Rishton Ka Chakravyuh Week 1, Ep 1-6

Start date - 7th Aug

Narayani Shastri, mysterious Satrupa. Is she perfectly happy with the decision to abandon her daughter?
Mahima - Anami, the abandoned daughter. Angry, bitter with the birth mother who abandoned her, she abandons her every year on her birthday.
A benevolent grandfather ... or not so benevolent?
Anju Mahendru, grandmother ... complicit? or unwilling participant in the abandonment?
Vatsalya ... the twin brother, brought up in the lap of luxury, and now heir to the steel business.

The standard villains - uncle (the actor who played Shakuni in Mahabharat), his vampish smart, attractive wife, and equally standard spoilt, demanding son ... who wants his rightful (?) share.

The father - Baldev ... who is deemed unfit ... for what reason? Unfaithfulness? And who is Narottam? Vatsal's stepbrother? Illegitimate?  So Vatsalya is a sweet guy, who loves his brother/half-brother regardless of family pressure. Or is he?
Is Satrupa the daughter or daughter-in-law?

Anami's adopted family ... loving, supportive ... Anami fervently asserts her real mother is her pagli panditayin, not her birth mother.
Her father ... the pandit.
Her younger brother - Laddoo.

The family priest - Tom Alter in an interesting role.
The standard dayima ... the faithful servant/bai, who holds the family's dark secret locked in her bosom, but her guilt pangs are firmly suppressed by the family pandit ... she committed neither mistake nor sin when she helped abandon the baby girl.

Precap on  day 2- Anami and Vatsal, long separated twins, both hate their birthdays. Anami - we know the reason. But Vatsal?

Finally an intriguing show to watch! Stellar cast, great sets and locations - the ghats of Benaras ... and interesting storyline. Mother-daughter conflict amidst larger intrigue.

Read a snippet from the writer- the story was inspired by a stray thought from the Mahabharat -what if Karna had been a girl? Now I'm even more hooked.

edit - 10/08 - may make this a weekly post with daily updates, if it continues this way - the show has me hooked for now.

09/08 -An attack on Vatsal - why was the actual attack edited? Apparently the bodyguard and Anami togther save him.
Before that a sweet scene between the twins bonding on the ghats of Benaras ... daughter is like the mother, son seems to be like the father, sweet enough but weak. I loved this scene, loved the way the twins were instinctively, instantly comfortable with each other  ... Vatsal feels complete in Benaras, but as soon as he leaves, he feels restless, as though something is missing ... while Anami has always been a restless soul, despite a loving adoptive family ... is her restlessness because of the knowledge she is adopted and she craves to have pagli panditayin be her birth mother ... or is it more than that? The same feeling of incompleteness that haunts her twin?   

An emotional scene between Anami and her adoptive mother - Anami's chief complaint - why did her adoptive pagli panditayin not give birth to her? Characters maintained - Anami is obviously a prickly, undemonstrative girl, so no hugs, no overflowing tears ... mother swallows her tears and issues a threat, eat the kheer or I'll beat you ... Anami turns her back so mother won't see her wiping her tears.

10/08 - Cute scene with Anami's parents practicing their English, in preparation for son to be admitted to English medium school.

Vatsal wants to break free ... dad supports him, grandmom understands, mother and grandfather are worried about his security. Chacha plants rebellious thoughts in his brain ... Vatsal takes the leap.
Narottam watches him leave? Another intrigue.

Edit 11/08

Nice to see Chakravyuh doing well in the UK - for a 6 pm show, make that - very well! Top rated show for the channel!
Also nice to see NK doing well, that's the other show I watch.

Also happy to see regressive and ghissa pita shows doing poorly. Wish Pehredaar Piya Ki on Sony would follow suit ... cannot understand how that show has viewers ... the promos alone put me off completely.

https://www.bizasialive.com/overnights-ipkknd-3-tu-sooraj-bring-star-plus-uk-ratings/?

Overnights - 'IPKKND-3' & 'Tu Sooraj' bring down Star Plus UK ratings 

Most Asian channels suffered in UK ratings last night in UK, with Hum TV getting close to overtaking Star Plus, according to exclusive data obtained by BizAsiaLive.com.

