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Arnav x Khushi VM | Jaan Ban Gaye

Here’s a sweet little VM celebrating 9 years of Arnav and Khushi’s wedding! Song suggested by @thatcollateraldamage ; hope you all love this VM as much as the others. 

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Hi PS :) Hope you are good. In the under rated scenes mem, you have added the scene where Arnav tells Khushi, that he cannot remove her from his room. What really hits you in that scene. Other scenes I understand, but for this scene I want to know your view point. Thanks.-Ria

Hey Ria :)

There are so many reasons hahaha.

(1) The sequence

It’s the morning after the Heer Ranjha performance and the fight on the stairs, Arnav knows that she’d gone to get his sister medication. He tried to make amends by speaking to Khushi about it but she (understandably) rejected his olive branch, which made all his anger and hurt come flooding back. In his mind, he’d been trying to build a bridge with the woman who was dallying with his Jija.

So he took refuge in anger. (And he wants to be angry, firstly because he’s conflicted about Khushi, and secondly because the encounter with Shyam has clearly left him spoiling for a fight.)

But Khushi spent that sequence trying not to anger or hurt him further. She removed her clothes from the poolside, found the Singhania file, and generally tried to be quiet and stay out of his way.

(This dynamic is taken straight from abusive relationships, right down to Khushi not knowing exactly what she did wrong and trying her utter best to not repeat it.)

2) The person he’s speaking to

Arnav’s telling Khushi Kumari Gupta Singh Raizada, the last person on Earth who’d knowingly hurt him, that she’s made his life Hell. In my mind, it goes with the scene on her Pag Phere day where he reveals that he’s been hurt by her and she can’t fathom ever hurting him that much.

3) His words

Since she was eight, Khushi’s been told to be quieter, better behaved, and more thoughtful lest Shashi regret adopting her. That she, in her natural, boisterous, fun-loving state, wasn’t (and still isn’t) deserving of her family’s love. So Arnav repeating that sentiment by essentially saying that she’s only tolerable if she’s not being herself broke her a little.

To make it worse, Khushi always wanted to be married. There was an element of escape in all the dreams she had. She idealised her husband as someone who’d be solely hers, the one person in her life she wasn’t indebted to. And here her husband was, telling her quietly and calmly (not in anger!) that he likes her silence because it makes tolerating her easier. That he doesn’t like her the way she is.

Thanks for asking!

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get to know me meme >> Favorite Movies [14/?] It Happened One Night

I asked you a simple question: Do you love her? Yes, but don’t hold that against me. I’m a little screwy myself!

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IPKKND | Rab Raakha 

Celebrating 10 years of IPKKND through this little VM:

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IPKKND + Underrated scenes (2/??)

The moments I wish we talked about more

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Tag Game

Rules: Spell out your url with song titles and tag as many people as letters in your url.

Thanks @noor1025 for the tag!

T - Tu Mile Dil Khile

E - Enna Sona

E - Ek Din Teri Raahon Mein

N - Nainon Wale Ne

R - Rhim Jhim Gire Saawan

A - Aao Na

P - Pal Pal Dil Ke Paas

BONUS:

3 (Three) - Thoda Sa Pyaar Hua Hai

6 (Six) - Sach Keh Raha Hai

9 (Nine) - Namak Ishq Hai (sorry couldn't resist LOL 🤣)

Tagging @kashmakash @phati-sari @ridzmystique @jalebi-likes @aetherkidatheart @tellywoodtrash and anyone else who would like to play!

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♫ And there's not a spark in sight ...What a waste of a lovely night!

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IPKKND + Cinematography (2/??)

The shots that spoke a thousand words

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NK: A pessimist sees a dark tunnel.

Khushi: An optimist sees light at the end of the tunnel!

Aakash: A realist sees a freight train.

Arnav: The train driver sees three idiots standing on the train tracks.

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IPKKND Rewatch: Episode 220

I’m watching the entire series again (because why not), and since it’s the fourth or fifth hundredth? time I’m watching it again, I have all these thoughts about how everything ties together. One of my favourite things about this show is how the foundation for everything we see until Shyam finally leaves is laid out in the first 20 or so episodes. So I’ll be sharing my thoughts about each episode as I watch them, just for fun!

Watch the episode here.

Find all the recaps here.

