Utkarsh Naithani – Master Puppeteer with Magical Strings By Seeta

Utkarsh Naithani – Master Puppeteer with Magical Strings 

I was one of those late comers to DKDM – discovered the show almost a year after it began. It took me a couple of weeks to get caught up with the show and also get caught up in the frenzy of Shiva-Sati love story! But this article is about the renewed frenzy that the show seems to generate nowadays and the person behind that frenzy is Utkarsh Naithani – the writer, both story and screen play. Utkarsh is the man who has reinvigorated the show after months of monotonous and relentless demands and disappointments between the members of the First (divine) Family – Shiva, Parvati and their progeny. Enter Jalandhar, the Shivaansh, with his brooding eyes and regal gait and the show is on fire.

Let me start at the beginning – the story! Actually let me start at the VERY beginning – the story teller – after all a story’s beginning is the imaginings of its writer. An idea that plants itself and grows in the vivid imagination of the writer and manifests itself in the form of a story. Characters are born from this creative process and relationships between characters, places and events emerge forming a coherent narrative. A narrative that is embolden by the screenplay with words that transport the viewer into the world of these characters and events. While this may seem magical enough for a lay writer, Utkarsh’s stories transform the viewer. He is the master puppeteer whose strings work their magic on the viewer and make them act in ways that are not typical or even customary.

I am not a writer. I am an academic, I deal with the process of learning and assessing such learning besides creating new knowledge myself – that’s what I am – an academic. I have never written in response to a story, never corresponded with any of the writers I have read thus far – much less to a show that I am watching at the moment. Utkarsh’s Jalandhar has made it impossible for me to sit on the sidelines anymore. Utkarsh’s Vrinda has provoked me to ‘unmute’ myself in a very public forum. His strings are his narratives with characters that creep under the skin and grow unnoticed until you find yourself rooting for them, dreaming with them, crying for them, raging with them and even live in denial like them! Jalandhar’s denial of Vrinda’s death was real to me. Vrinda’s curse was my curse for Narayan. Her scathing skepticism towards the Trimurty was mine. Her sense of betrayal by her Aaradhya was mine as well. My heart sank and broke with her as Vrinda sank to the floor with shock. How could I stay on the sidelines?

Is it good acting? Without a doubt. Mohit Raina and Neha Marda were superb today. Mohit Raina as the grieving Jalandhar took over the screen. As Vrinda lay immobile in his arms, his lines belied the knowledge but his eyes conveyed the truth – she was indeed gone forever. Neha Marda as the heartbroken Vrinda was pathos herself. She conveyed this sorrow with everything she had – her downcast eyes, slump of her shoulders, her dejected walk. Saurabh Raj Jain as Narayan redeemed himself in my eyes today – his eyes spoke of his distress even when he had them closed. Genuine regret and remorse of his betrayal of Vrinda’s pativrata were etched on his features today. So what about the author you say?

Yes, LifeOk is blessed with extraordinary artists who have painted this canvas called Devon Ke Dev Mahadev show with their craft day in and day out. If I am able to appreciate Mohit Raina’s grief on his contorted face today it is only because of the ammunition that Utkarsh Naithani has provided him. An actor can only go as far as the lines he has to deliver. And boy does Utkarsh

Naithani deliver! Raina, Marda and Jain were explosive today because of the volatile power of Utkarsh’s imaginings delivered through his story and screenplay.

‘The pen is mightier than a sword’ – I am sure we have all heard it. Never before has this pithy adage been more true than in the context of the story of Jalandhar and Vrinda. Utkarsh’s pen should come with a statutory warning – not just mightier, but transformative as well. It began with the memory loss of Parvati. Many of us were happy with this loss! It meant that Parvati had the potential to become her true self – Adi Shakti and Utkarsh has the power to make that transformation possible.

Full Disclosure: I am making a distinction between the character, Parvati, and the actor, Sonarika Bhadoria. My discussions are limited to the characterization of Parvati and not the actor who plays it.

It became apparent that Utkarsh had a different plan for his Parvati – soon after her memory loss she began to show some spunk, gumption and verve whenever she was challenged by Mahadev. No more apologetic for her powers and her divinity, Parvati, even as a human, had more character than she did ever before. And boy does she challenge Mahadev – with grace even when under fire [think about Utkarsh’s Ashtang Yoga that she had to go through.] Many of us Shaktas look forward to a new Parvati – who is more akin to the Adi-Shakti we all grew up learning. After all, she was not called ADI-SHAKTI for nothing!J

Then came Jalandhar – Ah the angry and vengeful Jalandhar. It became very clear, very soon that this bad boy was not always bad. The merit of Utkarsh’s conceptions directed the viewer to his now popular aphorism that ‘it is not about good or bad, but about cause and effect.’ One saw that manifest in his Jalandhar – Jalandhar’s actions and reactions. For a more detailed appreciation of Utkarsh’s creation and Mohit Raina’s rendition of Jalandhar, read Shyamala Cowsik’s posts from May 21, 2013 onwards https://www.facebook.com/UtkarshNaithaniOfficial

Along with Jalandhar came Vrinda – the first female professional – she was a doctor who could stand up to Jalandhar’s raw power. She was unfazed by his intensity – insisting on calling him by his name in HER hospital, as she put it. As a woman and as an academic, I was pulled into Utkarsh’s version of Vrinda – also a woman who was a physician with compassion, yet at the same time, firm in her own beliefs and principles that she is able to challenge and counter Jalandhar’s arguments against her Aradhya! She even warns him that if he hates someone with that intensity, he is at a risk of becoming like them! Profoundly wise and sublimely assured without being wickedly aggressive she is able to assert herself with such grace! No wonder there are more people like me on the twitter world who have been enamored by her as much or more than Jalandhar! For an eloquent elucidation of Vrinda’s attraction to some of us read Maith Iyengar’s post on May 22, 2013 here https://www.facebook.com/UtkarshNaithaniOfficial

So what? It is the writer that breathes life into a story. It is the writer who creates a character – like AND unlike the reader so that there is empathy and sympathy working dialogically between the reader and the writer. Very soon strings materialize and we are caught in the web of this puppeteers’ mastery. He has plucked me from the sidelines with his prowess and plunked me in the middle of this raging debate – is Jalandhar’s story true to the puranas. Does it even matter? I ask all those to pause for a moment and pay tribute to this writer who has enlivened this show and its audience into engagement. You are a part of it, whether you want to

be or not. And for that I thank Utkarsh Naithani – the master puppeteer who has managed to carve out dialogs between two very unlikely folks – academics and fans!J

By Seeta, @furrowbravebell