Star Plus’ worst performing shows last night in UK were ‘Iss Pyaar Ko Kya Naam Doon – Season 3’ with 19,400 viewers at 20:00 and ‘Tu Sooraj Mein Saanjh Piyaji’ at 19:00 with 16,700 viewers – the two shows got their lowest ratings in the UK. The channel’s top rated show was the newly launched ‘Chakravyuh’, which dropped in audience numbers but did well with 76,100 viewers, followed by ‘Yeh Hai Mohabbatein’ at 19:30 with 65,900 viewers and ‘Naamkarann’ at 21:00 with 40,400 viewers. Star Plus’ overall day share stood at 0.17%.

Edited 11/08 - episode take.

If the episodes continue to go this way, I might make this a daily take. So far, very good going. 

Superb first week ... I am completely hooked to the show. The acting, the sets, the locations ... oh yes, shallow but have to mention - the costumes ... I love what Narayani is wearing, she wears the most beautiful rich sarees, elegant and simple, but rich ... minimal jewelry, but so elegant ... she looks classy! Anju Mahendru is classy looking anyway, and she always dresses that way. The chachi too, wears very elegant sarees and just the right amount of jewelry for home. 

Contrast that with Murari Pandit's family ... simple, cotton printed clothes, no embellishments, except for Anami's silver and bead stuff ...I love the little choti Laddoo sports, great attention to detail there. 

Chachaji ... he didn't put  down his cup of tea for a minute during the entire 'Vatsal is dead' drama ... drama all in slow motion and mute ... superb! And his change of expression from the slight satisfied smile to the pretend shock and grief ... fabulous! 

Anami's bracelet, the one given to her by Vatsalya, broke the exact instant his accident happened? She remembers him ... 'if I had a sister, she would be like you' ... and bends to pick up the scattered beads. Symbolic, yes ... does this mean that she will pick up the pieces of his broken family, that his death leaves behind? or that she will be the one to save his life as well? I hope the latter ... Vatsal was a lovely character, he endeared himself to viewers within the first week, would be awful if his role was so short-lived ... but he has to die for  Anami  to take his place. Let's see ...  they didn't show his body, so I will hope for the best :) 

Sangeeta Ghosh ... what an entry!!! She hates Laal Mahal and the inmates ... were her tears for  Vatsalya genuine? They seemed so ... but very briefly. Another very complex character ... steel and silk combined. 

The hero had very hero type entry  I read he went through over 100 auditions before landing this role ...if it's the same guy. He also has a history with Laal Mahal. 

Acting is top notch ... story telling is great ... layer upon layer ... hope the show continues this way ... SP might finally have a winner. Just hope they change the time slot!!! 

12/08 - didn't realise the show is 6 days a week! So here is the episode update for Saturday -
Starts with reprise of hero scene,  where he wangles charge of the Vatsalya-Laal Mahal case from his superior ... for his own motives,  as  he too, has a connection with Laal Mahal. A side remark to his sidekick about collecting 'James Bond ka taamjhaam' ... I chuckled at that one. 

Very moving scenes of mourning Vatsalya ... hallmark of good actor and good writing, that he made us root for him in 6 episodes. Beautiful mourning scenes, as father, grandfather and mother recall their special bond with the cheerful, affectionate boy ... the flashback of Satrupa with her little boy was especially moving. 
In the meantime, Anami tries to string together the broken rudraksha bracelet, gifted to her by the stranger on the ghats, and wonders why she feels such a sense of loss and impending doom. Beautiful way of showing the unspoken, intangible bond between the twin siblings ... real life twins often speak of this bond, I loved the way they showed it here. Her father thinks she is upset because Laddoo didn't get admission ... in another beautiful scene ... the cinematography of the ghats was stunning! ... but Anami's upset goes deeper than that, and for once her father doesn't have the answers to her questions. 
Chacha and his son see off the mourning visitors, and mutter between themselves about the next stage of their plan.
Narottam - he always wanted to be Vatsalya ... but he was only ever - Narottam. Love, envy, anger, hate ...? 
Satrupa tries to commit suicide ... obviously she won't succeed, but that's left for next week.
Hero arrives at Laal Mahal, ready for his own action plan ... carrying a picture of a happy family. Laal Mahal, the source of his own pain and sorrow. 

http://www.tellydhamaal.com/rishton-ka-chakravyuh-review-the-show-is-a-definite-watch/

Star Plus new show Rishton Ka Chakravyuh featuring Mahima Makwana (Anami) and Narayani Shastri (Satrupa) is the saga of the modern day Mahabharat on TV

The very first episode of Rishton Ka Chakravyuh (produced by  Sanjot Kaur and Bhupinder Singh) managed to grab the attention of its viewers by giving us the glimpse into what it is all about. The story is about the reunion of Anami (Mahima Makwana) and her mother Satrupa (Narayani Shastri) and the love-hate relationship that follows…

Story So far….