Episode 220: Khushi cures her Laad Governor

1. What the!

You can thank me, and even apologise if you want.

There are a great many things Arnav Singh Raizada would’ve been able to put up with but this isn’t one of them. A squeal of tyres as he slams on the brakes, a glare at his wife, and he’s out of the car like a shot. The aforementioned wife has a brief hallucination in which she decides that he’s getting her a gift before she realises her folly.

Khushi Kumari Gupta Singh Raizada, stop daydreaming.

Side note: But these are all she has left, the hopes and dreams of a woman in love.

Because Khushi is one of those incredibly talented people who cannot go fifteen minutes without attracting trouble, she soon hauls herself into the driver’s seat. And when the car refuses to turn on, she says “What the! Why isn’t it starting?!” in exasperation before trying again.

Side note: When I first watched this, I assumed she was trying to turn the AC on. Subsequent rewatches, however, have convinced me that she wanted to pretend to drive the car.

Note: The Arnavification of Khushi is almost complete! There’s absolutely no hesitation or embarrassment when she says her husband’s catchphrase. Like his wardrobe and bedroom, it’s become hers.

Giving up on the car, Khushi reaches into her basta to pull out her yellow notebook, into which she writes a diary entry of sorts:

Today I accidentally hurt Arnav-ji again.

Note: I think this is very important. It’s not only that Khushi verbalises a truth that is rarely acknowledged – that she and Arnav unintentionally hurt one another all the time – but also that she’s writing it down. It seems that she’s keeping track of when Arnav is angry, which makes sense because she has no idea what she did to hurt him so much but I think she’d love to figure it out.

A police officer interrupts Khushi to demand a licence, pointing out that the car is parked in a No Parking zone (bitwa and his flagrant disregard for the law!). Things go from bad to worse when she tries to explain that she doesn’t have a licence and wasn’t driving the car (she was in the driver’s seat). Her Laad Governor returns while she’s arguing with the police officer, and though she’s at first excited that he can clear up the misunderstanding, she quickly recalls that he cannot speak.

Side note: He didn’t go to get his wife a present, he went to buy water.

What ensues is probably one of the most memorable sequences of the entire serial, where Arnav just stands there, arms folded, as Khushi panics. She even demonstrates how to nod one’s head to say yes, becoming increasingly distressed when it seems that her husband will happily see her off to jail rather than admit that he was driving. Realising that he wants something in return for his cooperation, Khushi asks him what she must do, and somehow correctly interprets his Ultra Smug Shrug™️ as a demand for an apology – the kind that requires squatting and holding one’s ears.

Note: Arnav first demanded that she apologise while holding her ears when he held her engagement ring hostage. Then she went one step further and did uthak-baithak for him on New Year’s Eve. This scene completes the Rule of Threes. I guess he might think it’s cute but I’m glad it didn’t become The Way for her to apologise in their relationship – it’s infantilising and he uses it to demean her. Though he did offer to do uthak-baithak for her in Ek Jashn!

Khushi does what he wants, he shows the police officer his licence, and when the other man asks why Khushi was sitting in the driver’s seat, Arnav indicates that she’s crazy. Neither is too impressed with the other as they climb back into the car, though Mr Raizada is smug about his victory.

2. Chhote and the kadha

Arnav’s voice is still not back the next morning, prompting a visit from a doctor who reminds him to stay away from allergens (Khushi has the grace to look guilty). Not wanting to prescribe medication because of Arnav’s diabetes, the doctor advises that his patient be kept away from all dust and dirt. No one in the house seems particularly impressed with Khushi at this point, so she’s excited when Payal suggests calling Amma for some advice.

It’s Bua-ji who suggests a tonic – which Khushi dutifully makes for her husband – but he rejects it as nonsense. No amount of cajoling from Nani or Mama (arguably the two people he respects most in this household aside from his Di) can convince Arnav to drink it … until Nani threatens to call Anjali. She’s likely to rush home from her doctor’s appointment when she hears about Chhote’s troubles. Well aware that he’s been played, Arnav drinks the tonic. And his wife smiles in victory.

3. Khoon Bhari Taang and the speech

Meanwhile, Manorama practices her speech for the talent contest, struggling to read and pronounce the English words, and eventually decides that Payal has purposefully written a difficult speech so that everyone will laugh at her. Undeterred, though a little out of spirits, Payal writes the speech in English using Hindi characters. Manorama is suitably impressed when it’s presented to her, but isn’t very gracious about the entire affair.

