Happy Birthday, Kratika!
Dear Kratika,
Another year has gone by, and what a year it has been! Last July, on your birthday, I remember how excited I was, since Punar Vivaah - Zindagi Milegi Dobara had me enthralled in ways that no other show on Indian TV had before...That magic of PV-ZMD still lives...It will continue to do so, and your portrayal of Aarti, as well as your partnership with Gurmeet, is at the heart of the magic that emanates from that story...PV-ZMD: Yash and Aarti's story.
It is true that I didn't know of you before I saw promos for PV-ZMD...But now, after exploring the world of Indian TV for the past 5 years or so, I find myself always reflecting on those years before PV and I always think, "How did I not know about Kratika during all those years? How on earth did that happen?" Now I find it impossible to think of another actress when I think of what "acting" and "powerful portrayals" mean to me as a viewer of films and TV shows. You have spoiled me and many other viewers, because you are in a league of your own...a standard of quality...versatile and exceptionally expressive.
Aarti may have been the first character of yours whose story I have stayed with from beginning to end, but that first glimpse of you as Aarti in the PV promos propelled me to find out more about your journey as an actor...I wondered how you had quickly developed into such a skilled, restrained performer in front of the camera, in the span of 5 years, essaying various characters that always held more depth than a written description could ever hope to convey. I have seen the immense versatility and subtlety in your portrayals over the years - and your ability to become the characters in each story you have been a part of, inhabit their worlds, and present their emotions to the audience in ways that touch people's hearts is truly a gift to the entertainment industry. Such a gift should not be wasted, and I trust that you will give us many other portrayals in wonderful stories to be proud of in the coming years. Such is your caliber and worth as an artist. Not just an actor...an artist. One who embodies dedication, involvement, and love for her craft, who actively shapes her work and reaches out to others to tell meaningful stories.
To me, your portrayal of Rani Laxmi Bai in Jhansi Ki Rani was the momentous turning point in your career. No one, no matter how hard they try, can even hope to display even an iota of the strength, dignity, passion, and radiance of a historical figure and iconic monarch in the manner that you did in Jhansi Ki Rani. You began to shape a strong legacy as a versatile actor with that role, and you have carried it forward beautifully. Aarti in Punar Vivaah was a character portrayed with the sensitivity and reliability of a nuanced actor who has developed a unique acting style and knows how to control her body to suit the role - through expressions, voice modulation, dialogue delivery, and body language. Picking up on the small details in the written script and directorial cues and then executing them, while never ever stepping into "over-the-top acting" territory, is probably a challenge for anyone who stands in front of a camera. But a good actor, one who genuinely cares about telling a story carefully and properly and realistically, would hopefully want to stay away from such overt and unrealistic displays of emotion. That is, if they are capable of being subtle. From what I have seen of your previous roles, Kratika, from Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi's double-cameos as (sort of) Sanchi and then Sugandhi...to Kasautii Zindagii Kay's P2...to Kya Dill Mein Hai's Naina...through small cameos in other shows (where your characters were honestly the only bearable/intriguing aspects of the viewing ordeals) and then finally to Jhansi Ki Rani's Manu/Laxmi and Punar Vivaah's Aarti...your innate emotive power and expressiveness has always shone through.
Kyunki... is a notable milestone in my book because Sanchi's "Excuse me?" was what marked your entry into the fiction TV world back when I was trudging through other TV shows I would rather forget now (thank you for indirectly saving me from still being stuck watching those sorts of "romantic" shows 5 years later!). Sanchi was cute, slightly sassy, and just sweet enough for me to groan when I realized you only got to play her for a few episodes - more like a few minutes, really - but that meant you had been selected to become Prerna's parchhayi in your true "big break," also known as Kasautii Zindagii Kay...
