“Will you
forgive me for not giving you a son???”
Loud sobs of
my mother woke me up that night in our one room tenement. She was being
consoled by my dad silently who was equally broken with the lost battle with
nature. They were unaware that I, their elder daughter, was taking it all in
with an angry, sad surprise. I dare not wake up and ask the thousands of
questions teeming in my mind. So I lay there picking up what I could of the
conversations racked in sobs of regret and shame.
My mom had
been emotionally pushed into pregnancies…she delivered three daughters and was
again pushed by her own Mother to have a fourth Child…Male child you see was
needed to carry the name of the father further!!! In the bargain they had
risked her life and it had led to a still born male child at the fifth
month…and doctors had strictly warned against any more such ordeals for her…
My Mom was
apologizing for no longer able to hold out hope for a male child as well as
living with the endless taunts of people, of having only girls …
Back then I
could not do much or even console my parents. This was never ever discussed
openly ever again in my family. It just so happened that I eavesdropped…
A sense of
helplessness did envelop me and I grew up feeling I have to prove it always to
my folks that I am successful despite my gender…! And that my parents do not need
a male child to further add to their happiness…How much I am successful in that
goal? I do not know…
But when I see the Promos of the Show to be Aired on “
AndTv”. All the emotional turmoil, all the unshed tears and unoffered words of
solace to my crying mom surface and then I have to watch the Show …For I
completely understand what may drive a mother who lives in the interior part of
Punjab to lie to the family about a gender of the child.
For all the
success, education and ambition that we girls grew up with and created a happy and
proud existence, I still remember the sad delight and satisfaction with which
my mom held my child who was a male child. She uttered “God fulfilled my wish
after so many years!”
Why do I want
to watch the show?
Questions, I
have in mind!
The plot of
the show or the premise interests me much. It raises so many questions in
my mind about the dire need to declare a female child male. What would
transpire for a mother too put a child in such a dilemma and raise that child
to face such an identity crisis for truth will someday catch up?
I also want
to know as to how a mother may be so resourceful that she will manage to hide the child’s gender whilst
being surrounded by dozens of inquisitive ladies all around willing to pick up
the child, give the child some much needed oil massage
Would the child be
never left behind unattended without a cloth on? Would not some unsuspecting
lady someday try to change the crying baby for it has wet the clothes and is not
promptly having the mother available??? Would the child not drag without pants as
is usual in rural areas?
Our government did spend considerable amounts in explaining family planning and who
actually controls the formation of a child’s gender over the years we have became
independent? Like this story seems to be set in contemporary times…do they
honestly still blame the woman for not bearing a male child? Whatever happened
to the Y Chromosome Theory??? And what happened to Chotta Parivar Sukhi Parivaar? Every state board textbook is replete with these themes…do they not
send their children to school???
Scale & Magnitude.
The first
week Episodes itself gives a peek of
rural Punjab, colorful bejewelled ladies and family feuds, spawning wide
fields and fantastic actors playing the lead characters.
Somebody has decided to
truly use the picturesque wooing with the audience. We were awfully bored with
made up sets of bedroom and corporate offices in daily soaps. This comes as
a refreshing whiff for they truly have taken us outdoors showing kabbadi
matches and feuding scenes right in the middle of the field.
The fire in the
barn yard and highly emotional dramas hold the interest even though a certain
predictability does stay in all the scenes that unfold. Now someone great did
say there is nothing new in the world but each thing can have its own flavor
and this week did have a rural earthy dollop of histrionics that it kept me coming
back at seven in the evening, even though I had things to attend. Even Ad Breaks
could not deter my interest levels.
What I liked
so far…or who for that matter???
I am not
using their professional names, rather,, their character as that is the aim of the
show…to give us a low down of each character and weave us in their ups and
downs and strength and weakness.
Amba Pawania
The
beautiful and docile wife who is willing to help and not argue back when elders
are venting out at her for not giving a son so far and having two daughters.
She is resigned to the fate of bearing two daughters but stunningly complements
the peace loving husband. She shows perfect understanding of her husband’s plea
for peace and supports him immensely.
She jauntily reprimands her brother-in- law and at the same time is ready with a slap to stop him from rash actions.
The episodes, where she urges her Mother in law to stop her sons from going
into danger, bring out her full element. She is superb in her panic driven
pleas to each family member to avoid disasters and regrets and stop the warring.
What steals
the show for me is the Monday episode when they bring her “Warrior Dead”. She
is epitome in her uninhibitory anger mixed with tears. Her ire is full force on
her mother-in-law for being so foolhardy…accusing her of destroying her …you
have to see it!
