Satrupa - A possessive mother, a shrewd businesswoman, a politician

Page

Next Last

Evil Dramebaaz

@Minionite

Channel Moderator

+ 42

Posted: 7 years ago

I finally get this sudden change in Satrupa and realized that it isn't as sudden as it appears so I'm sharing my thoughts here.

Let's start from the beginning. Satrupa was chosen for Baldev and married to him in an arranged marriage. Probably because both were of high status this arranged marriage was decided by parents and the two had no choice. They get married and at some point Satrupa finds out about Sudha and Baldev. We aren't exactly told when, but she does and she realizes that Baldev doesn't love her and the pregnancies are just because the family needs a heir. Anyone in her position would become highly disturbed at this point. She is a baby-making machine. That's it.

So what does she do? She decides to make the best of the situation and takes over the business and does what she can for her kids. She starts playing politics in her own family. She is basically doing what she's been shown. Gayatri and Vikram played politics with her to get a legitimate heir. Baldev played politics with her by getting married to her despite loving another. Even her own parents played politics with her by getting her married into a rich family, not caring about her feelings.

Then she goes on to lose her first two children before they are even born. At this point she's been battered from every angle, emotionally, mentally, and maybe even physically. She gets pregnant a second time and she will do anything to ensure nothing happens to her children, even if it means imprisoning them in their own home.

Guruji told her that her child's life is in danger and she needs to give him away to keep him alive. But now she's had enough. The family needs a heir and Vikram will only accept a grandson as heir. She plays politics with her own kids and gives away the daughter despite Guruji's testament. She thinks she can protect the child that she keeps with her possessive and obsessive behaviour.

But we human beings are of a unique nature. When pushed again and again we retaliate. We start doing the opposite of what is being told to us. Our parents push us into engineering, but we decide that we'll do arts instead. Our parents tell us to take that multi-national job, we decide to go to that start-up or open our new business. Our family tells us don't go out because of the riots, we choose to go out that very day and get stuck in the riots. Push and we push back.

That's exactly what Vatsalya did. Satrupa pushed and pushed and pushed. She put up barriers. She put up protections. She put up a bodyguard. She did everything and yet the one thing she couldn't control was Vatsalya himself. Vatsalya ran away. He escaped and that escape led to his death.

Up to this point Satrupa had been doing what had been done to her. She had nobody of her own except Vatsalya and she would do anything to protect him. But with him gone she got pushed into an abyss from where there's no return. She was left all alone in this heartless world. So she tried to kill herself to join the person she loved the most and who loved her the most, but Guruji arrived at the right time and saved her. Reminded her that she still had another child. The child that was supposed to have been the rightful heir and yet was pushed away just because she was a girl.

Satrupa now had a new reason to live. Anami. She brought Anami back to LM, but incorrectly. She forced Anami back just because she believed she had a bloodright on Anami. That was her first mistake. I would even call it the fatal mistake because that mistake has led to many more.

Now here's my thinking as to why Satrupa did what she did. When Satrupa got married to Baldev, she probably wasn't as cunning and political as she is today. She was shrewd and smart no doubt about it, but the betrayals taught her politics. For 20 years or so she was part of LM and she was allowed to play her politics. Vikram supported her because she gave Royal Steels a new life and took it forward. Gayatri hated her for this, but didn't stop her. And the rest of the family didn't much care or fight back. So she was given a green light to do whatever she wanted. This became a part of her behaviour, her thinking, her morals. When she found out about Anami, she did what she had been doing forever. Played politics. Blackmailed her own daughter. And that was her fatal mistake. Anami hates her and if you push someone who hates you to such an extent, then that person will just hate you more.

Still Satrupa managed to bring Anami back and in Anami she saw Vatsalya, but more than Vatsalya she saw an opportunity to prove that she could never be wrong, that she always knew what was right for LM and RS and will always know that. But Anami proved untameable. Yes Satrupa learnt from some of her mistakes. Instead of a bodyguard she gave Anami a companion, a shadow, a sister. Instead of stopping Anami from doing stuff, she used reverse psychology and politics to get Anami to do exactly what she wanted Anami to do. Instead of telling Anami off for her mistakes, she convinced the family that Anami would correct her own mistakes like bringing Sudha into LM.

But then Anami did exactly what Vatsalya had done. She pushed back and ran away. Satrupa lost the only person she loved dearly yet again.