Note: (1) There’s nothing to indicate that Khushi cannot read and write in English. She transcribed Arnav’s letter perfectly when she was working for him. She used recording software because he spoke quickly and because his vocabulary is wider than hers, but no speech-to-text software is perfect and she needed to understand enough to edit it. She wrote letters on Lavanya’s behalf (imperfectly, granted), and understands Arnav every time he speaks to her in English. Shyam believes her proficient enough to understand the way he changed Arnav’s will (he gave her harmless documents and then switched them out without her noticing). Clearly, spoken English isn’t her strong suit and her vocabulary isn’t wide or deep. We can sit in the same classes as our peers but we don’t all have the same skills or proficiencies in every subject, so I doubt this indicates that Payal was given a better education than Khushi due to favouritism. It just means that they’re different people with different talents and interests. However, assuming that Payal is about four years older than Khushi and keeping in mind that Khushi was eighteen and fresh out of school when we met her, their varying comfort with English may be an indication that Payal went to college while Khushi didn’t. There’s nothing in the canon to support this, however. (2) This solution was ingenious. We talk often about Khushi’s resilience and ability to think creatively, but we should note that Payal isn’t helpless in this arena.

4. Cleanliness is next to Godliness

It’s two hours later, when Arnav is alone – reading a contract and complaining about the kadha being ineffectual – that his voice comes back.

Oh wow, it’s back!

Side note: The ASR theme that plays while he’s drinking water is my favourite version of his theme!

He lies when Khushi (speaking for Bua-ji) asks if the kadha worked, going as far as smirking when she deflates at the news that it hasn’t. Khushi, apparently also regressing to a childhood state, complains in undertone that a lot of her usual methods don’t work on this Laad Governor.

Exasperated, Arnav locks up whatever he was reading (the new will?) before swiping his finger along his coffee table to show her the dust in their bedroom. Khushi latches onto his silent explanation, promising to follow the doctor’s advice to the letter and remove all germs from his vicinity. She frantically dusts and mops every surface while he pretends to be voiceless when she asks.

Two hours later, she proudly announces that the room is clean. And then knocks over Arnav’s CD tower, breaking one of his pots (containing a plant!). Her husband manages not to shout, instead keeping up the charade of being voiceless while Khushi promises to clean it up. She even gets him a salt-water gargle, all the while fretting that nothing is working.

Note: So much energy, so much guilt, over taking away her Laad Governor’s voice. I sometimes wish that this sequence focussed more on what she was feeling and less on the comedy of the situation.

5. Danger

Later, Filthy!Shyam sneaks into Arnav and Khushi’s room. He looks for Arnav’s wallet behind the table lamp and pillows before finding it in one of the wardrobe drawers. As he’s opening the locked safe, however, Payal arrives with a cup of ginger tea for her jeth-ji. She finds him right outside, at his private poolside, and hands it over to a confused but grateful Arnav-ji.

Side note: This is so sweet, oh my heart.

Filthy!Shyam, genius that he is, decides now that it’s too dangerous to grab the key (but apparently had no such fears breaking into Arnav’s things while the man himself was ten feet away).

But the danger hasn’t passed, because someone is sneaking up on an unsuspecting bitwa as he gardens. Someone with a knife. Khushi. 

“Aaj aap ki khair nahi, Arnav Singh Raizada!”    [No one can save you today, Arnav Singh Raizada!]

Her shout (a voiceover) brings the family running upstairs as Arnav wonders if she knows that his voice is back. With everyone watching, Khushi takes a swing at him, but he manages to duck and grab her arm. He asks if she’s gone mad before realising that he’s spoken out aloud.

Elated, Khushi interrupts Mami’s panicked calls for the police to announce that her plan worked. That, as a child, she’d seen a movie where a hero was shocked into regaining his voice. Payal calls her pagal, Mami wants to go to court as Arnav’s witness for attempted murder, and Nani points out it was a farce before making a snarky remark at Manorama. Even Mama, usually a voice of reason in this household, is impressed by Khushi’s Bollywood inspired antics.