The entire episode belongs to Amba for bringing alive
the agony of a woman who lost everything to others' foolish and stubborn
ambitions…Her hysterics have to be applauded. An actor has to give herself
completely to immerse fully and bring forth the anguish. From resplendent
beauty she silently transforms into a grieving widow…
Charan
Pawania
A Shah to
his tribe …he is a peace lover. He believes in working hard and distributing
his wealth amongst all. He even overlooks her brother who seems to be
contributing less. He is aware of family feuds and bitterness but believes peace is the answer to dissolving long standing angst and not ill mouthing the
foe or harassing.
He is so innocent that he is unaware of the anti-social activities his brother is conducting or for that matter the lack and helplessness of law and order situation in his locale. Now, generally a seasoned and a senior Shah would be aware of a lot of things going on in his area. He seems to have gone on to rule the roost with his eyes closed or wearing rose tinted "All is good and All ends well" , adage even though daily he faces situations with people having evil intents including his own mother and brother and opponents too. Very unbelievable.
When his family is held ransom and he is asked to wear his
wife’s jewelry, he complies…at the same time, hits out when his wife’s honor
is challenged…his barn yard is in flames and yet he stops his brother from
doing anything foolhardy. Too mild to be a leader…and pity his character was
only a week-long.
Would have loved to see how he implements his peace-first
approach to resolve any issue therein in his locale…in any case this approach
did terminate his life…Maybe the feud could have been taken a little longer to
unfold in all its aspects. The makers seem to be in a hurry to get to the real
premise of the show and it all looked a tad bit hurried…little more...maybe a
week or two… could have created a proper background for the audience to understand what happened and why it did the way it did?
Bebe
Typical
matriarch-who carries bitterness in her Bosom…has a vitriolic tongue that knows
how to throw a barb to destroy a heart into splinters. She wants revenge and
blood of the foe. She thinks it is cowardice to not get an eye for an eye…so
when Lala Bajwa wishes her on Baisakhi she minces no words and expresses that
nothing has changed or is likely to…
Women who have lost and undergone suffering
may seek revenge but will hold tight what remains...I would like to see that
glimmer of wisdom in her…Alas! so far she seems to be an obstinate child bent on
manifesting a tunnel vision and seeks salvation through blood. Her fury is a
little misplaced at her son who is actually talking sense...well guess she will
continue her matriarchal ways and create hindrances in the general scheme of
things...
Jagan Pawania
He is
introduced with flexing Muscles and well philandering with another damsel of
the village though he has a wife and a son…hot-headed and embittered by
family’s borrowed feud, he feels the only virile thing to do is break bones and
chop heads. I did see a very cute camaraderie with his purjaiji in the jeep
where he drives her to his elder brother…I saw a protective instinct in him when he
asks over the mobile “unhone purjaiji ko haat toh nahi lagaya na?”
They could have built this camaraderie into something really lovely and sweet.
Again…sigh...the plot has moved on to volatile drama to ever afford a lighter
Bhabhi-Devar moment any more…He respects his purjaiji and of all people, she is
able to stop him in the aflame barnyard from his hot-headed pursuit of revenge.
She does calm him down…on a lighter note he is the only Handsome Dude worth
drooling…and staring at…
Please give him a little more to flex…his muscles, as
well as histrionics, if he has it...we want to see it…!!! For his onscreen wife’s
only role is to jab the fact that she has a son and Amba has none; over done and
insensitive…maybe that is the effect makers want to create…we will see if she
develops into a typical scheme hatching vamp of usual daily soaps…whose only
ambition would be to uncover the gender of the child once she suspects it to be
declared otherwise…
Rest all, cast is pretty OK…let's say, Lalaji Bajwa, who mutually shares the philosophy of peace
with Charan and often stops situation getting outta hand. He is our philosophical background subtitle enumerating value of peace...or what happens when a man
dies…a mother loses a son…a wife her reason to happiness and adorning herself…her
relations with colors ends there…she is no longer allowed to dress up in
beautiful shades of clothing and is denied jewellery too…well…wonder why that
philosophy was never borrowed by his ever shaking mostly drunk and a little cartoonish junior Bajwa who
goes on to wreak havoc…without any remorse on his part for his deeds.
Hmm, however
it still is interesting to go back at seven on AndTv . The direction is superb
and tight. Nowhere are the artists going too out of hand. As I said earlier, predictable it is, but it still holds the viewer.
The responsibility of the
makers is to now create tight plots and premises...keep the story going
forward…build characters and their nuances …create lovely moments when they see
the camaraderie developing …they do have few gems up their lot…
Good luck for
the Show…! If it still holds my resonance I will continue giving my honest
reviews of the show.
-By Sonnal Pardiwala
* The Author claims no rights over the images used in the post.
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