Sunday, August 28, 2016

Week 26 - When the brain took over the heart!

I am clueless just like Dev and Sona as to how to proceed now with my writeup, post breakup!

As always, Sonakshi's family came to her rescue to lift her up and give her the much needed confidence to move on. I cannot blame her for trying to move on so soon. In our country and elsewhere, women have certain perceived social barriers. In order to break those and be successful personally and professionally, women need to be stronger (atleast act stronger) - stronger than men, who don't have such barriers. A family like the Bose family invests a lot (not financially, but emotionally) in bringing up a strong daughter. Therefore, its more important for them to make sure that their daughter stays stronger, especially in the storm. And because she has been told this from childhood, it was no wonder that Sonakshi tried to get up and continue to run. Her emotion at that moment, was perfectly described in her dialogue "mujhe un par bahot gussa hai. par, mein unse bahot pyaar bhi karti hoon". And, what else can she really do?? She did not have any options.. She just had to accept what Dev told her and walk away. Dev never really gave her an option in anything, not now, and not ever!


I especially liked Sonakshi when she spoke to Ishwari who attempted to justify the breakup! There is absolutely no doubt to Sonakshi that she was a reason in some way, for Dev's happiness. If not for her, who else is going to tell Ishwari about that!  Sonakshi's strength is her confidence, her sincerity,  and her ability to articulate her mind voice. And Sonakshi's display of strength is not new to us - from the time she repelled Dev by saying "Aap ek paise wale gareeb hein, who cannot afford this doctor!", she has always been a strong girl!


And Dev stood by his character definition as well.. When it is about his mom, he will make it happen for her, whether it is the right thing to do or the wrong. This is the same Dev we are talking about, who went out of his morals and values and made false accusations about Dr.Sonakshi's professional integrity, just so that she will take up the job as his mother's nutritionist. Over time, Sonakshi has surely captured his heart and taken over him completely. The question is, how much unreasonable can he go for keeping Sonakshi to himself? After all, she is the one thing he ever wished for "himself"..


I couldn't believe my ears when Dev told his family that he and Sona broke up as they were not compatible!! Even though we know he is making it up, it just does not fit the Dev-Sona that we know :( Dev - I wouldn't be surprised if they renamed the word "compatible" to "DevAkshi" in the dictionary!! You guys were that compatible :( I couldn't help but feel very sad for Dev. There was no one to lift him up. 


The rocket speed with which Sona was collecting herself up was daunting for Dev. While he was still struggling to finish every minute of a day productively, Sona was moving on to find not just a new job for herself, but also a new person in her life. 


The match making that Ishwari did for Sona made her look smaller than ever before.. If Dev and Sonakshi finally find out that Ishwari was the master mind behind this match-making, Ishwari is going to repent very badly.


Dev is pretty much in sync with the fans in social media. Fans are reminiscing the DevAkshi happy times..and so is Dev. Shaheer as Dev has once again neatly portrayed as the man who let go of his love which was his utmost happiness and which brought color in his life.."Jo pyaar tha kushi, usi ne dard bhar diya..jo pyaar tha suhana, usi ne be rang kar diya..." - wonderful song and no-one can portray Dev better than Shaheer and this is probably the least compliment I can give him.. ❤️😍👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 Whether it was trying to reclaim his right to talk to her over phone, or it was longing to make her stay in front of him amidst her bashings, or it was struggling to even breathe as he pushed himself to get through a single day at work, he just lived the Dev that he is playing. The emotions he showed  when he saw Sonakshi with Ritvik was excellent!  The anger, the disappointment, the frustration with which he spoke when his mom came to his room were all just too good for words to even describe. Shaheer as Dev - the man who broke his own heart is winning everyone's hearts 😊. I knew that if you are in a show, it will be worth watching! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 