Note: (1) What the hell?! Khushi waved a serrated knife in her husband’s face and then lunged at him. What if he’d been unable to stop it? What if he’d accidentally grabbed the knife by the blade because he panicked? The entire scene is played off for comedy, with Arnav looking bad when he’s justifiably angry. Khushi is absolutely in the wrong here, and again, the comedic treatment takes away from the gravity of the scene. This what passes for bahut samajhdar in this household? (2) We’ve seen this side of Khushi before, the side that thinks that what she sees in movies is applicable in reality. Dressing Lavanya as a bride, for example, and encouraging Aakash to threaten suicide to win love. (3) There’s a recurring theme of blades, usually at the poolside, in the serial. Arnav put away his gardening fork in Episode 075 when he realised she was intimidated by it. He cut himself with shears in Episode 125. He snapped the shears as a warning in Episode 202, a gesture Khushi echoed in Episode 213 with scissors. Khushi will also imagine him trying to kill her with shears later, and then threaten Arnav with a knife again on her birthday. Maybe this is why they used a plastic knife in Ek Jashn.

“What the hell?! Meri awaaz teen ghante pehle aa gayi thi! Kadha peete hi. Yeh stupid nushk–”    [What the hell?! My voice came back three hours ago! When I drank the tonic. These stupid remed–]

Arnav trails off, seeing the smiles disappear from everyone’s faces as Khushi stares in shock. When she asks for an explanation, he growls that he owes her nothing before they remember the family still surrounding them. Mama encourages Khushi to keep giving Arnav hell as they all file out of the poolside area. Alone, Khushi resumes her questioning, and fills Arnav’s silence with explanations of her own. He must have enjoyed watching her fret over him, she says. He cracks eventually, admitting that he didn’t want to give Khushi any credit for the cure.

Previous // Next

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Hello PS! I'm going through your recaps and I have to say this, "huhhh. Says articulate singh raizada" is the best thing I've come across in a while! Absolutely witty! ☃️

Heyyyyy :D

Hahahaha, you know that's in a hall of fame -- along with Dragon Singh Laad Governor and Boyfriend Singh Raizada.

Thank you! I reckon I was especially on fire the day I wrote that recap.

See also: Mrs Panicked Singh Raizada, Sassy Singh Raizada, and Sarcastic Singh Raizada.

My default setting is dry humour and sarcasm. This blog forces me to interact like a human being.

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Rachel Weisz in THE MUMMY (1999) dir. Stephen Sommers

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Q for Questions

IPKKND was all about important questions - from rhetorical to stupid, earth shattering and heart stopping - about a missing anklet or gifted bangles. These questions are often heartbreaking and one can see that it takes so much for one to prod into the other’s mind. Q for kyun farak padta hai, q for kyun dard hai itna.  

A - Z of IPKKND

join in the 10 years celebration of IPKKND!

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I don’t believe it! But where did you get them? It’s a secret.

Me Before You (2016)

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IPKKND + Cinematography (1/??)

The shots that take my breath away

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IPKKND + Underrated scenes (1/??)

The moments I wish we talked about more

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Anjali & shyam's back story has been bothering me a lot. Do u think shyam ever loved anjali at any point of time? Even their first meeting in the temple didnt seem like a chance meeting. They have never shown us shyam's family as well. Any thoughts?

Hi sharingmyobsession!  I have so many thoughts …

As you know, I’ve sat on this question for ages. It plagues me. You see, the answer this question is entwined with another - “Did Shyam ever love Khushi?” That’s an easy question for me to answer: No. A thousand times no.

Shyam acted like a classic obsessive stalker - he exhibited those behaviours to the letter. Khushi caught his eye because of her innocence and vulnerability (the same things that lingered in Arnav’s mind long after she’d left his arms in Sheesh Mahal), and then he stalked her. He wormed his way into her life, into a position of trust. Then he attempted to possess her, ignoring her when she made it explicitly clear that she didn’t want to marry him. He tied her to himself. He threatened, he cajoled. He was convinced he knew what was best for her.

He didn’t like Arnav leaving her on the side of the road but happily threatened her family when they kicked him out of their home and lives. He wouldn’t let his henchmen hurt her during kidnap but threatened physical violence repeatedly. Shyam used her bathroom and stood in only a towel while he forced her to talk to him. Just how close was Shyam to sexual violence once Arnav was in his custody?

