Hindi TV Serial - Laagi Tujhse Lagan - Dutta defeats Kalavati, turns her out of the house rather than killing her

After many weeks of turmoil, the battle between Kalavati and Dutta (and very very strongly supported by Nakusha) finally came to an end. Kala seemed to have all the strong points, since she has all the family tied up (including the very strong supporter of Dutta, Baaji), the gang members believe that Dutta is now out action and hence they decide to support Kala, another family family Sudershan also supports her since he believes that he is capable of playing the role of Baaji and Dutta was never going to give him that chance, and most important of all, Dutta was out of action since he had almost totally lost his eyesight and without it, his overall power was much reduced.
Dutta and Nakku were running away from the wrath of Kala, looking for a way to regain their strength and power, and finally came to a stop inside the jungle, in a small establishment. Here, they get to know about a possible cure for the eye problem through a medicine made from some natural herbs, but it is hard to find those herbs. In the meantime, Kala's men are also looking for Dutta and Nakku and find Nakku when she has managed to find these herbs after some hard looking (Nakku will always manage to find anything that can help Dutta). She manages to persuade the men to stop looking for Dutta and instead take her, and since these men do not know anything about these herbs, she is able to leave them there. So, finally Dutta gets treated, and his eyes get cured. He then sees the photos sent by Kala (which shows his family bound and being tortured by Kala's men) and goes back to the fight, where Kala has given a challenge to Dutta, but he manages to overcome everything and defeat Kala.
Now, in the end, Dutta leaves Kala alive based on requests from Nakku, but Kala goes while promising revenge. And in a twist, it seems like Dutta will leave the show, and his main Guru will take over.

Hindi TV Serials - Laagi Tujhse Lagan - Dutta and Nakku on the run, Kala supreme right now

The serial has been showing Datta as the powerful gangster for quite some time, all powerful. His will reigns supreme and whatever he wants happens. He has enemies in the form of other mob bosses, but due to his ability, some luck, and the sheer effort put in by Nakku, he is able to defeat his major enemy, Anna.
It is the problems posed to him by his own that are causing him problems. His sister Kala, from the beginning, did not like Nakku and tried her best to ensure that differences kept on coming between Dutta and Nakku. Many times Nakku had to suffer because of these, since Kala was able to cleverly manipulate the events to show Nakku in a bad light. It is only because of Nakku's total dedication to Dutta that she was able to prove that she was right and in fact, saved him on multiple occasions. As a result, Dutta's mother and brother-in-law (Kala's husband, who does not support Kala in whatever she did) favor Nakku.
Now, the battle from within has put Dutta on the run. Kalavati has gone on a rampage, forcing Dutta on the defense. She has got the household in total control, with the loyal second in command also being forced to become inactive and most of the gang converting to her side, especially since they believe that Dutta is dead. But Dutta is not dead. Helped by Nakku, suffering from very poor visibility, he has managed to escape to the jungle and is now getting some treatment (in the form of a medicine made from local herbs).
The hope is that he will get his complete eyesight back, and come back to fight against Kala and her control of his gang and family.

Hindi TV Serial - Laagi Tujhe Lagan on Colors - Dutta really not willing to talk to Nakku, is very cold to her

The serial is showing a period when Dutta is not willing to accept Nakku as his wife (and this when Naku can make out that she loves her); he is shocked with the thought that she hid such a big truth from him about her beauty and fairness, and ever since his fiancee had deserted him on the marriage date, he cannot stand beauty.
Nakku tries her best to find out from Dutta why he is not willing to accept her. She had already explained to Dutta that her mother decided it was best to save Nakku by making her seem ugly in the basti, since that would be the best way to ensure that men outside did not cast an evil eye on Nakku. However, Dutta remains cold to her and does not accept anything; telling her that she can live in the house but they really don't have a relation anymore.
And then Nakku gets a shock when some man comes to the house, claiming to be a past lover of Nakku who still loves her and wants her. Nakku is shocked that when Dutta comes to know of this, he does not say something to the effect that he does not doubt her character, and she later tells him that it is very easy for a lady to lose her reputation, and how could he tell her that if she wanted to leave, she could do so. However, when Dutta does not give her a satisfactory answer, Nakku tells Dutta that she would no longer stay in the same room as Dutta, and moves out. Kala of course is happy at this, since she never liked Nakku and was always scheming to get her out of her brother's life.
Now, Dutta meets a shopkeeper and his wife, and they teach him a lesson about the love between husband and wife; when Dutta sees that the husband is currently handicapped and the wife supports him to the fullest extent.

