Pirti cha vanva uri petla - Page 3

The names on this show ...

In the first episode, Popatrav Çoche. What were his parents thinking?

So many luminous names: Çamaki, Dipu = Dipak, Savi = Savitri (belonging to Savitṛ, the sun), Dipesh and his sister Teju, and Vidyadhar's dead classmate Divakar "Divya."

Schemers choose fake names that reveal their thievery: first Madhuri Nagçore for Çamaki, and then Savitri Çorge for Savitri.

Why does Dipak mispronounce Çamaki's fake name Suvarnalata as Suvarlata? Is it because she brings out the swine in Balaram?

When Arjun drank water in front of thirsty Savitri just to torment her, he crossed the line from being tough to being cruel. I thought it was a universal value in India to offer drinking water even to an enemy. Even those who wouldn't share their water vessels with lower-caste visitors and felt that water faucets were defiled by their neighbours still had an ethical obligation not to let despised people go thirsty.

I like how Arjun keeps reminding Savi that she called him phaḍatūsa, and now kadrū. It shows how sensitive he is to being disliked. Wanting to be free of reproach, no matter how one has behaved, is a very human flaw. One of these days, Savi will realize that as much as Arjun grumbles about trivial inconveniences and behaves callously with desperate people, that is an expression of frustration with himself for wanting to solve everyone else's problems and never having enough love.

Arjun muttering "sorry" in his sleep is interesting. Before whom does he feel so guilty?

If one meeting at noon was the only reason for Arjun and Savi to be in Pune, and it takes only three-and-a-half hours by bus to get from Kawathe-Bhairavgad to Pune, a journey that is even faster by car, why did Arjun check into a hotel, as if planning to stay overnight? Not just a single-bed room, an entire suite! (Since suite is feminine in French, and pronounced svīta, as dahāvī-failed Savi knows, I had to rewind to figure out what U.S.A.-returned Arjun muttered: hā sūṭa mī mājhyāsāṭhī buka kelā hotā!) Arjun could have freshened up in the meeting place restroom instead of spraying perfume on his clothes in the hotel and then driving 33 minutes. Why did Savi have two changes of clothes with her?

When Arjun found Savi unconscious and unresponsive in the conference room, why didn't he take her to a hospital? Taking Savi to his hotel room might have made sense if the meeting had been in the hotel itself (and Arjun told Savi that she had fainted "downstairs"), but after the dialogue established that the hotel is 33 minutes away, how could Arjun drive all the way back without worrying that Savi wasn't waking up and it could be serious?

In the next episode, Arjun said that he had called a doctor, who had prescribed pills. Pills! Why not put a sugar cube on Savitri's tongue and see if she wakes up? If she does, get her a meal at the hotel; if she doesn't, she may need to be fed intravenously at a hospital. It's amazing that doctors on TV are available to visit anywhere immediately, even at the call of Arjun, an outsider in Pune. And the doctor leaves while the patient goes on pretending to be unconscious. Irresponsible!

Savi accuses innocent men of sexual misconduct as if it's no big deal!

First she embarrassed Mahadu at the bank, just to get the manager to listen to Paras.

Then she got Dighe sacked from his job after Çamaki tricked him into stepping into the wrong restroom. Yes, he had used palmistry as an excuse to feel up her hand, but a flirt is not the same as a voyeur!

Now Savi's plan was to pretend to wake up from a faint and blurt out to Arjun that he must have drugged her to take advantage. As if that accusation would make a man want to befriend her!

Savi also instructed Ashiqya to molest her to arouse the hero in Arjun.

The height difference between Arjun and the constable who grabbed him was funny.

Arjun was funny, politely swearing, "Excuse me, what the h*** is going on here?" and rolling the "l."

Sub-Inspector Harishchandra S Narkar (different actor from the officer whom Arjun addressed by the same name at Teju's wedding) was funnier, objecting to Arjun's attitude for using English and not for his deliberate offense of swearing at the police for doing their job.

Funniest was Savi's performance as the slumming elite complaining in English, ruined by Arjun opening his mouth to call her "Miss Vaśilā."