Back on topic. What I’m saying is that Shyam was very good at what he did. Which raises more questions: Was he always a master manipulator? Or was this a learned skill, one he’d practiced and honed on other women before Khushi?

NK and Khushi certainly think that Shyam never loved Anjali during the second reveal. Their performance implies that Shyam was always manipulating Anjali and that he’d only married her for her money.

I don’t care about any of you, Shyam yells, you can all go to Hell.

I can kill anyone for this mansion, this fortune, this inheritance, he laughs.

All I ever wanted from you was love, Anjali cries, and you weren’t even able to give me that. You deceived me every step of the way. You betrayed me for this money.

All this implies that Shyam never loved Anjali. That he was always manipulating her. That he never saw the Raizadas as his family and that he never felt anything for them. All he was interested in was Arnav’s wealth.

But you asked me what I think. This is all my opinion and I respect that not everyone is going to agree.

Shyam didn’t marry Anjali for a get-rich quick scheme. He’d set himself up for a life long deception. He didn’t know, beforehand, that he would meet Khushi. So what was he doing for the three years he was married to Anjali, when he didn’t know Khushi existed? Shyam marrying Anjali three years ago for money implies that Arnav was already disgustingly rich at 23. Or it implies that the Raizadas were rich before Arnav became successful.

Shyam is a unique character in the show. He’s the only character we never get to see in a “Before” state. We met all the key players before they met each other. Before they impact each other.

Except for Shyam Manohar Jha. We met him when he was rescuing Khushi from street goons. He was immediately a hero in our eyes. Until Teej, the dichotomy between Shyam and Arnav hinted that Shyam was the hero and Arnav the villain. It was only when Arnav caught Khushi as she fainted and Anjali’s husband was revealed that the dichotomy reversed into the truth: our hero is Arnav Singh Raizada.

That’s when we realized that Shyam was always deceiving Khushi. That’s when we realized that Shyam was always deceiving us. And so no viewer, no matter how hard they try, sees Shyam as he really is. We saw the real Arnav – he shed tears after getting out of the helicopter at Sheesh Mahal. We knew he was capable of emotion, dedication and love long before he showed that side to Khushi. We saw the real Khushi. We knew Khushi was self-sacrificing and innocent in the purest sense of the word long before Arnav figured it out.

We never saw Shyam. We never saw Shyam without Khushi for context. We only ever saw Shyam as he was manipulating Khushi, and then both Khushi and Anjali.

That leaves the question of whether he truly felt anything for Anjali, ever, wide open. Was Shyam so cold-hearted that he didn’t bond with Anjali in those three years? Was Shyam so bad that he didn’t see the Raizadas as his family, ever? Is anything ever that black and white? 

Why did a show that tried so hard to show us nuance in every other character treat its villain with such a wide brush?

We have one story of Anjali and Shyam’s courtship. In Episode 156 Anjali tells a story of how Shyam climbed up a pipe and entered the house through the window to meet her. I think it’s disappointing that we are expected to take Shyam at face value and his motivations and past are never revealed.

I don’t think we have enough evidence to say anything conclusive about Shyam before Khushi. Personally, I think Shyam was content with his original plan before he fell violently and obsessively in lust with Khushi. I don’t think he manipulated or trapped other women before Khushi.

Arnav was giving him a very generous monthly allowance. He most likely supplemented his wages with bribes he took from those he worked with. He had access to the Shantivan fleet of cars (3-5 different vehicles). Shyam used to have his own house – when we meet Anjali she’s visiting Shantivan because her husband is travelling for work and it’s unsafe for her to be at home alone. She and Shyam didn’t live in Shantivan. The move became semi-permanent after Teej, when Arnav told Shyam that they should stay in Shantivan until Shyam got a stable job in Delhi.

I think what changed was Khushi. Just like Khushi had an immediate and irrevocable impact on Arnav’s life, she had a huge impact on Shyam. I think she completely changed what Shyam wanted from life. I don’t think polygamy was on the cards until Shyam met Khushi, just like marriage wasn’t on the cards until Arnav met Khushi.

The show never shows us anyone from Shyam’s family, never tells us if he even has siblings. Shyam organized Anjali’s Teej present himself. Traditionally, the women of his household would have organized something for his wife, so this implies that Shyam doesn’t have any family at all.

Maybe they’re estranged. Maybe he killed them all for their money.