I am so much angry with Ishwari now that I cant say anything positive about her this week. She is at peace now that Dev and Sonakshi have parted ways, even without her having to openly express her disapproval. It was slightly a relief when Dev got upset with her for saying "I just want a little happiness and a little time from my son".. Dev spoke out our mind voice and said.. "Am I only giving you a little??????" And thank God, mama also opened up and told Ishwari as a matter of fact that Dev gave up Sonakshi only for making her happy. It surely made her guilty, although its going to take a long time for her to realize the intensity of her mistake. The finale of the week when Sonakshi spoke to Ishwari definitely needs a big applause to the dialogue writers, especially... Maami (and Ishwari) got a fitting reply from Sonakshi for comparing her love for Dev to a glass of water...But I must say, I really liked gareeb ki beti a little bit on friday, when she made Ishwari realize (unknowingly atleast) that Dev's life was becoming lifeless without Sona... Sonakshi was absolutely right..Dev did live a bit of his childhood with Sona. As a mom, Ishwari must be happy to see her son happy..But instead she took away his happiness. Ishwari's speechless face was good to see!


"There are 2 kinds of people in life - one who eat the pizza in full, one who leave the corners." - that was a good way to look at "the happy and difficult parts of life equally" Ritvik as a light hearted bengali doctor, will otherwise be a good fit for Sonakshi (except the height of course - No one can compete with our Dev on that!!) He surely earned some goodwill from the fans for cheering up our Sonakshi. Sonakshi has started to see a friend in him with whom she was able to share her story of unfulfilled love. 


However, someone, so soon and so easily cannot take Dev's place in our Sona's life. A person's first love is forever and I don't want to see Sonakshi as the girl who just acts happy and lives for the sake of others and cries her heart out resting on a wet pillow at night.. People say a lot about Devdas.. not as much about Paro. Like I said, women have a lot of barriers and have to hold even their tears...


Dev is in pain to see his own Sonakshi with someone else these days. He has to realize, however strong she looks outside, its extremely hard for her and she is trying to move on, only because she has no other choice.. At the same time, Sonakshi should also realize that however angry and unreasonable he may seem outside, there is a little child inside him that has been weeping for the last one week..as he is struggling to give her up..She has seen the tenderness of Dev before, hasn't she?


And this is how the story unfolded this week - when the brain took over the matters of the heart. Brain or heart - we cannot settle for anything other than Dev and Sonakshi together. 


The journey from "Tu mujme mujse zyaada hai" to "Jeena na bhaye..phir bi hai jeena zaroori.." has been one unique ride and we cannot forget even a single moment of that ride. I don't know how much we must endure, before we can see Dev and Sonakshi together...



Wednesday, August 24, 2016

The breakup 😔

I am glad that I did not witness the breakup sequence live on TV. It was the most heart wrenching part of the show. There is so much of anger in the fandom. My thoughts on the breakup...

Although Ishwari did not exactly plan the breakup, she was unknowingly, but gradually making it happen. Ever since Dev told her that he would like to spend the rest of his life with Sonakshi, Ishwari was not able to love him the same way she did before. And none of us are able to love Ishwari the way we did before.


Everyone has a dark side..Even the moon has a dark side. Considering the evolution of humans from animals, I am sure there is a darker side to all of us which is full of anger, lie, etc. And hence Ishwari, with the current circumstances that she is in, might be experiencing and exposing her dark side now...Other than this, I cannot talk anything else to justify her actions..I am totally unable to relate to this character at all...


For Dev, as soon as he told his mother that he is in love with Sonakshi, it was almost as if the marriage was over..Therefore, going to the shop with both of them together or making Sonakshi part of the family portrait was not a big deal. But for Ishwari it was shock after shock..to realize how much Sona has taken over her son Dev. She was constantly trying to see if her son has really changed that much...A very nice characterization of a possessive mother.


Ishwari thought "Dev used to like sober colors..that must be the same". But Dev chose bright colored bed sheets and justified it by saying, "yes I do like sober colors.. but now I am liking bright colors..thanks to Sonakshi" Little did he know of his mother's possessive side..he went on to add fuel to the already burning heart "Haan ma..Sona sab kuch badhalna chahthi hain..mere almaari ki saare kapde badhalna chahthi hain.."


