Thank you for opening this thread. It was much needed. CVs and producers, here are my two cents:
1) Recently, there have been moments in the episodes in which some of the dialogues have seemed very out-of-character. This has been the case with a few Dutta and Nakusha scenes. It wouldn't have bothered me if I had experienced this happening at any point earlier on the show, but to me it has been a recent kind of thing that seems to be the consequence of carelessness from the writers' side rather than a random mistake.
It just seems as if the writers are careless in relation to the characters and the show at times. I remember the dialogues and scenes between every one of the characters on the show as being cautiously thought out, considered carefully. But that doesn't seem to be the case recently. There are rare moments in which the dialogues are really well-written and in character. I, for one, feel that Kala's dialogues are always bang on. It irks me when Dutta's aren't.
2) The directing/camera angles and focus out in the basti is very different from the way the scenes are shot back at the Patil Niwas. I don't mind fresh directors as, up until February2011, the directors hired for LTL have proven to sustain the essence, the unique feel of the show - but with the new directing in February 2011, I have been nothing but disturbed. It comes across as sort of cheap and, at times, completely awkward directing. It feels as if the new director doesn't know his actors very well and thus misses out on shooting/focusing on their brilliant performances during their scenes - especially Dutta hasn't been treated fairly by the new directing in the past one and a half month.
There has been serious lack of camera focus on him; his scenes cut awkwardly that took away from the actor's performance. He wasn't allowed to play out his scene, wasn't given any actual time or focus. However, I feel that in the past two episodes, the camera has focused a bit more on him, but not to the degree that it used to, or even to the degree that Yash Chauhan, Jignish M. Vaishnav, Dharmesh Shah, and Vijay Krishnan Chaturvedi used to focus on him (they had a way of putting so much life into the directing of LTL and sustaining its unique style while at the same time focusing on Dutta from all angles).
Also, there's been a lot of jumping from shot to shot rather than giving one scene its needed time to evolve and then move on to another.
It seems that the team is under time pressure or something of that sort as the episodes appear to be shot and put together quickly, and carelessly, at times. This is all in comparison to pre-January episodes when the directing still had its unique style and spirit.
Shooting in two different locations with one director might turn out to be an issue if the team is under time pressure and, perhaps, there might be financial reasons as well? So, the solution might've been hiring another director to bag the shots involving Dutta - and wherever he is - while Yash Chauhan remained back at the PN?
However, the difference between the two directing shows. To the point where I find the new directing sadly lacking (rather than complementing) in a few very essential departments.
4) Stranger yet is that Dutta seems to remember/mention everyone from his family except Madhu - his blood-related sister whom he had started to bond with and who is rather important to him as well. But for some reason, he has yet to even mention her.
Suggestions:
1) I hope (if Mishal stays and LTL continues) that Dutta's past will be explored a bit more - in depth. For instance, how he got his satta. We know that he killed a lot of people and fought his way to the throne, but we haven't exactly been shown how he seized the throne. That would be an interesting story to tell.
2) It would be nice to see Dutta and Madhu's relationship be explored a bit further as well. I never felt that Dutta got his feelings completely sorted out in relation to his father and sister. Perhaps we could have a sidetrack that shows us Dutta exploring the curiosity and kind of need he felt to "know" his father? And now his sister? Perhaps he could ask Madhu about their father or something along those lines?
3) It was so awesome to see Baji in action after such a long time. Please do continue to developing him and pulling him to the front. Also, it was nice to see Kishore interact as well. Perhaps we could have the sisters' interaction? How are they developing? What's going through their minds? Etc.
This is it for now. I might return and edit this post if I recall anything else 😃
In spite of the critisism and suggestions, I feel that LTL is the one show that has always had the most beautifully complex cast of characters, unique character-developments, and so much awesome focus on characters and their relationships rather than suspense and drama. It's what hooked me in the beginning and what I continue to hope will be sustained on the show.
I love LTL for what it was pre-January. I do hope it will return to its brilliant stardard and maintain it.
Edited by Elysia - 13 years ago
