Which quirks of Raghav Rao should Raunak Reddy have?

Sai Ketan Rao has stated that his new character Raunak Reddy will be double-faced - goofy on the surface, something else inside - and he will be in a revenge-love story.

Why does that sound familiar?

Anyway, here's a poll for everyone: assuming that Raunak Reddy and Raghav Rao are basically different characters, which of the quirks that made Raghav Rao memorable would you like to see in Raunak Reddy?

Feel free to choose more than one option, or reply with any quirks that I didn't include.

Today I turned up this comment that I wrote on October 30, 2021. All the best to Sandiip Sikcand, Sai Ketan Rao, and the rest of the team who have another chance to get it right.

Once upon a time, there was a show that started with a widow being told to wear a white saree...

No, it wasn't set in 1871, when this might actually happen. It was set in 2021.

And a rich guy ditched his date to get into a street fight, just to take off his shirt, and his chest got thick doughnut-shaped red wounds with no depth...

That first episode was so promising, but alas! it went downhill.

You won't believe how the creative team ruined a character who smuggles diamonds, breaks a bag of donated blood and then prays for more, forcibly abducts a woman three times (but not that one other time), produces knockoffs of someone else's saree design, sends illegal eviction notices, misjudges competitions, falsely claims sexual conquests and deliberately misidentifies the woman in obscene photographs, makes false statements to the police, slaps his sister on her birthday, and never kept a promise to his mother until he forced a woman to marry him. They had him betray his wife! He would never have done that!

The creative team has such a poor grasp of their own characters, it would serve them right if someone stole the characters, gave them new names and better personalities, and retold the story in all its glory.

Over the past day or two, Sai Ketan Rao has promoted his multifaceted new character Raunak Reddy as a challenge to play, and also tweeted a reminder to his fans not to address their complaints to him regarding the premise of his new show Cāśanī.

Only time will tell if the writing holds up the actor's expectations for his character. Sometimes, the teasers that actors give out based on scenes already shot don't materialize on screen. Interviews have given us many clues about what Sai Ketan Rao might have expected about the character of Raghav Rao over time.

Production House: "Your character is a gangster on the street. Motorcycle, head scarf, torn jeans, undershirt revealing chest hair ... you pass the look test!"

Sai Ketan Rao: "Action scenes! My favourite!"

PH: "This is Hindi TV, so your character is now rich, drunk, and self-pitying. Hairspray, shaved chest, yelling at servants ..."

SKR: "Could I change his lines to broken Hindi, like a stereotypical South Indian?"

PH: "Great idea! We'll do that for all the Telugu characters. Meet Abha Naktode, your Bharatanatyam trainer."

SKR: "I'm ready to perspire through my makeup, but don't break my nose if I misstep. I need my nostrils to emote."

PH: "That was your first and last Bharatanatyam scene. From now on, Raghav carries a gun, works from home, and does comedy scenes like fighting over jilebī."

SKR: "He should take the gun everywhere, even to the toilet."

PH: "Raghav will hallucinate strangling Pallavi, hallucinate being fed by Jaya, hallucinate his alter ego ..."

SKR: "This old man disguise is even better than the dark-skinned taxi driver!"

PH: "Scrap that! Your pool scene was a hit, so we'll create more revealing disguises for Raghav."

SKR: "Every script has Raghav getting drunk and lashing out at Pallavi. His story is about ruining his health and his life because he feels out of control and unloved, right?"

PH: "Of course not! This is just how alpha males behave to earn TRP. When the track ends, we'll do a montage of Raghav-really-loves-Pallavi scenes, and then find another way for them to betray each other."

I wasn't expecting Raunaq Reddy to have Raghav Rao's background music and the mangled-beyond-recognition Telugu lines from the Mehandī Hai Racanevālī title song playing as he launched into a Raghav-style lecture on respectful speech and declared that Raghav Rao is the Don of Hyderabad.

Chandani only called Raunaq "Raghav," and Raunaq assumed that she meant "Raghav Rao." So, Raunaq Reddy knows who Raghav Rao is - not as a character on TV but as his lookalike in the Cāśanī universe. They're not twins if both are telling the truth about their ages: Raghav gave his age as 27 in March 2021, while Raunaq says he is 27 now.

If Raunaq's information is up to date, Raghav has openly returned to the racketeering that he pretended to give up when Pallavi didn't die. After that point, Raghav was still manipulating the police force to punish Laxmi, but not openly, since he allowed himself to be arrested for rape. Raghav being a Don again implies that his relationship with Pallavi has taken another twist. Maybe they broke up, or Pallavi died, or she simply reverted to ignoring her pati-parameśvara's flaws.

One thing that the first episode told us about Raunaq Reddy is that he must spend time shirtless in front of the mirror, similar to Raghav Rao playing table tennis. His chest tattoo is written so as to be read in a mirror: XXIIXX MURDERS AVI.

The first line could be in Roman numerals: 21/01/20 or 20/02/20 or 10/12/20. Probably the date some people were murdered. Whatever the date is, it is two to thirteen months before Mehandī Hai Racanevālī's on-screen timeline began.

The third line could be the word AVENGED in progress. Maybe Raunaq is a vigilante who fills in his tattoo as he bumps off each murderer.

Originally posted by: BrhannadaArmour

They're not twins if both are telling the truth about their ages: Raghav gave his age as 27 in March 2021, while Raunaq says he is 27 now.

The card in Raunaq's wallet gave his birthdate as 03-06-1998, which makes him only 24 years old until June 3, 2023.

Raunaq has now used "This is Raunaq Reddy's promise."

Raghav's first fight scene had him shoving someone through a glass pane. Raunaq got to shove three men through glass panes, all in one fight. Raunaq also leaps ridiculously high to kick his antagonists - impossible without cables. It looks even more fake than Raghav's wide-swinging fights.

Raghav's thoughts would come out of his mouth in Telugu in stressful situations, but Raunaq slips into Telugu in every episode for no reason, just to remind us that he's South Indian. Furthermore, when Raunaq said, "Avi, maiṃ tumhe bahuta miss karatā hūṃ," it sounded like Āī mī tulā (Marathi), a language that Sai Ketan Rao can speak, but it should be irrelevant to this character.

Like Raghav, Raunaq refers to himself as Aṇṇā (Tamil) rather than Anna (Telugu).

The exterior of Raunaq's house looks like that of Raghav's second house.

I wish raunaq and Raghav are different.

Not feeling like watching the show. Sisters being saas and Bahu is creeping me!

I wish he did a better show😏