The only problem with Ishwari is that she never expressed to Dev that she does not like Sonakshi.. If only she did, Dev might have had an opportunity to explain how much Sonakshi meant to him. Because of Ishwari's silence/false approval, Dev continued to assume that Sonakshi is soon going to be his life partner. His intention to include Sona in the family portrait was genuine from his point of view. It was enough for Ishwari to finally open her mouth in a way that Dev could sense her discomfort.


Atleast at that time, she could have expressed what was truly in her mind..instead of beating around the bush by saying "Sonakshi is not yet part of the family"


Sonakshi, the girl with a strong presence of mind, was always doubtful about Ishwari's approval. What is beautiful about Sona is her ability to think beyond the present moment and to put herself in the other person's shoes - the two main traits that lack in the otherwise perfect Dev.


To make sure that Ishwari is ok with the relationship, Sona takes her own initiative in getting into Ishwari's good books..Besan ka halwa is Ishwari's unique recipe and Sona made the right move by attempting to make it for Dev..If only she had bid a temporary goodbye to the "Nutritionist" inside her, everything would have been perfect... The "diet" halwa was a disaster..but Sona was more devastated to later find that Ishwari had purposely served it to Dev, even after fully knowing that he was not going to like it...


If this was not enough for Sonakshi and Dev to understand Ishwari, the family portrait minus Sonakshi must have given them the message. Sonakshi clearly got the message, but Dev insisted that Ishwari was perfectly ok with their relationship! Sonakshi's confrontation about the family portrait shook Ishwari hard..as Sona kept pointing out her role as a daughter in law.


And, by this time, Ishwari was completely taken over by her possessiveness. She was hardly aware of what she was doing..her love for Dev was not the same. Her hatred for Sonakshi was increasing many folds..And the words that came out of her mouth were very sharp and hurt Sonakshi deeply..so much that it became very clear to her that Ishwari was not happy with her.


Up until this point, Ishwari was only angry, possessive, obsessed and insecure. She was not at all aware she was being irrational. However, Sonakshi's parents' visit and the conversation with Sona's dad that followed, got herself all guilty of her own behavior..She realized that she was not happy at all like a normal parent, although her conscience kept telling her that she needs to be happy for her son... I loved Bijoy's dialogues. After all the complicated stuff that Ishwari told about following Sanskar..keeping your work place separate from personal stuff, etc. - it was right on the nail head, when he said "I want my daughter's happiness..if you are happy, Dev is happy and if Dev is happy, my daughter will be happy and thats all I want."


Right after this conversation, Ishwari realized that she was not doing the right thing. What she did after this, was beyond my comprehension.. 


The Bose family is a happy family. They look out for each other, while also giving enough freedom. Sona was rightly warned by Bijoy to reconsider her relation.. Their conversations are clear as water and they are all totally transparent, unlike the Dixit folks. In the bose family, a yes is a "Yes"... not a disguised "No".


Little did Dev realize that his mom's "Yes, I like Sonakshi.." was not really a "Yes"...He had no doubt about his mom's happiness..He always thought, if he is happy, his mom will be happy..With unadulterated happiness, he genuinely went to meet Sonakshi. He genuinely gave her the promises..He had no idea that his next meeting with Sonakshi will be the breakup. He had no idea that he hugged Sona for the last time that night...


I now, have to talk about the breakup, although I never want to even think about it..I am going to make it as short as possible and get this post done with.


When mama told Dev that Ishwari is not happy with his and Sona's relationship, Dev crumbled. When he heard Ishwari tell mama that she is a bad mom, he felt miserable and fell apart and blamed himself for being blind to his mom - his God's misery...Any other son would probably question only the mom as to why she agreed for the relationship in the first place....

