Originally posted by: sashashyam
My dear Jyoti,
I do not know about the Boss from Hell, which is what Arjun was in the beginning, but what I do NOT like is the awful checked shirts this naya Arjun wears. He looks as bad as Rithwik did in the Sprite ads. He was really at home only in his 3 piece suits or, at a pinch, the V neck tee shirts under a slickly fitted jacket. Which was why I never believed (not knowing what all the CVs could think up) that he could ever by plonked down in a chawl or made to stand in a line for water. Alas for my naivete!
Now, my complaint against this naya Arjun, whom both our young people profess to like so much, is not just that he seems to have been affected by a terminal case of do-gooderism, and is beginning to sound like a Salvation Army recruit, the way he carries on and on about the plight of the poor and the marginal workers. It is exactly like watching the early Raj Kapoor films: Jaagte Raho, Shri, 420, Awaara. And he believes in what he says, and rejoices in the fact that the cause for the mithai being distributed at the garage today was him, the naya Arjun.
What he forgets to mention, and perhaps does not even realise, in the process of exulting over his own goodness, is that it was not he and his empathy and good will, but DK's big bucks that saved the garage. It is important for Arjun to understand this basic fact, What could he have done to save Farooq from foreclosure on his Rs. 8000 pm? Nothing. The power of money to do good is immense and this should be neither forgotten nor slurred over. So, if Arjun wants to continue to feel good about playing Santa Claus, and not just one of the reindeer pulling Santa's sledge, he has first to get back to MAKING big money. Which means a big business, not working in, or even running a garage.
This apart, my real grouse is that this naya Arjun is far too ready to 'sir' everyone in sight, call the Inspector 'saheb' and to apologise to all and sundry for everything and nothing, as he did at the hospital after that all too brief reversion to Arjun Kirloskar. The change is too drastic to be convincing. The saying goes that a lion might be starving, but it will never eat grass even to survive. Not for our AK, it seems, for he is not only eating grass, but is beginning to actually like it. Whoever heard of a vegetarian lion?
I agree that Arjun stoops to chawl life for the sake of a greater maqsad, and also, as naava noted, that this brush with the harsh realities of life will make him a wiser, more compassionate and altogether better young man. But he should not, in this process, completely lose touch with his old persona, for then he will become and remain a garage hand inside and out, which would be pathetic and a total waste.
Right now, with his endless litany about his empathy for the little man, he is already beginning to sound repetitive and a tad tiresome. And if Purvi goes on looking at him with worshipful eyes, as she does at the bus stop today, and joins him in singing the praises of the naya Arjun, God knows what it will take to get him back on the rails. Not to revert to arrogance, that is gone for good, and a good thing too. But to become once more a man born to command, who can yet use his money and his brains, at least in part, for the greater good of the many and not just to enrich the few, including himself.
Perhaps it could be this kidnapping that everyone is talking about. Rescuing whoever is kidnapped will take a masterful personality, and all the sharpness and resourcefulness of Arjun Kirloskar. Maybe that will bring back to him the joys of being in command once more.
All this grumbling apart, today's little bus stop rendezvous (that is what it was, a pre-determined time for them to meet there, which is why he says sorry for being so late) was very charming. I loved the way in which Arjun bends down and peers naughtily up at Purvi's face as she is reciting the mantras before giving him the prasad.
I also loved the light in her eyes as she says "Mujhe bhi!" and the admiring, almost worshipful expression with which she drinks in his tale of 'How Arjun saved Farooq's garage". It might just as well have been a war he had won all on his own if you went only by what her eyes said. If one were to stretch a point and with apologies to Shakespeare, thus might Desdemona have listened to Othello's tales of his deeds of valour.
Lastly, I was delighted with the tabela scene of Yadav the gang leader whipping his subordinates into line. They are no pushovers, these disgruntled footsoldiers, for they complain openly, and mostly about the special treatment given to Vishnu. If their detestation of the boss' favourite, Vishnu, and their reluctance to obey his orders during the 'get Manav' operation that is in the works, are any indication ,Vishnu is in for a hard time. With such 'support' staff, he will have to watch his back a good bit of the time, and also make sure that there is nothing on the ground to trip him up. They will work hard to make him fail, and thus pull him down from his pedestal. It is going to be fun to watch.
Shyamala
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