Raman vs Raman - Oct 25th

Raman vs Raman

There is no greater glory than love, nor any greater punishment than jealousy. - Lope De Vega

Raman has got to be one of the best written male characters in the Indian television industry, there are so many layers to this wonderful characters and what an apt actor like Mr. Karan Patel to play this intriguing character. It is a delight to watch a character like Raman unravel on screen night after night showing us different facades of a complicated man. I like layered characters, like Shrek says to Donkey in the movie Shrek; Ogres are like onions they have layers'. Puttar is also an onion! This post is for my favorite character of the show, my man boy Raman!

Raman is a fighting an intense battle these days. From the outside it appears he is fighting with the world, in his mind he is a man hurt, betrayed and stranded twice by love. He feels alone, dejected, and hence chooses anger to retaliate towards the ones who have hurt him. In his speech, he appears to be a man on a mission, his eyes on the prize (Ishita), his aim to hurt Ishita who dared to break his heart. He chooses his words carefully, thanking his ex wife for teaching him that there is no loyalty in this world, people come in your life for selfish reasons and walk out of your life once they are done using and abusing you. He says these things using the name Shagun but looking at Ishita, using his past to shut the door on his present.

But on a closer look it is evident that Raman is fighting this battle with himself, he knows deep within him that Ishita would never betray him but his past is getting the best of him.

During the Var Lakshmi puja, we see the inner voice of Raman appear to show him the mirror of his present. His inner voice makes him realize the importance of Ishita in his life and his feelings towards her, too scared to admit his own feelings he shoes away his inner voice telling never to appear again. How he wishes that voice would be back now guiding him towards the light away from his past.  This inner battle of Raman reminds me of a Hero in a classic Shakespearean play. A hero in Shakespeare's play is righteous, pious, and courageous but he possesses a tragic flaw which lead's to the hero's downfall. Raman's tragic flaw is his inability to separate his past from his present, and this tragic flaw will separate him from the best thing in his life: Ishita. A Shakespearean hero also is a passionate lover and Raman fits that bill perfectly. Today his eyes full of passion and disgust kept on following Ishita's every move, if his eyes could love, then Ishita would be enamored by love and if his eyes could kill then Ishita would have died a thousand deaths today.

Raman's inner battle is between Ishita's Raman and Shagun's Raman.

Ishita's Raman: This is a man who believes in justice, doing the right thing irrespective of the consequences, he loves his family and isn't afraid in showing it He is a good father, a good son, a good brother, and a successful businessman. Ishita's Raman although coping with his past is trying to move on. He tells Mihir to forgive Shagun, he tells him, I have moved on with my family, you are about to start your family so give Shagun a chance to move on and start her own family.' Ishita's Raman isn't selfish; he realizes that even the most selfish person in this world has a right to attain their happiness. Ishita's Raman is also vulnerable, hurt, and isn't afraid in shedding tears exposing his soul to his wife, he has shed the armor of protection and has started to expose his inner self to Ishita.

Shagun's Raman: This is a calculative man with a shrewd business mind with only single focus: Revenge. Every move this man makes is aimed at revenge, he sees nothing but revenge, he hears nothing but revenge and he speaks nothing but revenge. Shagun's Raman is a man who wears horse's blinders to keep focus on his sole goal that is: Revenge. This man is a lousy father, a lousy son and a horrible brother never allowing anyone to come close to him, always guarding himself with the armor.

Today's episode saw the reemergence of Shagun's Raman, a man with horse blinders on seeing only things he wants to see. His sole purpose now: revenge. So in a party thrown to celebrate his success he once again becomes a lousy father, a lousy son and a lousy brother by not acknowledging his family and their sacrifices but rather focusing on revenge. We also saw the emergence of Ishita's Raman during the bracelet scene, even though hurt, he still kept the bracelet on, giving us hope that Ishita'a Raman is still alive inside of Raman.

This inner struggle continues between Shagun and Ishita's Raman, who ever wins the loss will be Raman's and so will be the win, but such is a life of a tragic hero.