But Dev is different and unique and he loves his mom more than anything else and Sonakshi knows about it.  Sonakshi was fully aware that she is only the second most important person in his life.
Dev is impulsive and makes decisions for the current moment only. He lives in the present only...always. Sonakshi knows about it.
Dev is a complicated person. And to live with him is not easy. Yes, Dev made a promise that he will always be there for her.. But Sonakshi also promised that she is willing to accept Dev as it is, with all his complications..and that she will always be there for him.
Sonakshi once even promised Dev that she will never leave him..."mein aap ko chodkar kabhi nahi jaaoongi.. aap mujhe chodenge, thab bhi nahi" 

Am not justifying what Dev did... But he has got a lot of bashings from everyone in the fandom..so I am just taking his side, so that he doesn't feel lonely. Sonakshi has her family to support her in this hard time. Dev has no-one except us.. I wish Sonakshi knew that Dev cannot survive without her...


But having said that...Dev, is that a way to break up? "Tum Jao Sonakshi..hume alag hona chahiye" Thats it? Come on Dev...Is this a way "a man loves a woman"?? Doesn't she mean more than this to you, Dev...


I am heartbroken 💔 and I don't want to talk anymore.


I will end this by saying 

Its a well deserved award for you Shaheer - "⭐️Star of the year⭐️" Congratulations!
"Phenomenal performance this week Shaheer, Erica, Supriya n all other actors." 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
"Lovely music, lovely rendition, lovely dialogues" 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
This show is a game changer in the otherwise boring Indian television! 
Kudos to the makers.  👏🏻 👏🏻 👏🏻 




Saturday, August 6, 2016

Week 23 - No one is the same!

Last week ended on a note of urgency in letting Ishwari know of their relationship. Dev was honestly keen on telling Ishwari about his love for Sonakshi. However, I can totally relate to his hesitation. Its really not that easy to walk up to your parents and say that you are in love with someone and that you are planning on spending the rest of the life with that person.. The immediate question that will come up is "Is it a permission or information?". Because, up until that day, at least in our culture, we are used to taking the permission of elders before starting anything new. And all of a sudden, if you tell them about your relationship..it is sure to come as a huge shock to them..they will not be necessarily unhappy, but there will surely be a feeling of betrayal. While this is true for any normal parents - Ishwari is special and her bond with Dev is much different than any normal mom-son relationship and Dev was completely aware of that.. Therefore however prepped he was, while that moment came in front of him, it was natural that he could not tell her that. Plus, talking about a relationship with your parent will surely be embarrassing for any person, leave alone Dev. I want to especially applaud the makers for acknowledging and showing that hesitation. Going and openly talking about this with your parents might seem filmy but not so, in reality! His hesitation was understandable..But he never thought that his hesitation would actually result in a big change in Ishwari...

Ishwari has always been a kind person. Not just with her own kids, but even with others, she has always been a kind person..Even when maami was harsh with Sonakshi, Ishwari was always kind with her and tried to ease any tension that mami created, with kind words. With Ranveer, even before knowing about his relationship with Neha, Ishwari was always kind. With all the cooks and drivers too, she had always been kind and was never seen using a harsh word with anyone. Instead, even when such situations arise, she had always used kindness to solve quarrels..I am sure you all still remember how she tried to patch up with Sona after Dev broke her phone..Such a person had completely changed now. She was not even 100% sure about their relationship. But still she used such harsh, and unpleasant words with her. Not just with Sonakshi..even with Dev. Ishwari probably has never been so rude with Dev. But this week, she was complete irrational! She knew exactly what will irk Dev..she started hurting herself by over working.. straining.. cooking constantly..not eating on time... All of this was because Dev did not share about his relationship with Sona...at least, thats what she thought.