Hindi TV Serials - Laagi Tujhse Lagan - When Nakusha reveals her true self, Dutta is shocked

The serial seems to have a steady theory, whenever Nakusha is under some suspicion or Dutta has been led to not trust her, she does something that causes everybody to again start believing in her. In the past, when Kalavati had managed to put the blame of the running away of Dutta's fiancee on Naku, she managed to save Dutta and get him away from the plans of Anna, which caused the family members and Dutta to appreciate her.
Now, the bigger problem that Nakku is facing is that she has created an image of herself as an ugly maid type of girl, and this seems to work for her; Dutta does not believe in the concept of beauty anymore and this is creating a problem for Nakku since sometime Dutta will get to know that she is actually not ugly, which can cause further problems for her. At the same time, Dutta's sister, Kala, is all out to reveal anything about Nakku that can get her into further trouble, and as a part of that, she finally gets to know that Nakku is not ugly, but beautiful and also has a fair skin.
Nakku finally tells Dutta about what she had done, and as she expected, Dutta did not take it very well, rejecting her and treating her with disdain. She proves her loyalty yet again by saving Dutta from a bullet (seems like a very familiar sight), and was in hospital, and yet, this time, it seems that Dutta is not moved.
At the same time, Kala is upto her usual tricks, putting a drug in Nakku's drink which causes her to behave drunk and go upto the stage (at a party hosted when she comes back from the hospital), and in which she beseeches Dutta to accept her. Dutta apparently does not like this display and slaps her out of it.

Hindi TV Serial - Laagi Tujhse Lagan on Colors - Dutta and Nakusha go down in a cliff in their vehicle, safe, and romantic

Things keep on moving fast in this serial. Soon after Nakku proved herself in the eyes of Dutta by saving him from the goons of Anna at the temple, he decided that no matter what she was supposed to have done in the past, she has absolved herself of the supposed crime of betraying him by helping Supriya escape, and as a result, she should consider herself free of the punishment that he levied. However, Nakusha has always loved Dutta, and can never think of leaving him, but Dutta is now going to leave her to the city, along with her mother and Sethji (along with his trusted lieutant).
On the way, Dutta is somewhat lacking in concentration, and his car heads straight towards a cliff. The terrain is muddy, and slippery, and it seems very difficult to get the vehicle to stop from going over the cliff. Everybody else gets off from the vehicle, but Nakku refuses, saying now that she will stop listening to the orders of Dutta, and she will stay with him. And finally, the vehicle does go over the cliff, with both of them being injured and thrown about.
And Anna's men are after them, with both of them trying to remain hidden, and being chased by Anna's men. At the same time, Naku is unsure about when to reveal to Dutta that she is actually fair in color, something that makes her very attractive. In the meantime, back in the house, there is a lot of shock at the probability that Dutta and Nakku could have died in the crash; and then the purohit of the family says that Dutta is probably alive, due to the presence of a person whose name starts with 'N'.

Hindi TV Serial - Laagi Tujhse Lagan on Colors - Naku saves Datta's life, so maybe he will start believing her now

Datta has his mind poisoned against Nakusha due to the running away of Supriya, since Kala blamed the entire episode on the planning of Nakusha. Datta decided to punish Naku (since she claimed to love him) by marrying her, and then ensuring that she cannot run away, and she would certainly not get the rights and love of a wife. And at the same time, Kala also determines that she would do whatever she could to ensure that Naku remains insulted and downtrodden.
But, things will change, since the love of Naku is so strong that she is willing to wait for her real self to be apparent to Datta, and then he will realize that she is not against him, and in fact, is his strongest supporter. And the situation for that happens soon enough. Datta is fighting hard against Anna, who is one step ahead of Datta in terms of planning.
So, Anna decides to trap Datta in a temple, by getting all the pandits replaced by his men, and also ensuring that Datta does not have any armed security in the temple along with him. But Naku, who is at the house, learns of this from the pandits who were replaced by Anna's men, and rushes to the temple to save him. She prevents Datta from drinking poison given to him by Anna's men, and then there is a fight. In this fight, Datta along with Baji manage to keep a knife concealed with Naku when they are under the fear of guns, and as soon as there is an opportunity, Datta gets the knife and manges to rescue themselves from the clutches of Anna's men. When Datta comes home, he is determined this time to stop Anna totally, and also reveals to the household how Naku was the one who was responsible for saving them. In return for this task, he offers to Naku that she can get rid of the marriage that is keeping her prisoner, while that is the last thing that Datta would want.

