By Blues
August 12 2022
Had you told me, pre-plague, that I would not only watch a Hindi daily soap but that it would be therapeutic to me, I would have laughed at the absurdity of it all and for a good reason.
I started watching Hindi serials during the lockdown. I was also stuck in a highly coercive, manipulative, and harmful dynamic in the lockdown.
Enter Aryan Singh Rathore, Imlie, Episode 310. Imlie— produced by 4 Lions Films— was a serial I consciously avoided as much as I tried to avoid the plague itself.
Even as Aryan embodies all the tropes of toxic machismo of the typical romantic hero, he annihilates all of them with his feminism.
Seeing Aryan selflessly love Imlie even as she regressed and progressed to break the cycle of abuse gave me hope
Seeing Aryan and Imlie move on from their trauma and play Holi, compelled me to go out and celebrate the festival. Aryan Singh Rathore and Imlie are irreplaceable.