This whole sequence of events had completely changed the overall personality of the "strong" Dev Dixit to a rather weak (at least in Sona's eyes) and and an unusually dishonest son of Ishwari...He could not tell his mom about the truth, because he thought his mom was not in a good mood.. he was completely clueless as to why Ishwari was behaving so weirdly. Little did he know that he and his hiding the truth was the reason 😢 And he was also completely out-of-sync with Sona this week, because he could not do what Sona expected him to do - talk to Ishwari about their relationship 😒

Sonakshi Bose, the confident nutritionist, the daughter who is like an open book to her parents, the friend who always had answers to Dev's every single question, above all, the person who knew how to stay strong even when she was fighting the emotional breakdown during Dev-Natasha engagement preparations - Where was she? Mami and Ishwari were hurting her with words every second of her stay at the Dixit house and she was just quiet.. She knew Dev had to be open with his mom about their relationship, but was not able to persuade him enough to do that... She knew it was not nice to hide anything from her parents, still she was keeping quiet. This is not the Sonakshi Bose that we know...

The 3 pivotal characters had thus completely changed, atleast temporarily. Ishwari always lives in the past and is unable to accept any change that comes with time. Dev is only living in the present and is unable to move forward without making sure the things of the present are perfect. Sonakshi wants to move on to the future quickly.

As the week progressed, it was finally good to see Sona speak up for herself to Dev - "You cannot take me for granted". And it was finally good to see that the Bose family knew all about Dev-Sona relationship, even if its not through Sona herself. The Bose family is unique not just because they are a cool family. The care and trust they have on each other is so strong that they are able to forgive their flaws in a snap and able to embrace each other with the same love.

Maami had always been the stirrer in the Dixit house, constantly trying to instigate negative thoughts in Ishwari's head..She did her job with extra vigor this week! Maama, who usually stays quiet and keeps a low profile, took the role of a moderator when he tried to divert Ishwari's confused mind and asked her to keep herself busy and offered a walk with her in the Lodi Gardens..Who knew Ishwari will take over the role of a cook at home to keep herself busy! Mama ji became a mediator between Ishwari and Dev and solved the biggest puzzle for Dev as to why his mom was behaving differently. I especially liked the Mama-nephew conversation.. and I thought it was a good explanation not only to Dev, but even for the younger audience who found the behavior of Ishwari completely irrational.. Mama's explanation as to Ishwari is not angry with Sonakshi but rather with Dev for hiding this relationship from her. And that this was a kind of betrayal of the trust Ishwari had on her son.. Dev finally realized that the more he delays talking to Ishwari, the more the whole thing is going to go out of hand.

The Ishwari-Dev conversation was probably the most important event in Dev's life and he was having a lot of expectations out of the conversation. Even for the audience, it was the most looked forward sequence. It was awesome to see Dev speak his heart out about Sonakshi, and about how much he was in love with her. But Ishwari had the most emotionless face during the conversation, I use "emotionless" as a compliment here 😄 As Ishwari herself later realized, Dev was searching for that happiness in her face but couldn't find it..Yes, Dev has now cleared everything with his mom. But, although she said his happiness was hers, she was not able to somehow experience that happiness, because, she was not ready to share Dev with another person. She might never be able to experience an utmost happiness with this decision of Dev to have another girl in his life, be it Sonakshi or some one else..Ishwari has changed for good ..and she can probably never go back to her old self, because its now certain that Dev's love is not all for her anymore.

Infact, we already got to witness this instability in Ishwari in the finale of this week, when she tried to prove to maami that Dev still considers her important than anything else. There was so much of pride in her face when Dev uttered those magical words "mere maa se badkar kuch bhi nahi hai". She is only going to constantly prove this to herself and to maami...Hmm..This is how blood pressure increases for elders, I guess..😁

But this avatar of Ishwari is only for us. For Dev and Sonakshi, its the state of "Happily ever after"..They are both flying in happiness. Dev's gesture of lifting her up was symbolic of that :) The subtle romance of Dev and Sonakshi is beautiful and compelling and with all the sad and stressful days this week, the makers were thoughtful to end it with a happy note. The fandom cannot sleep during the weekend without atleast one DevAkshi scene ❤️😍

We are now stepping into the next phase next week.

I may not be able to do the analysis for a couple of weeks.. Meet you all soon 😊 Cheers!