Posted:
I started watching this show in glimpses with my mom. What compelled me to catch up in bits and pieces was the beautiful reunion between Mauli and Nandini. I mean how often do you see something like that on our TV? Absolutely gorgeous. I thought finally the issue of adultery is on Indian television and we'll see a show maturely dealing with sensitive issues. I was partly right. Here's my quarter cent on the show so far.
Human beings are messy creatures. Put them in difficult situations and few will pass the litmus test of having some ideals in life. Like what happened to honour, loyalty and principles. It may sound like expectations from an era of royal knights and minstrels, but isn't that we need? Some shred of stability in a dwindling world. Less of 'f**k over your loved ones and have a good day' and more of 'I got your back'?
Nandini after a long abusive marriage and losing her unborn child, finally saw what an ideal(?) marriage looks like. She wasn't strong and honourable enough to resist Kunal, who behaved more like her husband in few days, than her own did in all those years. From a weak 'I can't do this to her' to total surrender of all rightness, she is still believable because people pull this kind of shit all the time. That's why we are messy. When in crisis, we invite more of it for ourselves. The actress also did justice to the role she got.
Spouses cheat a lot, yes! Our Supreme court didn't have an epiphany on it's own to decriminalise adultery and make it merely a ground for divorce, and not criminal lawsuits. It was because we lack self control and honor, simple as that. But to be cheated on by a friend, a best friend? That's the heartbreak. That's the catastrophe. Who do you tell your husband is an ******? Whom do you confide in? Who holds you to the ground when you are free falling? Gone is that one person, and gone is your ability to trust. Does that make Nandini a criminal? I think hell yea! For I hold loyalty in my friendships in highest stead. She broke the sacred sis code. But did I ever go through all the ordeals that she did? No. And I don't know what kind of person I'll come out of that. She might not be a bad person, but she is sure a walking disaster, seeing her taste in men and her decisions. She is weakness.
And what is Mauli's fault? That she helped her friend get on her feet? That she had implicit faith in her husband? Or maybe just being a decent person in a not-so-decent world. She is so relatable (kudos to the actress) you can't help but empathise. Nandini and Kunal can move on, or Nandini can leave if guilt overpowers her, but Mauli's marriage is over and so is her friendship. It's hard going about your life after being betrayed by two people you trusted most, but she is slowly picking up the pieces. She is honor.
There is one angle that I am sure the makers never intended to take, but I am putting it out there. In Grey's Anatomy, Callie promised Arizona to save her leg, no matter what. Arizona woke up without a leg, and resented Callie so much it destroyed their marriage. The leg had to go for her to live, but the psychological trauma of it all was enough to drift them apart. Arizona later going so far as cheating on Callie. I know there are lots of differences. First and foremost that Mauli and Nandini are friends, not wives. But Mauli promised Nandini to save her unborn child, and Nandini woke up without one. Granted her life was saved, but she thought her child will survive too. It never justified Arizona's actions, nor will it ever justify Nandini's, but exploring it would have offered more insight in their minds as well as touch on the psychological trauma that both friends had to go through.
Coming to what could have been better. Well Kunal and everything about him. That's why I said I see only two and not him. What is he between weakness and honor?
The actor seems dull in front of female leads, but then again I don't know what cheating husbands are supposed to emote. What are Kunal's reasons for cheating? What about Nandini made him fall out of love from a perfect(?) marriage and fall in love with a virtual stranger? Did he ever wish for a stay home wife or for someone who needs contact protecting? Guess not. Nandini is, we can say, more traditionally beautiful than Mauli. I don't if that's the right word, but is that all there is to it? Shallow lust? Or is it that Nandini satisfies his ego because she is not self sufficient (at the moment) unlike Mauli. Didn't Mauli deserve to hear from him and not find out at least, after all these years? I wish there were answers because he is all questions right now. Or maybe this is all there is to him.
Any discussions are welcome!
Ishaani
Cricket
