Often ITV dramas have a tendency to fall into tried and tired tropes and microtropes. While most of the stuff in BKAS may not be terribly unique, here are some things I loved, which were handled much better than other ITV shows I have seen till date.
(Since its a long post, I have underlined the TLDRs of each point being made)
1. The way Marriage was Approached:
This will be in 2 ways. One is Vandana and Vaibhav's marriage, and one is Kuvan's marriage.
I actually like that Vandana and Vaibhav managed to tie the knot and later got divorced. No no, just hear me out. I genuinely hate how often the FL's only marriage is with the ML, and the mental gymnastics to get them married and to make them stay married are insane. They try to tout the 'sanctity' of marriage, as if a pinch of vermillion makes an absolute toxic partner worth your time and effort.
I like that we had a FL who managed to not only break ties of a toxic marriage, but also managed to make a decision of her 2nd marriage all on her own. Vandana taking a firm stand against Vaibhav's family, cutting off ties with them and eventually growing bold enough to call them out on their atrocities? Chef's kiss. That scene where she thrashes Vaibhav with a broom? Majestic.
Now onto Kuvan's marriage. I like that it was one of the most honest and mature conversations till that point in their relationship. Kunal showed all his cards to Vandana, did not try to manipulate her by painting a rosy picture. He knew he was asking for a tremendous favor, but he was extremely upfront about his intentions. It was his own idea, no one manipulated or pushed him into it. Vandana also chose to take her time, and eventually accepted and realised that she was completely fine as long as she could be the mother of the child she loved to death. It wasn't romantic or heartwarming, it was absolutely mature and a bit heartbreaking, but both were completely aware about what they were getting into
2. Sonia
Do I dislike how Kunal ran to her at the wedding? Yes. Do I think it was somewhat inconsistent character writing that he blew up at Vandana twice the same night about acting as his wife? Pretty much yeah.
But everything after that is pretty well handled. I'm glad I did not have to deal with 200 episodes of emotional infidelity from the ML towards to FL. Actually it never felt like emotional infidelity. If Sonia crossed a line, Kunal called her out. He never, not once, treated her as a potential love interest, but mostly as a distant acquaintance at best.
He consistently chose to trust Vandana when push came to shove, aside from the one time when Tara fainted. (Understandable tbh. While I wanted to punch the guy, I know how parents lose all reason when it comes to the health and safety of their kids).
After that one point where he acknowledged that he was wrong in calling Vandana a bad mother, he chose to respect her, appreciate her efforts, thank her when she went above and beyond. He made a pre-marriage declaration that Vandana would get all his respect as his wife, and I think that was true all around. He made it clear that only at Vandana's approval would Sonia stay in the same home.
Kunal having a soft corner for Sonia was pretty realistic, but I like how it never overshadowed Vandana or his mother. He had a clear idea of what Sonia was actually like, and when she started spewing nonsense, he threw her out. In the end, he didn't shy away from taking legal action against her. At all.
3. Apologizing and Realising
When it came to the Big Grovel, we did not go Generic ITV. Generally the ML only realises and apologises for his mistakes during a seperation track where the FL leaves him. It goes on for at max 4 episodes, and after a woefully inadequate and insincere apology only given to bring the FL back, we forget all 250 episodes of marital torture.
While Kunal did pretty horrible things to Vandana pre-marriage, he had already begun acknowledging her hard work and dedication much before they got married. And when the apology came, it was completely heartfelt, sincere and unprompted. No one asked him to apologise. Even if he had not apologised at that point, Vandana (or anybody really) wasn't likely call him out. But he apologised for ALL his actions willing to acknowledge his faults, simply because he knew Vandana deserved that and more. I like how Vandana ALSO acknowledges that the Mrunal/Bobby scenario could've been avoided if she has communicated.
The realisation of love as well, felt like it was between 2 mature adults. They were happy about their own feelings, confessed pretty quickly without dragging things out, and held no expectations whatsoever about the feelings being reciprocated. While I would have, on the flip side, enjoyed a little bit of angst of Kunal's end and would have LOVED to see him a bit miserable and completely in love with Vandana, but boy am I glad we have the confession out of our way by this point.
4. How 'Mother' is handled:
If the great powers eternal of ITV were give the choice, Detective Extraordinaire Vandana would have discovered Vani at the mental hospital, brought her home after 20 episodes of fighting with the ML, and 100 episodes of saving Vani from death threats later, Vani would have died. Here Kunal found her, but Vandana and VEDIKA took her home. Kunal, while initially reluctant, now chooses to keep her at home as well, and is patiently waiting for the time when Vani can answer for her actions. Vandana, while has her own opinion, never forces her perspective on Kunal, and waits for his own realisation of his relationship with his mother.
5. Vandana & Kunal:
The consistency in the character writing and the communication for these two is absolutely the reason that the above points happened.
Vandana is strong mature, stable and stupidly kind. Vandana does not always need Kunal to save the day, she stands up for herself, saves herself just as much as he ends up saving her. Her stand in front of Vaibhav's family and breaking off ties with them was my absolute favourite. Her inability to cut off Mrunal is also pretty much due to her character writing, as Mrunal will forever hold a soft spot in her heart. Her approach to her relationship with Kunal is my favorite. She never felt jealous of Sonia, because at that point, their relationship dynamic was pretty much just friends, and she respected Kunal's warning before marriage that he will most likely never love Vandana.
Kunal pretty much is a character who does what he says. He upfront, straightforward, arrogant and never hesitates to call anyone out. Be it Pammi, Sonia or Bobby or even Tara or Vandana, his approach is basically 'tell it how it is'. He also is an extremely self-aware character, from how he acknowledged that his drinking was at fault in hurting Vandu and Tara, to how he came to a realisation and acceptance of his feelings for Vandana, to how he acknowledges his faults and inability to be a perfect father or husband. He pledged to make sure that Vandana had all the rights as the mother of Tara and as the Daughter in Law of the household, and he did as he said.
The much needed TLDR:
While the major plot themes and flow of the story aren't anything unique, the way the microtropes and situations are handled, are absolutely what makes the show stand out. Personally the biggest plus point is that while Kunal might initially seem as your generic emotionally standoffish ML, he is absolutely one of the most green flag MLs out there, due to his ability to self-reflect and the generally consistent writing.
If anyone has a counter opinion or anything at add, I would love to discuss the same.
PS. What are some of your favorite parts about this show that set it apart?
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