Originally posted by lizdarcy
Beautiful write up. This inner turmoil you've described, this bundle of complexities, that's what makes Dutta the man he is. That is why we love him so much. There are so many layers to him, it's just impossible keeping track. His troubled conscience, the fact that he's at constant war with his emotions, these are a few reasons why i was so drawn to him. There've been a lot of gangsters on television. A lot of dark characters haunted by their pasts. But none have been written/portrayed so brilliantly. I'm totally into character analysis, and i love characters that seem unredeemable, and yet are more than just one dimensional beings. I love analyzing why they are the way the are. Most of these characters disappoint me, in the way they're written. There's almost no evolution, and they end up being mere caricatures of themselves. There are but a few that have really really made it to my heart, and the top of my list. Dutta's of course at the top, along with Severus Snape(I've rooted for this anti hero ever since i read Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. My sister and me had a bet, i said he'd turn out to be a good guy. Of course, i won) and Barney Stinson(oh yeah, i believe there's a lot more to him than just the women and suits. Love him coz of the fact that he's so damaged. Case in point, season 6)
Your write-up is so much more beautiful than mine, Liz 👏
Indeed. His inner conflicted emotions, the inner struggle, that has really intrigued me as well. Yes, the unredeemable characters have something about them that just draws one in, but I can only mention two that have truly captivated me. One is Dutta - who is now on top my of two-character list, and the other is Angel from the 90s vampire show of the same name. Watching a monster and a man in one body, fighting each other, and watching that same monster/man hating himself, committing crimes that weigh down on his conscience yet a vital part in him seeks redemption - that's just a beautiful watch.
Dutta, throughout his journey, fell short so many times. Yet I never hated him. I never even blamed him. I just blamed his circumstances, even though it was him who made all the wrong decisions for himself and the people involved with him. I remember a scene during the Dutta-Supriya wedding in which Kala read Supriya's letter about him being an animal and the cops finding his body in a ditch somewhere. I felt horrible. And the moment he made that animalistic head-turn and that animalistic sound - I was terrified and fascinated at the same time. He was becoming the very thing that the woman hated him for, the thing that the woman claimed he was. It wasn't to prove her right. It was his self-loathing that was the reason for his sudden turn of character.
He felt - in that moment - that he was an animal, not worthy of being loved by a woman. Not deserving of happiness or a woman's gentle touch. It was heartbreaking to watch, yet just intriguing. Mishal's performance was outstanding.
Maybe, what i really love about this character is that they took their own sweet time to let him evolve. He didn't just change overnight. He did not just sway and fall in love with the heroine and give up his bad boy image for her. The transformation was so slow, so sweet, that you couldn't help but root for this guy and his journey towards redemption.
You're right. He didn't give up his bad boy image for her. She accepted him as he was, and she never demanded that he change for her. The changes in him were natural and small. I don't think that he can change for anyone, which is why their relationship is so unique and beautiful. Naku is probably the only woman who can embrace both the man and the beast in him and love them both equally. In a recent episode, Dutta and Naku were standing in their tent right before he had to be taken to Ranga. When Bhola called for him, he turned his head in this very Dutta animalistic way of his and Naku saw it, but not once did she flinch. That proved to me that Dutta is Dutta. He's still, in ways, the beast and the conflicted man - but the small changes that Naku brought in him will make things easier for him, will help him redeem himself, will help him cope a bit differently with emotional situations and life in general.
I remember being one of the people who totally bashed Nakusha when she hid her face from him before the wedding. But now when i look back, i find that it was necessary. It wasn't just a lie that hurt him, it became more than that. If he hadn't received those wounds then, he'd never have healed completely. Nakusha suffered for what she did, she even redeemed herself. Dutta's journey of course, wasn't over. He had her apparent betrayal to deal with, and then the dilemma of beauty and love. It was just his prejudice of beauty equals betrayal that had to be shattered. The process was gradual again. The way he fought himself, tried to hate her, uttered hateful words and even inflicted hurt upon her, that was just heartwrenching. He wasn't hurting her, he was hurting himself.
Indeed. One thing has always been clear. Dutta has always tried to hurt himself when feeling betrayed. Be it through Naku or his family. He has always chosen to "punish" the very people through whom he would be the one to be damaged the most. He's one of those men on the verge of suicide, but never taking the final step that would send him over the ledge and crashing down. Perhaps because a part of him always felt that he deserved the pain, the torture, by living it. Death would've been too easy. Over in one quick cut. Even post-Supriya and when he believed that Naku had betrayed him, he knew that she wouldn't leave him, deep down, he knew. He kept on hounding her and punishing her in every way thinkable, yet she remained a steady rock, refusing to break at his hand. In those scenes, the ones where he threatened her and pointed the gun to his own chest, telling her to look inside him and see the blood - in those very scenes, he was opening up to her again and again. Allowing her to see his pain. Allowing himself to be vulnerable in front of her?
If he had ever believed her to be his real enemy, he wouldn't have let her see him so vulnerable. He wouldn't have opened his feelings to her. He knew that he could still tell her what he felt. He knew, deep down, that he could still trust her. That she couldn't possibly have betrayed him the way that it had been claimed. I loved those scenes back in June. There was so much pain in Dutta and he shared it all with Naku (without even realizing it himself) who didn't as much as waver from the terrible weight of it. Come what may.
My favorite bit in this phase was the ride to the mandir, the one where Dutta refused to meet Chaskar because he wanted to be with her. I loved it that he couldn;t stay away from her inspite of trying his best to. Then, his realization that she was the same girl he had fallen in love with, and the dark phase he had after the accident, where he finally admitted to himself that he'd been wrong all along. This man's journey has been beautiful. In that, we've seen him evolve from a man of passion to someone who has found peace within himself. A lot of it has been because of love, or just the realization that he deserved to be loved. 😊 He really needed that to find peace, forgive himself, and learn to love himself.
YES!