Hindi TV Serial - Laagi Tujhe Lagan on Colors - Datta back from the dead, tries to snare Anna

In Laagi Tujhe Lagan, Nakusha is fine with waiting for Datta to know the truth and realize that he is the victim of misunderstandings, in the meantime Datta really does not acknowledge her too much and still continues to hate her. Further, Datta's sister, Kala, who is behind all this, and who does not want anyone to come in a position of power, vows to do whatever she can do to make Nakusha's life hell and to get rid of her from the house.
Datta, in the meantime, is struggling against his enemy, Anna. And it is in the process of pursuing this that the family gets to know that maybe Datta has died in a helicopter crash. Everybody is shocked, with Nakku refusing to believe it, and asking Baaji many questions like whether anybody has seen the body of Datta, how can they believe this without seeing the body as so on.
Baaji finally finds the body of somebody at the scene of the helicopter crash, but the person has not died ; and then sees Datta behind him, and then Datta reveals that he is now trying to locate Anna. Further, Datta knows that this was a plot from Anna to try to kill Datta and that the helicopter pilot was behind it. Finally, Datta comes back to the home, and keeps on ignoring Nakku even though Nakku was very happy to see Datta.
Kala sees Datta softening a bit, and cannot see a case where Datta would soften his anger towards Nakusha, and tries to get him angry again by bringing up the earlier situation of Nakku being the cause of a betrayal, and blaming this for Datta taking more chances with his life now. Datta however is not in a mood for this, and wants to go and rest.

Hindi TV Serial - Laagi Tujhse Lagan on Colors - Datta marries Nakusha in a drunken stupor, but his sister now humiliating her

In Laagi Tujhe Lagan on Colors, Nakusha is facing a huge challenge. The tactics of Kala (Datta's sister) to blame Nakusha for Supriya running away seem to have worked out, with everybody convinced that Nakusha was to blame, and she was unable to deny convincingly. So, Datta got real angry, and when combined with being drunk, he decided to take revenge in a different but predictable way. He told Nakusha that he will marry her and make her life hell, and so, in front of all the astonished family members, he marries Nakusha, but roughly. Nakusha however does take this as a proper marriage, and is ready to live with him in whatever way he wants to keep her.
And then the next morning, Kala comes in and tells Nakusha that she needs to leave the house. She wants to get Nakusha away and also blame her for running away, since that will ensure that the focus and anger of Datta will remain on Nakusha, as well as there is low chance of him getting involved with a girl again. So, in the morning, she scolds Nakusha that the marriage was held around a flame fueled by whiskey, and where Datta was angry and drunk, and that Nakusha should not consider that this was a proper marriage; in fact, when Datta will get up, he would regret everything that has happened and turn out Nakusha from the house right away or even harm her.
When Nakusha refuses to leave, Kala slaps her and forces her out of the house, backed by the other members of the household. Finally Nakusha and her family leaves, and when Datta gets up, he asks for Nakusha. When he learns from Kala that Nakusha fled the house, he gives chase and catches up with them, since his punishment of Nakusha is just starting and he would not let her go so easily.

Hindi TV Serial - Laagi Tujhse Lagan on Colors - Datta's fiancee runs away, and Nakusha is eventually set to be blamed

Laagi Tujhe Lagan is a slightly strange serial, appearing on Colors, which talks about the life of a poor girl, who is beautiful, but hides her beauty because of the fear of being attacked for her beauty. Instead, she always wears an ugly face, and this ensures that people stay away from her. However, once in a while, people do get to know her real beautiful self and in such situations, it is hard for her, as happened when a police inspector got after her and wanted to marry her.
In the current case, Nakusha saves a gangster Datta from the bullets of his enemies, and hence starts working in his home as a maid along with her mother. She also falls in love with Dutta (although she is still wearing the ugly face, and hence the feeling of love is not reciprocated by Dutta). Dutta is engaged to a girl called Supriya, and the twist is that Supriya does not love Dutta, instead she loves some other ruffian and hates Dutta. And so, when the time comes for the marriage ceremony, Supriya jumps from the occasion, leaving her family members there, and also leaves Dutta in his marriage dress, tremendously angered by this desertion by Supriya. For some time, they believe that Surpiya is dead, but now the hunt has begun for Supriya, and Ravi, the person with whom she has run away.
In the house, they also know that somebody has helped Supriya, and the hunt has begun to find clues, and this is also the time when Dutta's sister (who is the real culprit) tries to implicate Nakusha by leaving some traces of evidence that would lead to Nakusha, and hopefully throw the entire brunt of Dutta's anger on Nakusha.