Junior Prerna, P2. Salwaar kameez-clad, with silken hair and bright eyes, P2 seemed at first glance to be the quintessential "seedhi-saadhi heroine" who would fall in love against her family's wishes and then fight the world for her beloved. Big P was essentially P2's family and world, in a manner of speaking, and P2's emotional upheavals did shake up the foundations of quite a few relationships...But through all the drama, at the core of P2's story, I sensed an internal battle raging within a young girl who had first been afraid to step out of a comfort zone, only to cross the boundaries to experience love and loss like she had never anticipated...The emotions of reluctant affection, love, and heart-rending despair came surging to the surface in key moments through brilliant performances. And in the intervals between the story's high points, I could catch glimpses of an emotional, somewhat quick-tempered, endearing woman - a girl, really - whose mannerisms made me think at times, "Oh! I can see Kratika's Aarti here, a little bit!" Glimpses of subtle expressions that I had already seen and loved immensely...What made P2 endearing to me was the way you played the part of the seedhi-saadhi heroine without making her seem like a caricature (which is something that could have happened all too easily, playing a character like that). P2 had her share of the typical scenes in any "nok-jhok, hate-turns-to-love" story, but I saw a depth to P2's personality that I honestly hadn't expected. And I thank you for that, Kratika, for making an emotional connection possible to the extent that I went from laughing at P2's outrage at Saksham's silliness to crying silently when P2 returned to her house on her wedding day, in denial about Saksham...If I went from gaping in stunned horror as Nihaal rushed P2 to the hospital to save her, the turning point in their relationship, to smiling with the two of them as they spoke fondly about their future together...it was all because of you.
And with that in mind, I took a look at Kyunki... again, when you returned as Sugandhi after KZK had finished and Naina had already been long gone in Kya Dill Mein Hai. Sugandhi was the sort of character I would slot into the "chirpy, clumsy, talkative girl" category. A type of character that I generally can't stand in Indian TV shows, since the brief description itself seems to lend itself to actresses going into over-the-top expressions mode to convey everything from happiness to anger to sadness. Not my cup of tea. In any case, the clang of a pot introduced Sugandhi, and needless to say, I was beyond excited to see what you had done to play such a character. A clumsy clang, one aata-covered face, and a few words later, I was instantly grinning. Adorable - no other way to describe it. And the voice modulation! No shrill tones or shouts or even exasperated "Uff!" noises from Sugandhi. Just a normal, albeit frustrated exclamation from a girl to her darling Baa. And every scene that Sugandhi was in proved to be even more endearing than the previous ones. The first talkative and clumsy character I have ever taken a liking to instantly - and that is quite a feat! Short-lived role, but sweet and fun...and in any case, it was the polar opposite to your portrayal of Naina, which made me fume and smile and laugh and cry in equal measures based on whatever I managed to see of KDMH.
Actually, Naina was one of the most intriguing characters you have played. Even though she was probably meant to be a transparently negative character, I felt pangs of sadness for her quite often because of the way you enacted her death scene...That death scene was one of the first KDMH scenes I watched, and it succeeded in coloring my perception of Naina quite a bit. She might have done a lot of terrible things (as any "negative character" would, as part of the generic job description), but the nature of her possessiveness for Rahul made me very, very sad...I do think I pity her more than anything else...and I feel for her more than anyone else in that show, to be quite honest. There's also the fact that your trademark expressiveness lent a layer of complexity to Naina that made her character rather hard to hate completely...at least for me, it was hard to do so, since she seemed very much like a possessive yet passionate woman deprived of something essential to her survival. Her demise broke my heart...and it still does. I end up crying every time I see that scene, but that's what happens whenever I see any of the extremely tense scenes from your past shows, especially the death scenes from KDMH and JKR.
And yes, I do thank you for making me cry as well as laugh...Sad tears and happy tears, due to memorable scenes and off-screen moments from every major show you have been a part of. That sort of impact and connectivity with viewers is not established easily. Very few actors have that ability. Versatility and expressive depth of characterization are two vital aspects of your body of work that can be seen in the characters you have brought to life. Thank you, Kratika, for living those lives on-screen, for gifting us complex characters and brilliant performances on a daily basis. Out of the roles on your impressive career graph so far, Aarti remains my favorite character of yours, both because of my personal memories and because of the finesse with which you conveyed every emotion of hers - in ways that were effortlessly natural and vividly palpable. I know that you will continue to make your family, friends, and fans proud with your future ventures, going from strength to strength with every new endeavor. I will definitely be waiting to come along for the journey, wherever you go next!
Finally, I hope that you stay happy and keep enjoying life to the fullest every day, no matter what challenges life will throw at you. Your optimism, even in the face of negativity and unexpected hurdles, has been inspiring to me. Keep smiling - that lovely smile of yours lights up your face and warms so many hearts!
Happy birthday, dearest Kratika! Have a wonderful, wonderful year!
Lots of love and best wishes always,
Borna
Edited by MelodiousDreams - 10 years ago
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