A perfect song for Raman, Aur Ho from Rockstar

Meri bebasi ka bayaan hai, bas chal raha na is ghadi 

Ras hasrat ka nichod doon, kas baahon mein aa tod doon

Chaahoon kya jaano na , cheen loon chod doon

Is lamhe kya kar jaoon, Is lamhe kya kar jaaon 

Is lamhe kya kar doon main jo mujhe chain mile araam mile 

It is a description of my helplessness, that I have no control over anything at the moment, 

I want to fulfill all my desires , I will hold you so tightly in my arms that it will break you 

I don't know what I want, 

Should I just snatch you , or should I just leave you, 

What should I do at this moment, what should I do at this moment

What should I do at this moment, so that I can have some peace of mind, some rest.

Main hasrat mein uljhi dor hoon aaj, suljha de 

Main dastak hoon tu band kiwaadon sa, khulja re 

O bebasi, man mein basi, aa jeete jeete jeele sapna 

Aur ho Aur ho ...

I am entangled in my desires, please untangle me, 

I am like a knock, and your are like a closed door, please open up to me

Oh helplessness, that resides in my heart, let me live and as I live let me live my dreams

.  
Note: I am aware that what makes Raman react and revert back to his old self is Ishita's poorly defined friendship with Mani but this post is about Raman's character so I didn't comment on other characters of the show. 

Doc, I loved how you brilliantly summed up the turmoil that Raman's going through.

You have a way with words which brings out the point with a lot of clarity.

Beautifully and concisely written. And am at a loss of adjectives to describe it.

A sensitive and emotional man. A man who knew how to love and how to show it.

A man who worshipped his wife, pampered her, went beyond his limits just to see a smile on her face.

A betrayal totally changed him.  But only for appearances sake

For the world he became a ruthless man, a go getter. From a man whose life was his family to a man who thought only of success and achievement, not for himself, but to prove the people, who betrayed him, wrong.

But in reality - he wanted to be loved. He wanted his family, his children and to be the One for his wife.

Ishita came to his life and the first thing she brought out was the considerate side of him. A man who placed family above everything. A small conversation overheard brought this change.

But living with her, the real Raman slowly started to peep out of the iron armor that the fake one had built.

A man who was ready to love again. He already was in love. He only didn't want to accept it, because of the fear of getting hurt

The Jealousy is because of the insecurity deeply seeded in him, that he may not be enough for her

A thought which was again impressed upon him by Shagun

He heard Ishita telling Mani  -I love you and will leave my husband and child for you.

Yet even in his drunken stupor he knew.. She loves Ruhi, she loves his family. It was only himself that he was unsure of. Her love for him.

Even when he has a self talk, it's clear he can't let her go; because deep within his heart he knows that she will never betray him. She is not Shagun. But his fear and his past doesn't let that truth come to the fore.

His fear and insecurity is not letting him see all that she has done for him, which his heart knows.

All those moments where she has shown how much she cares for him, how much he matters to her.

Yesterday she was dressed only for him. If only, he had seen her hurt on being left alone when all she desired to be was with him and for him.

If only he had dropped his cloak to see her happiness and palpable radiance on his achievement, how much his happiness mattered more to her than to him.

He only ended up hurting her more. But unfortunately he has hurt himself more by hurting her.

Every taunt every barb at the party, though in his mind he wanted to aim at her, he couldn't see meet her eyes and tell her. Because his heart wouldn't let him. It knows.

Unfortunately He holds his bitter lesson from the past and his fear closer to his heart than love.

Only Love can remove his fear and only by letting his fear go will he see her love.

He needs to stop standing in own way to love.

With Ishita he won't lose cause of Love but has a chance of losing by holding back.

Raman is his own enemy Right now. Not Shagun, Not Ashok, not Mani..

A Byran Adams song that came to my mind (but from Ishita's side)..