Nakusha wants to take off her ugly duckling disguise in order to woo Dutta!

Who says love is blind? For if this was true then Nakusha would not have to worry about her ‘ugly duckling’ image. Made to deliberately hide her real looks from the world at large by her mother, Nakusha is happy hiding behind hideous eyebrows and a very dark complexion. In fact on the occasion where her real beauty was revealed to the world she managed to land up in trouble with the evil and diabolical Inspector More who wanted to forcibly marry her and then sell her off. She was saved from More by Dutta Patil, the underworld don, who was gravely injured in the process.

Nakusha saves Dutta’s life and Dutta’s mother, who is hugely indebted to Nakusha, brings her and her parents home. She gives them a roof over their heads and employs the entire family as hired helps in various positions. Nakusha had been in her disguise of ‘ugliness’ when Dutta came into her life. As such Dutta and his entire family have no idea about Nakusha’s real looks. Nakusha meanwhile falls in love with Dutta as she finds him to be brave, loyal and loving. He treats Nakusha with a lot of respect and does not judge her by her looks-it is almost as if for Dutta Nakusha is as ‘normal-looking’ as the rest of his family and friends.

Dutta’s marriage has been fixed to Supriya, a fair and beautiful girl. Her entry into Dutta’s life makes Nakusha uncomfortable and jealous. She longs to be by Dutta’s side, to claim Supriya’s position as her own. However more than her position as the maid, it is her disguise that puts her at a disadvantage. The very fact that people in the house feel Supriya is really gorgeous brings tears to Nakusha's eyes. The only option left for Nakusha now is to reveal her true self to Dutta. She evens confronts her mother and tells her that Dutta will surely fall for her if she were to reveal her real looks to him. She is confident that Supriya’s looks are nothing compared to her own. She waxes eloquent about the beauty of her almond eyes, her long and lustrous hair and perfectly shaped oval, lovely face.

Nakusha is so desperate about the whole affair that she even acts a bit abnormal and paranoid. However Nakusha needs to realise that true love is beyond triviality. It is not dependent on looks. She needs to understand that in love what matters is inner beauty and appearances are transient. The day Dutta is able to appreciate her for the person she is, Nakusha will not have to worry about her ‘ugly betty’ disguise.

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.

Nakusha - The Ugly Duckling turns into a beautiful swan, everytime!

The promos of Laagi Tujhse Lagan created the right kind of buzz and anticipation. It promised to be the story of the proverbial ‘ugly duckling’. But unlike fairy tales where the ugly duckling grew up to be a beautiful swan, this held out no such promise. In fact the sneak peaks that were aired kept harping upon the fact that Nakusha, the lead character, had an amazing story to tell not because of her looks, rather in spite of her looks.

Prime time Hindi television had already had its ugly duckling-beautiful swan transformation in the form of Sony’s Jassi Jaisi Koi Nahin (a cult serial of its time). Nakusha promised not to be another Jassi. The fact that this serial is a product of Paresh Rawal’s production house lent more validity to this claim. When the serial began it stayed true to its promos. Nakusha indeed turned out to be not so blessed in the ‘looks’ department. In fact such were Nakusha’s looks that her neighbour made her naughty child drink milk by just invoking her name. Her dark complexion, crooked nose, joined eyebrows-her entire being in fact made people laugh out loud or shrink back in horror and disgust.

Sadly, Nakusha turned out to be another beautiful girl hiding behind a facade of ugliness. Her almost perfect features and complexion was hidden from the world by her mother who did not want her daughter to draw to herself the unwarranted sexual advances of men. However the truth has come out. Her mother’s worst fears have also come true as the evil and corrupt Inspector More is now hell bent on marrying her. He even intends to sell her off post marriage as he in convinced that her beauty will fetch him a handsome price.

Laagi Tujhse Lagan was promising to be a different serial, one that would talk about not the pretty princess but about her not so beautiful sister, standing far back, hidden from the arc lights. Sadly it did not deliver on its promise. It is yet another story of a fair skinned beautiful girl. The fact that the makers of this serial also had the temerity to equate dark skin with ugliness is something that is not good for a country that is so obsessed with fairness. By talking in terms of stereotypes (fair=pretty; dark=hideous), the serial has reaffirmed this already unfair notion that values fairness of skin. It is high time that our serials talked of normal girls, who are average in their looks but outstanding otherwise. Let us all remember that beauty is not just skin deep.