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Crystal, usually the clear variety, is used in the foreground or background many times in various shots during crucial scenes - mainly as crystal strands in table lamps either at Agnihotri house or at the office and the crystal candleholder on the dining table and the crystal/glass paperweight in Shlok's office.
The first thing that comes to mind when we talk about crystal is the phrase "crystal clear". Crystal symbolizes clarity. So when the clear crystal is used in a shot, it gives the clear picture of the character's true inner self in that scene.
There may be many scenes but I selected these two scenes where Shlok voices his thoughts and the usage of crystal items symbolically was very evident. In both these shots, the camera focuses on the crystal strands first and then the focus shifts to Shlok.
The first one is from 8-Oct-2013 episode. We get the rare privilege of being an audience to Shlok's thoughts. Here is what he thinks (translated into English): "Aastha's head should be bent and her pride should be shattered before its too late. (Wonder what that dead line is?! Or did I translate it wrong?! He uses the phrase "samay se pehle"😕) What should I do?!" (He keeps spinning the crystal paperweight as he thinks.)
Then we get to hear a monologue, which is also very rare! Here is what he says(translated into English):
"Aastha, this time you are facing Shlok Agnihotri. You think you are very stubborn but you don't know how stubborn I am. Today or tomorrow, by hook or by crook, you have to surrender to my will."(He doesn't spin the paperweight while saying this dialogue.)
The second shot is from their confessions at the end of Stranger game before Jyothi's wedding in the 9-Aug-2014 episode. He says, "Just like you are incomplete without me, I'm also incomplete without you."
So whatever he said in the above two scenes reflects his true personality.
Coming to the crystal paperweight, it is like a globe. So it represents one's inner world of emotions and thoughts or the inner turmoil. Crystal ball is used by gypsies to foretell future events. So this could also represent one's intuition. These inner emotions and thoughts are a result of one's life experiences - the memories, fears, traumas etc.
I will mention two scenes again for this crystal ball.
One scene is from 8-Oct-2013 episode that I described above. You could see this paperweight in the background in the 9-Oct-2013 episode too, when Shlok starts to crowd Aastha and overwhelm her.
(She has bandage near her thumb in these scenes and she even asks Bappa to help her to follow her head instead of her heart. Just referring to my boo-boo post😛) Could it be due to his past experiences (fears or traumas due to Swathi and his own family) that he overwhelmed Aastha like that and compelled her to accept him?
The other scene is from 10-Feb-2014 episode, where he interrogates Abhay regarding Avdhoot's arrest. He was already disturbed due to Swathi's memories at the time. He directly asks Abhay whether he was behind Avdhoot's arrest. I guess his instinct says that Abhay could be the culprit, which was also corroborated by the cctv footage that showed Abhay going into Shlok's cabin on the day Avdhoot's arrest was ordered. Abhay was caught off-guard by Shlok's direct question but he soon recovers and subtly reminds(threatens) Shlok that he is Jyothi's husband and he would never do anything to harm Agnihotri reputation. Shlok doesn't think about Avdhoot case anymore after that.
So, did my research answer any questions or did it raise more doubts?! I am not sure, but here it is! 😊
Thanks for reading. Please share your thoughts.😊
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