A new born baby girl is taken away from her mother (Satrupa) just after birth unknown to the latter. While the reason behind it is unknown, she gets raised as a feisty rebellious no-nonsense young girl  (Anami) in a priest’s family with a deep-rooted hatred against her mother, who is unaware about her existence.

Meanwhile, in the house (Lal House) Anami’s family celebrate the birth of a boy and we see Anami’s grandfather name the child Vatsalya Vikram Singh. People chant the name in unison when a man makes an entry, congratulating the birth of a boy. The man then plays the dhol (wooden drum) cheering the name of the new-born boy.

17 years later, Anami is happy with foster family consisting of Murari Pandit, his wife Madhu and her little brother Laddoo. However, Anami has hatred for her real mother who had abandoned after her birth and she wishes Madhu should have been her mother by birth.

In the Singh Family, Aditya Singh takes the mic and starts to announce the heir to his business when Vatsalya’s uncle arrives with his family who is hopeful of hearing his name as the heir. But his dreams are shattered when Aditya Singh declares that Vatsalya will be the person taking charge of the business empire. Aditya then informs his family that they will all leave for Benaras to perform a puja the next day. In Banaras, Vataslay’s gets attacked by the goons which are sent by Vatsalya’s uncle. However, Anami saves Vatsalya. They are unaware of their relationship and yet they share a sister-brother bond.

In the last episodes, we saw Vatsalya runs away from his house after revolting against his mother’s decision to keep him house arrested. His enemies take advantage of the opportunity and kill him in a car accident. Vatalsaya dies and the Lal Mahal mourns his death. Two new characters Sudha (Sangita Ghosh) and Adhiraj (Ankit Siwach) have been introduced. Sudha is a grey shaded character who would be illegitimate wife of Baldev (Ajay Chaudhary). He entry will bring more complications in the story. Ankit Siwach aka Adhiraj is a cop who would come to Lal Mahal to investigate Vatsalaya’s accident case.

The future development on the show looks very interesting.  Satrupa will soon find out that Anami is her daughter and pledge bring her home despite Anami’s resistance and hatred for her.

Review

Rishton Ka Chakravyuh looks like a decent daily soap with a different storyline. The show has been shot on a grand scale with good sets, costumes and authentic locales. The sights of Varanasi were also nicely captured. The cast looks promising. Narayani Shastri and Praneet Bhatt look carved for their respective roles in the show.

Narayani Shastri towers over everyone as the decisive, loving yet astute Satarupa. A beautiful shade that comes out of Satrupa is the manner in which she becomes a ‘child’ when with her son, Vaatsalya (Devarshi Shah)!!  The scene where the two of them dance and sing to the number ‘O Mere Dil Ke Chein’ was indeed really sweet. At the same time, she is the dutiful ‘bahu’ to her in-laws, and gives them the due respect and can be a tough lady wo can go to any extent to save her son from her enemies.

The surprise package is Praneet Bhatt, who is superb as the villainous uncle who wants the wealth of the family to be inherited by his son and not Satarupa’s boy, Vatsalya. He comes as a cunning, greedy and negative brother of Baldev Vikram Singh does a great job.

Kudos to Mahima Makwana to take up this role. She’s bold and confident, yet in the very next second, looks weak and fragile when the very thought of her birth comes to the fore.  As Anami, Mahima packs a punch. She has the right mix of aggression and emotion that the character needs. Mahima brings in the right expressions as the calm and composed self, and also when she is burning with anger. (Also See:  Chakravyuh: Mahima Makwana talk about her character as Anami)

The one thing that will work in favour of the show is the level of curiosity and deceptiveness that every character in the show brings to the table.

Final Verdict:

With all the unpredictability factors related to characters, Rishton Ka Chakravyuh will only weave its mystery-laden charm in the minds of viewers. A core story of troubled mother-daughter relationship, good cast and so far, decent writing makes its a MUST watch! We hope the makers continue to keep the intrigue going with the story telling and don’t indulge on over-the-top drama.