Thoughts on MJHT - SG

The most cliched, hackneyed start - stud boy meets nerd girl, specs and all. A raw actor with poor dialogue delivery and worse expressions. A pretty heroine who did nothing but whimper with nervousness, or cry - both my pet peeves. So where did the SG story hook me?
Not the start - definitely. I watched the first two-three episodes and gave it up completely! Didn't see it at all the next few months. Happened to see a couple of promos, which didn't really interest me. Then DMG started going down the tubes and I started putting on the tv five-ten minutes before it started and would catch the last 5-10 minutes of MJHT - around the Valentine's Day episodes and MN's Ahmedabad trip.
I enjoyed the MN ahmedabad trip, the lost in the jungle sequences and the night in the house - mainly for Nupur's bubbly acting. I loved SG during the question answer session when they knew each other inside out - this was my idea of love. And I got hooked on SG during Khuda Jaane. Defining moment.
Their chemistry was electric, their thoughts, their feelings tangible, their dance, especially Gunjan's graceful movements, hypnotic. The way they looked at each other and smiled, their comfort levels were obvious. Khuda Jaane to me is still a completely SG song - I had to watch it again to remember where MN even featured in it. It hooked me - so I went back in time and saw the old episodes on youtube and I found that what was the most cliched love story in the book had turned into a beautiful poignant love story which had echoes in my own life and that of people I knew. It was real, it was believable and it was beautfully portrayed.
My favourite moments - Dia telling Gunjan about the bet out of spite, Gunjan, hurt to the core, hiding her feelings, carrying on with her exams, deciding not to tell Samrat she knows about it till the exams are over, because she will help him till the end as she has promised - and she does. The sequence in his house where he knows something is wrong - ah, they have already developed such an understanding - and asks her, she doesn't reply directly, but tells him that she will keep her promise. The end of the exams - Samrat looking for her, his expression of anguish when he says - 'Chashmish, where are you? and what is it that you're hiding from me which is worrying you so much?' And then the break - of friendship, as they call it - but it's already so obvious that they are deeply in love.
These few scenes were the defining moments of their relationship for me. I fell in love with the Gunjan I saw in them - quiet, yet strong, unbearably hurt by someone she had learned slowly to trust, yet dignified to the core even after what she saw as his betrayal. She has not raised her voice even once during this entire year and her personality has been the strongest. Her voice modulation is simply amazing - I hear her on sbs and other interviews and she has a harsh, almost shrill voice. On screen, it sounds as though she has dipped it in honey. Her personality in real life is a complete contrast to Gunjan - they seem to be polar opposites, yet when she plays Gunjan, it's as though she cannot be any different.
As for Samrat - hats off to Mohit, for he has really come a long way in terms of acting skills. He was an unconvincing stud of the college - even now, he cannot really portray anger or even attitude - I feel from his offscreen interviews that he is just too sweet a guy! But he has progressed a long way and emotes really well now - much better than he did earlier. He still has some way to go, but he is definitely watchable and believable now. Helps that his character is a sweetheart as well - though the 'dhakkan' phase irritated the life out of me!
I hated the Weeping Willow phase of Gunjan - to me, that was not Gunjan as I loved her. Am so glad that the quietly strong girl seems to be on her way back, and am thrilled that their love story is finally, hopefully! reaching its climax. Looking forward to Morena!