I had some thoughts and points that I wanted to share for today's episode.
TiRv Ki Shart
After yet another fall-and-catch moment, Garv asks Titli to come to court as an alibi for him. She agrees on the one condition that he gives a genuine smile.
- Garv once again pre-judges Titli by assuming she wanted in money return for being an alibi. I guess this will become a habit of Garv where he consistently misjudges her.
- Titli's condition of being an alibi in exchange for his smile was... something. I get that all ITV shows have this trope where the FL is all sunshine and rainbows who tries to change the ML into becoming the same. What I'm failing to understand is why this is so important. So what if Garv doesn't smile 24/7? How does it matter to Titli? She doesn't know him. At most, they've known each other for three days. Whether he smiles or not should not be of any concern to her. (Besides, we have seen Garv smile and joke around with his Badi Maa and Monica, so it's not like he's a complete stranger to the act. If he doesn't want to smile or be friendly with Titli then that's okay; it's not that big of a deal.
While we're on that note, I don't know how it is in the East, but in the West, there is a bit of discourse where women are being discouraged from being told to smile all the time. The reason for this being the act of smiling masks negative emotions like anger, or sadness. If she does showcase these emotions it's always reasoned as hormones, PMs, or the woman just being plain bitchy. Personally, I'm not the kind of person who's smiling or laughing all the damn time either. I do it when the situation calls for it, for everything else I always have my resting face on which just so happens to look like it's one of anger. If somebody that I never knew constantly told me to keep smiling, I would get pissed at them too.
Decorations
The aesthetics looked great! Very vibrant, bright, and colorful, and at the same time quite clean too. I also liked how Garv never shies from complimenting Titli on the work she does. In other shows, the ML is often shown as being dismissive of the FL's work, taunting them, or challenging them to do better. It's nice to see the opposite happen, that too in such a casual manner.
Badi Maa
There are hints in her interaction with Titli where I feel she will soften up, but then she flips it around by doing something even more annoying and idiotic. While her aim was to ruin Titli's hard work, how did she not realize that having broken arrangements will be a bad look for the family too?
As a character, she has a lot of internalized misogyny that I would like to see tackled and explored. Something I don't want to see is her constant harp on not wanting Titli as Garv's wife (which we all know is going to happen so for her to consistently yell the opposite is becoming annoying).
Bigamy (?)
Like most people, I'm also confused by the relationship dynamic between Badi Maa and Garv's father, (Manan? Correct me if I'm wrong on the name). I actually like his wife. The way she communicates, the relationship she has with her husband, and even Badi Maa for that matter is pleasant to watch. Personally, I think she's the second wife and Badi Maa might have been the first. I'm hoping a divorce had taken place before the second marriage, otherwise, I really don't see how Garv would have been okay with this setup. Also, I don't get why he would call his own mom Badi Maa and not just Maa? Unless she's not really his mom?
As I said, this is all really confusing and I hope it gets resolved soon. This is one confusion that does not need to be stretched for so long.
Parallels
Some parallels that I thought were worth mentioning:
- Kaka/Kaki vs. Garv's parents: Kaka is obviously under a lot of financial stress whereas Manan is constantly stressed because of Badi Maa. Both wives tried to help relieve some of that stress but only one fully succeeded while the other did so partially.
It was a cute moment when Kaki brought the game of snakes and ladders, and for a moment was able to divert her husband's attention and have him indulge in some comfort food. Unfortunately, she ruined the moment by bringing up Titli's marriage via the digital market. While it wasn't right for Kaka to get that level of anger, I can see why he did. It hasn't even been a full week since the first marriage was broken off and Kaki was already thinking of another. Not to mention all the financial debts they were already in would have been compounded if they pursued another wedding. Even though finances weren't brought up in this scene, I liked how Kaka mentioned that Rahul turned out to be an utter douchebag even after all their inquiries. Looking for someone over the Internet would be even more foolish.
Manan, obviously stressed by Badi Maa's actions, is successfully calmed down by his wife. She not only reminds him of why they put up with Badi Maa, but also of the compromises she has had to make (which I'm curious to find out as well). Then her diversion of having him look at the personalized gifts she brought was another sweet moment where he in return complimented her for her compassion and thought. There was a lot of love and respect shown in this scene and I'm personally in favor of their relationship succeeding. - Second wives: We've seen Rahul trying to dupe Titli and have her be the second wife without her knowledge. As far as I know, Titli's marriage would have been considered illegal. In the Mehta household, there seems to be a similar case going on with the difference being there is no secrecy. Everything is out in the open and while certain individuals may not be entirely happy with the situation, it is still accepted.
Although she's not a second wife, Alka had complained to her husband that he didn't wear the kurta she laid out for him because she's not his first love. So there's that.
Concluding Thoughts:
I liked today's episode. We got quite a few romantic moments between TiRv, a greater glimpse into the marital dynamics, an introduction to some more family members, and an overall progression where characters acted and moved towards an individual goal.
Hoping tomorrow's episode is the same as well.
comment:
p_commentcount