Now push anyone too much to the brink and at some point they'll go over it. Anami running away was that push over the limit. And it shows in Satrupa's behaviour. She lost her mental stability. She was willing to do anything and everything to bring Anami back. But in the process she ended up looking even worse in Anami's eyes.

Anami is back, but is no longer anything that Satrupa recognizes. Yet Satrupa does not understand. She blames others. She is obsessing over the old Anami. She is possessive about this new one. And she will do anything to keep Anami close because in her eyes blood relations are more important than heart relations. And she's not to be blamed completely for that. When she entered LM that's what she saw. So of course she'll follow that.

Since Anami ran away to today everything Satrupa has done has been in that same possessive nature to bring Anami back. But now it's no longer just about keeping Anami in LM. It's about getting rid of anyone who could pull Anami away. She might not have wanted to kill Anami's adoptive parents, but it appears as such. And now she's trying to push Adhiraj away as well.

Note: I'm not justifying anything Satrupa is doing. She's wrong. Very wrong. She needs to realize that she's making a big mistake by blaming others and not herself. Only then will she really get close to Anami. But today I understood her and that's what I've tried writing down here.

Quote

Frequent Posters

zainabawoon

@zainabawoon

Dazzler

Posted: 7 years ago

An Awesome perspective of the character 👍🏼 you know to me personally satrupa constantly going on about Anami being her blood and her putting that above Anami's feeling for her adoptive parents does not necessarily mean she believes blood relations are greater than relations of the heart but rather I feel she keeps telling that to herself and to others and holding onto that simply because that is the only string that connects her to Anami and she is desperate to not loose her. She knows how much Anami hates her and she also knows if Anami was given a choice she will always choose the pathaks.Anami makes her stance on that clear to satrupa all the time.DNA is the only excuse satrupa has.The moment she puts relationships of the heart above that of blood or on the same pedestal and Accepts Anami's feelings for shraad pandit and pagli panditain as her parents, she will loose the battle and obviously she doesn't want to loose.However what she doesn't realize is sometime you need loose to Win.

Quote

Looks like you are new here. Register for free, learn and contribute.

zooni

@zooni.blue

Rocker

+ 4

Posted: 7 years ago

I always found satrupa character very interesting n layered

Your post helps me understand her better

Quote

Usha

@usharanganathan

Explorer

Posted: 7 years ago

Very good post.Satrupa is wrong , very wrong.She is all these things and more.She is vulnerable too. She is pushed into an unenviable position . But she fights in her own way without succumbing to the situation. She is innocent too. She believes that she is doing everything to preserve the name and fame of Lal mahal.But LM people will not take a second to ditch her and get on with their lives with their heir, who will again uphold their way of life like Satrupa was doing.

Quote

Tvbug2011

@tvbug2011

Dazzler

+ 2

Posted: 7 years ago

Great analysis!

To me the 2 things that define Satrupa are her need for control and for power.

Satrupa has always stricen to achieve both and been successful.

And with every success, she has focused on those 2 dimensions repeatedly. no underhand, guerrilla warfare here, just the battleram using maximum force to pulverize opposition into submission. She always operates from a position of strength. She reminds m e of the class topper who gets there through hard work and has no need to cheat or curry favour with the teacher. but fails miserably in the real world where other complexities determine success. Hence the swag in her saree.

And this is why she is making mistake after mistake with Anami.

I'm actually amazed by her desperate blindness towards Anami. Her inability to see that PP has prior claims on Anami's affection. Or that Adhiraj could have burrowed into Anami's heart. There is also jealousy at play here.

Satrupa is jealous of anybody including Laddoowhom Anami mightlove more.

And her actions are dictated by her insecurities. Setting herself up for a devastating fall. i could feelalmost sorry fr her if only i didnt want her to betaught a lesson so badly.

Quote

*Reemz*

@*Reemz*

Trailblazer

+ 5

Posted: 7 years ago

This topic and the replies are absolute perfection.

I don't know what more I could add! She IS WRONG yet despite that, you pity her, you feel her insecurity! I mean her desperation to keep anami in her life is so palpable. What Anami doesn't realise is that behind this manipulation and shrewd woman, is someone who is actually very desperate for love. LM people would choose Anami over Satrupa with a click of a finger because Anami is their heir and just wait and see how easily they'll turn against her (probably due to Anami anyway). Baldev has never been able to give her the love a husband should have for a wife.

Her ways are just plain wrong but her intention is only to get her daughters love and it's actually very sad to see. She doesn't know what else to do so Anami loves her back.