Of course, there was no need for Savi to fabricate a marriage, a prior live-in relationship, and this too-much-information tidbit: "vaśilā ... mī vaśa karate nā tyālā!" What if Narkar's question for the hotel had been more precise: "Do you have Arjun Kawathekar and Mrs. Kawathekar staying with you?" Savi's lie would have been caught, as Arjun pointed out to her. And then Narkar might have pursued his suspicion that Arjun Kawathekar was buying a woman for the night along with some cannabis. Why did Arjun go along with Savi's lies instead of clearing his reputation right there?

Arjun correctly told Savi that he should have been able to prove his too-rich-to-arrest identity without Savi. Savi could have vouched for him as his employee, but she should have stayed away from every police station in Pune, just in case they were on the lookout for Rukhsana. Her mendacity could have been put to better use to rescue poor Ashiqya, whom she left in the cell where he was being beaten.

I loved the argument between Savi and Arjun after he crashed the car.

Recriminating in synchrony: "Tarī mī tumhālā sāṅgata ho-" ... "Tumacyāmuḷe" ... "Bolā!" ...

Arjun taking Savi's concern for him as a hint to feel guilty for his lack of concern for her ...

Arjun's horrified reaction to Savi's shoe, flashing back ...

Arjun's voice getting high-pitched as he insisted that he had been wearing his seatbelt ...

Savi resenting the CCTV in Arjun's cabin when he suggested installing it in the car ...

Arjun twice counting Savi's insults on his fingers, "phaḍatūsa, kadrū, mūrkha, halagarajī" ...

Savi saying, "kuṭhanaṃ paḍalaṃya koṇāsa ṭhāūka" after the branch fell ...

Brilliant dialogues, direction, and acting!

It didn't make sense that Savi volunteered to fix the car. We saw the hood burst open with smoke when they crashed. The driver's side door is stuck shut. Why does Savi think that she can fix the car without any tools on hand, or that the car will be safe to drive? Arjun is rich enough to get the car towed, so Savi shouldn't feel obligated to fix it.

Nevertheless, if she must lift the hood, isn't the tree in her way? Both Savi and Arjun should have had to push the car backwards, and before that, Savi should have asked Arjun to get in and put the car in reverse. And, of course, while doing that, he could see if the car will start without being fixed!

Why did the hood, already popped open, make that popping sound when Savi began to lift it?

Arjun's mockery of Savi's blackened face was mean! Who says "būrī nazara vāle terā muṃha ..." to someone who is clearly trying to help? So ungrateful!

How can Arjun be so delicate about asking to use a restroom? It's not a taboo question in India, and during his time in the U.S.A., Arjun must have heard some colourful talk about it to put his inhibitions in perspective.

Who asks for a hotel room just to use the toilet? The hotel staff must use a non-guest restroom, right? One could ask to use it.

Arjun could have deflected the accusation of wanting the room for casual sex by saying that Savitri will remain outside while he uses the toilet. Savi didn't have to let Arjun see that she keeps a convenient maṅgaḷasūtra - as if perverts don't harass married women! She could have let Arjun explain himself.

I guess the purpose of these scenes is to smear Arjun's reputation with circumstantial evidence that he and Savitri spent the night together, which will lead to a forcible marriage.

Anyway, I enjoyed the sarcastic, Saṃskṛta-heavy Marathi-speaking clerk Kane, his Puṇerī pāṭyā, and the triple-meaning dialogue about control - bladder, temper, and libido.

Oh, the irony of Arjun saying that Savitri's name could be changed to suit the clerk! He has no idea that he's standing right next to Sapna, with whom he already rolled around in a sheet. Literally only, of course.

Every time on Marathi TV a parent like Krishna'i says, "You need to get married. Things should happen at the right time," and the son/daughter like Arjun is clearly uncomfortable, I wonder if someone will notice the elephant in the room.

Diversity, which has always existed, should not be ignored in the twenty-first century.

Anyone can have a gay/lesbian child who will not be happy in a heterosexual marriage. Nowadays, there are parents who arrange same-sex marriages for their child's happiness.

Gay or straight, if someone would like to settle down only after testing one or more partners' compatibility with dating and live-in, and marry only after falling in love, should s/he be hurried into a commitment?

