varun's evil, shameless widow, and she deserved to die for betraying his sainted brother. Today, he asked her--- WHY..and that is hugely scary.
People have argued (brilliantly) that is Shantanu is a terrorist and a woman trafficker, he is not about to care about Paro's possible rape and destruction by Varun. He would not be able to see Paro as anything beyond Varun's property. Varun bhaiya ka cheez tha, aur escape kiya. Kafi hai, to hate the woman, to want to destroy her. But today, when he compares Paro, the deep, calm river, with the firecracker Rudra, he asks--- how did you end up with this man? If he knew anything about the whole Baraat episode--- where Varun was the man Rudra was protecting Paro from, or why Paro ended up a witness for Rudra, or even why Rudra killed Varun--- he'd be knowing the answers to why Paro and Rudra are together, too.
(3) He is working alone, and that is because he is NOT a terrorist: Because the reason for his hatred is so personal, the way he's going about it is so... passionate... I simply cannot buy that the Thakur or some terrorist group is behind this man. The Thakur is a sensible man. Terrorism is... well, a group activity governed by checks, balances and some form of leadership structure, a coherent large idea. This man is absolutely unbalanced. No one is helping him. His motive is inside his own head, and its just one thing---revenge for Varun. There is no other sane motive here. Not getting evidence away from Rudra, not messing up the investigation, not killing WITNESS Paro. Nothing to fulfill the Thakur's agenda--- he did not even recognize Mala, and had he worked for the Thakur, or even been a part of Varun's baraat, he would have seen her.
I think, Varun's younger brother is a mad Indian Army Officer. That's it. No link back to Tejawat, no link to Sarhad Paar--- if later, he helps Rudra (long shot) or reveals Varun's other connections because he is confessing or has been caught, or whatever---those will prove to not be direct links to terrorism. The chances are high that he is, simply, a crazed younger brother here for pure revenge, who knows nothing about Varun's arms smuggling, women trafficking and general all round assholi-ness. And being, well, MAD, even when he finds out, he will want to ruin Paro and Rudra, because by then, twisted as he is, he'll want Paro for himself. He'll want some of that still, calm peace. And there is no man more dangerous than a madman in "love."
Is it possible that he is a mole inside BSD, and works for the terrorists of Sarhad Par? That would STILL mean, he is a BSD officer, and therefore, Indian Army. That would still mean, he would be a terrorist group member, he would know Tejawat, and be aware of the entire Baraat history and the Parud love- story. A lot of people have asked me this--- if big brother Varun lived Sarhad Par, why would his younger brother be in the army? Well...a million Indians live abroad, and settle there too, for years. Does that mean their homeland is not India, their passports don't have the Indian seal, and their family members, cannot live and work in the army, back home?
Why can't Varun be a traitor, in the truest sense of the word---born Indian, but still an arms smuggler because he is evil? Shantanu can even be a young brother unaware of his older brother's true work. Varun can still be part of the smuggling ring--- it just makes him that much worse, if he is Hindustani and still working for Sarhad Par. I don't think Varun is FROM Sarhad Par--- he's not Muslim, for one. So one guy is a traitor in the truest sense of the word, and the other is a revenge maddened psychopath.
The Kumar Boys---just bad blood there, Baisas. Those had better be some damn fine dimples there, to make up for all this rot. Paro's life has always had Varun's death-shade hanging over it.Today, I realized--Varun is not the worst thing that can still happen to her--a man with this split a personality is truly a frightening enemy (and future stalker) to have. I am seeing a long run on this. Shantanu, unlike Laila, can stay as a good catalyst to Rudra's escalating, and permanent, need to protect and be obsessed with Paro, even after the Tejawat story ends.
If this Shantanu track is done right-- he can then be the Rudra in the mirror. The darker shadow of Rudra's hate, the darker version of Rudra's own obsessed love -- The demon-Rudra who is truly the version of the man in need of that psychiatrist's card. I'm liking this villain, Baisas. Dimples, layers, complexity, intellect, some good, competent acting. Dimples. Where do you ladies land ???
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