From her POV, even Adhiraj who is just a CBI officer has gained love in her daughters heart. Everyone has except Satrupa! That must hurt.

Fantastic thread

Quote

Mangothyme

@Mangothyme

Inactive

Posted: 7 years ago

I quit the show hopefully temporarily but I cannot quit the forum because of posts like these. Excellent analysis Athene. 👏

I have nothing to add except I feel we are missing a big piece of the puzzle when we do not know about Satrupa's past. What was her family of origin like ? Were they a royal family ? Obviously they were wealthy as Damo came as dowry. What kind of a mother did Satrupa herself have ? Her way of parenting is more material goods than actual acts of service. She seems to associate love with things.

No post about Satrupa will be complete without mentioning Narayani Shastri. Whatever a writer envisioned will not have come to life in this complex character if NS was not an excellent actress.

She acts with her whole body. From the power walk to the way she straightens her spine and becomes almost an inch taller when she wants to project power to when she cringes and withdraws into herself and physically seems to become smaller. To the manic glow in her eye when she was fire walking and bargaining with God to the pitifully delusion woman who thought her motherhood had brought her prodigal daughter back. The happy, carefree mother of Vatsalya who loved to sing movie songs to the devastated woman who decided to take her life. Narayani Shastri breathes into Satrupa more than a single character. She deserves better writing than the show is giving her now. Better buck up CVS.

Quote

Evil Dramebaaz

@Minionite

Channel Moderator

+ 42

Posted: 7 years ago

@ Usha: Yes on both. Satrupa is all these but so vulnerable and innocent at the same time. She thinks she's a shrewd businesswoman and a good politician, but to some extent everyone knows what she is capable of. On the other hand, there's Gayatri who you can't read so easily. She could be the doting grandmother, but behind that is the face of a ruthless mother. Just look at the way she faked her fear of Sudha.

@ tvbug2011: It's not jealousy. It's more envy as I see it. I know both are synonyms of each other, but jealousy seems to imply hate. She doesn't hate Gayatri, Ladoo, or even Adhiraj. But she envies them and the position they are in. They are close to Anami when she's not. Jealousy doesn't really lend the same meaning to that feeling.

@ Reemz: This is where Satrupa really needs to learn. She envies those close to Anami, but she doesn't try to understand how they got close to her. She thinks that just because she gave birth to Anami, Anami will be naturally close to her. When that isn't the case. In fact, daughters are almost invariably closer to their fathers over their mothers. So Satrupa shouldn't expect that Anami will ever be close to her.

@ Mangothyme: Narayani Shastri deserves all the praises and awards possible. Not only her so do all the other actors. A great actor can only take their character so far. It's the presence of the story and all the other actors that lends credibility as well. But absolutely. Narayani Shastri has breathed life into this character of Satrupa. In fact for me whenever I think NS in the future I'll always think Satrupa. It's like Amjad Khan became synonymous with Gabbar or Amitabh Bachchan is still known as the angry young man. NS is Satrupa and Satrupa is NS.

I also agree with you on the story. These past few weeks have been very trying, and this past week especially so. But I keep hoping that there's some reasoning to this madness or that SP or the PH will realize that these sudden changes are not helping the story and they'll just lead it to the end soon.

Quote

Srividya

@moonwearer

Rocker

+ 3

Posted: 7 years ago

Very intense and beautiful analysis of Satrupa. She is vulnerable the only reason she lives in Anami. People have exploited her vulnerability. She is strong within which is the reason she brought Sudha home when she learnt if the past. That was in a sense the reason for her misery and LM chose to remind her what she did was wrong.

Vatsalya was the bridge that connected her and Baldev, when he deserted her she felt all was lost.

She grew reckless over the years and had begun to think she has a right to act the way she does. When she does not find acceptance and resented every minute she languished and was ready to get a kind word or a hug from her daughter at any cost.

When Gautham Siddarth s mother had a dream and the dream was interpreted, what did they do? They tried everything possible to keep him a prince hoping against hope they were preserving a future king.

He chose to break away becoming the enlightened soul. When Satrupa let's go of her attachment to Anami to RS to LM then her love and compassion which is a limited package now will become expansive and she will get back her love and understanding. Till then she will be on a rampage and what an amazing portrayal of the different dimensions that makes her stand out...Narayani Sastri is superb in her acting. She emotes with every facial muscle and every measured step and move of her hand.