Since Arjun in his sleep was muttering "sorry" in English sentences, I wonder if he had a relationship in the U.S.A. that ended badly. Why did this usually confident man start babbling nervously when Savi woke up in his hotel suite? Why didn't he look at Sapna's face? Is he haunted by the memory of some past transgression?

Back to diversity ... if someone is asexual and wants only emotional partnership, or if someone wants to be alone in life, with/without occasional sexual interactions, whose life is it to decide what is best?

Although this diversity exists in real life, on Marathi TV the young person avoids talk of marriage only because s/he is innocent.

I am always disappointed that the parent doesn't ask, what would you like your (sex) life to be? Marathi TV never questions the wisdom of elders assuming that heterosexuality is universal, everyone aged twenty to thirtysomething will be better off married, and pregnancy should occur within two years of marriage.

I wonder why Krishna'i feels justified saying to Arjun that he won't listen to her because she's not his birth mother. Doesn't Arjun feel sensitive about not having his birth mother? He smiled when Krishna'i said that his father would have been busy with marriage preparations for him, so it seems that Arjun loved his father in spite of Balaram's remark that Arjun disowned his family and went away. Was Krishna'i on such good terms with her husband and Arjun's mother that she can joke about having to compete?

In Friday's episode, both Vidyadhar and Nanda let it be known that they regret marrying each other.

Vidyadhar told Arjun that when he was determined not to get married, he rejected five brides, and so he is stuck with Nanda. Arjun, who looked as if he was about to cry, slouching and walking listlessly, hardly smiled at Vidyadhar's joke that Nanda might be eavesdropping. In this scene, Vidyadhar's words argued one side: "Krishna'i isn't forcing you, but resistance is futile. You will have to marry, and if you say no to this one, the next one may be worse." Arjun's body language and facial expressions argued the other side: "You're telling me to accept the same tradition of marriage that didn't work out for you!"

When Priya alluded to the old-fashioned custom of asking a prospective bride to thread a needle and walk steadily, Nanda remarked that it's too bad that prospective grooms aren't put to the same tests. Vidyadhar can't use both arms, and he uses one leg to lead the other. Nanda shows open contempt for his disability because she doesn't appreciate him as a person in her life. She knew about his disability when she agreed to marry him as a rich man, but now that Vidyadhar has to petition Arjun for money, Nanda wishes that she wasn't stuck with him.

In the final scene, Sneha and Savitri dropped hints of what they had discussed that convinced Sneha that her parents wouldn't expect her to marry Arjun.

The kisses that Sneha blew to Savitri, calling her "sweetheart," hinted that Sneha is attracted to women. When Savi blurted out that if Phadake were here, he would have given a kiss ... I guessed that as soon as Savi figured out Sneha's attraction to herself, she told Sneha that instead of coming out to her parents, she could out Arjun to them because he's having an affair with Phadake. Knowing that her parents wouldn't ask her to marry a gay man (and wouldn't suspect her own orientation) is why Sneha was so happy to tell Arjun that she would handle the situation.

Predictably, Krishna'i will hear about Arjun being gay from Sneha's parents, and since he will deny it, she will insist that he has to get married to Savitri right away to prove them wrong.

A character like Arjun, who studied in the U.S.A. after major victories there in civil rights for gay/lesbian persons, should be aware and accepting of diversity, I think. However, family honour is a strong pressure that may prevail with him.

If this is how the plot proceeds, I hope that Chinmay Mandlekar and Vikas Pandurang Patil will avoid portraying homosexuality as unthinkable and homophobia as acceptable to the benevolent characters like Krishna'i and Priya. On Jīva Zhālā Yeḍāpisā, the same writer and dialogue writer had a running joke about JaLaWa being "Shiva's second wife," at which Shiva never seemed uncomfortable, and one of the villains, Narapat Chikane, didn't like to be asked why he hadn't married. Maybe they will push the envelope further in Piratīçā Vanavā Urī Peṭalā by revealing Sneha as a lesbian character after her last scene.

Baby steps.

Interesting. Let's see how the tackle things, sensitively.