Nakusha and Dutta Patil- Beauty and the Beast set to fall in love?

Fairy tales have for long have had a sway over public imagination. Such is their pull that the stories of Cinderella, Snow White, Hansel and Gretel are still much loved, much read and much talked about. In Laagi Tujhse Lagan (Colors) one can easily draw a “Beauty and the Beast” inference. However this is the twenty-first century and here things have to stand on their heads. Thus Nakusha, is the beast (in terms of looks) with her rather scary countenance. She is easily one of the least attractive faces to have appeared on television, leaving a bespectacled, wire mouthed Jassi far behind.

On the other hand, Dutta Patil whose life Nakusha saves is handsome and fair. He is the beauty in the story. He is tall, strong, courageous and not afraid to face problems-in short he is an ideal man. Dutta’s powerful persona acts as a lovely counterpoint to Nakusha’s hesitant self. Once again the beauty and beast will be powerfully drawn to each other, now that they have met. The beauty of fairytales is that they are layered with sub text and hidden meanings and so there is another way of interpreting things.

Nakusha as we know is actually a very pretty girl and it is her mother who makes her look the way she does so as to not draw unnecessary attention to her breathtaking beauty. Not only this, Nakusha also has a heart of gold, as it is seen when she helps out a complete stranger like Dutta when he badly needed a friend. She saves his life by not only taking him to the hospital in time but also donates her blood to save his life. She runs to warn Dutta of imminent danger when she sees gun wielding men barge into the hospital without worrying about her own safety. Thus she is a true beauty. On the other hand Dutta Patil is an underworld don. Many lives have been either trampled upon or held hostage to his evil designs. He is a ruthless gangster who must have killed many a time. In this instance it is Dutta who is the beast, in terms of demeanour and the power he wields.

Yet another interpretation can be that the Beauty and the Beast reside in us all. Nakusha’s outer looks make her a beast but the person she is makes her a beauty par excellence. Similarly Dutta is a beauty because he stepped out to help a stranger (Nakusha) as he wanted to help out a distressed woman. But his profession makes him a man of passion who kills wilfully without feeling remorse. Thus he is a beast. This wonderfully layered story of inner and outer beauty will surely be very interesting to watch in the coming episodes when the two elements-beast and beauty- end up falling in love.