Originally posted by: nividances

Wonderful analysis. Completely agree that Raman is one of the most complex male characters on Indian television ever...at least from the shows that I have seen.

Connecting Raman to Shakespeare's heroes...what a move! Absolutely brilliant. 👏

Raman's hamartia...his tragic flaw is "his inability to separate the past from his present." That's hitting the nail on the head. It is from this hamartia that every single one of Raman Kumar Bhalla's insecurities and behaviors emerges. He wants more than ever to move on (a fact that he has displayed many a times by acting sweet towards Ruhi, Ishita, and the rest of his family), but Shagun's Raman is impossible to bring out and separate entirely from Ishita's Raman.

This is where I diverge from your post and bring out my own analysis, so bear with me if it doesn't make sense. 

The two Raman analysis reminds me of the Harry Potter series. A part of Lord Voldemort's soul was attached to Harry's soul; therefore, Voldemort could not be killed until that small part of his soul was still attached to Harry. However, ultimately it was Voldemort himself that brought upon his own death by using the Avada Kedavra spell, the Killing Curse, on Harry, as that curse killed the part of Voldemort's own soul that was attached to Harry's. After that, it was not impossible, nor difficult for Harry to kill Voldemort.

Raman's case is similar. Shagun's Raman and Ishita's Raman are two different people, just as Harry and Voldemort were, but the two Raman's are connected by one small thing, just as Harry and Voldemort were. Shagun's Raman is connected to Ishita's Raman because of the hamartia...the tragic flaw that makes it impossible for to separate the past from the present. Ishita's Raman will only surface and survive once Shagun's Raman is disconnected from Ishita's Raman by killing the tragic flaw that connects them. There will come a point when Shagun's Raman, in his blind rage to extract revenge, will make a terrible mistake that will shock Raman and make him realize the difference between the past and the present. This will mark the killing of the tragic flaw that connects the two Ramans. After this, it will not be difficult for Ishita's Raman to kill Shagun's Raman completely. It is then when we will see the final triumph of Ishita's Raman over Shagun's Raman. 

There is no doubt in my mind that there will come a day when Ishita's Raman will surface and emerge victorious. But just as Harry Potter took seven thick, extremely long books to overcome Voldemort, Ishita's Raman will take a few hundred, possible thousand, episodes to overcome Shagun's Raman.

Hope that made sense somewhat. I just typed what came into my mind. 😕

Originally posted by: Eyes-Wide-Shut

Hellooo first thank you for appreciating my take on Raman and secondly never in my wildest dream i thought Harry potter and YHM would have similarity in their characters. Thank you for bringing it up to our attention. 

You are so right when you say, Shagun's Raman and Ishita's Raman are two different people, and this is the dichotomy of Raman Kumar Bhalla. These two people live in Raman and hence we see him a constant struggle with himself. I had said in my earlier post that Raman's rage is like a burning fire ready to burn down the entire forest to dust(killing his tragic flaw) but after the fire subsides there will be new life stronger than ever before. 

Raman to me is a classic Othello, I had written an additional paragraph about similarities between Raman and Othello but decided to remove it because this post read like a literature class paper so I figured i won't torture folks here. I do not know if the makers tried to construct Raman's character with Othello in mind but the resemblance is uncanny. 

Also you did an amazing job explaining Harry and Lord Voldermort's intertwined souls as a reflection of shagun and Ishita's Raman. 

And thank you for using the word, Hamartia! again took it out for the fear of this sounding like an English class paper but I am glad I have a Shakespeare fan to chat with 😊

Originally posted by: nividances

Really? That's so funny that you didn't write your post with that thought of Harry Potter...that's the first thing that came to my mind while reading your analysis! 😆 It just fit so perfectly!

Now that you bring up the point of Othello, I completely see where you are coming from. The resemblance is indeed "uncanny" as you put it. I guess it's a good question to ask the writer hunh? I would also love to read what you had written about Raman and Othello so if you get a chance, it is my humble request that you post it for us.

And fear not, your post did not at all resemble an English paper. 😛