For the ask game, rant on "punarmilan" and "bhaichara" (still one of my favourite fics of yours)?
So both of these fics have been rolling around in my head for years.
Punarmilan is based on the Rama Sita reunion scene from the 2012 Zee TV adaptation (Ramayan: Sabke Jeevan Ami Aadhan), which was also on Netflix for several years till it was removed in Aug 2020. The adaptation was pretty cheesy and a rip-off of Ramanand Sagar in many ways, but I loved it for the sole reason that there was NO AGNI PARIKSHA at the end, just Rama and Sita embracing on the shores of Lanka in the glow of the sunset. which was a decision more out of time constraints than any aversion to the scene, but YESSSSSS. I lived that scene so much that I screengrabbed it when I found out it was getting removed from Netflix, and it lived on my hard drive for a few years until I ficced it a few weeks ago.
Bhaichara has been in my head since I first watched the movie at age 8 when it came out. I was very moved by how Ishaan’s two closest peers are his elder brother and Rajan, both of whom perform very well academically. It would have been easy to make him jealous or resentful, but Aamir Khan didn’t. Also that scene where Yohan glances away guiltily at the dinner scene when the dad brings up the absent note and he’s crying in the car along with mom while Dad doesnt care during Mere Maa? As an elder sibling that hit. And how Ishaan is a troublemaker for most of the film, but when Rajan trips and falls, Ishaan jumps down and helps him back up? Even though it would be easy to resent Rajan?
