Hello, guys! I just learned how Barrister Babu ended and was immensely disappointed. I’m not Indian and Voot is not available in my country (does it have English subtitles, BTW?) and I have not been able to watch the series properly. Still, it did impress me a lot with its concept and revolutionary ideas and I have been keeping myself updated with its story arcs and development. From Bondita and Anirudh’s marriage, through the widowhood problem and sati, through the brothel arc, Bondita and the brothel girls’ education, her period, Anirudh’s second marriage, the preparations for Bondita’s remarriage, the emnity between the villages and how Barrister Bondita Roy Choudhury epically proved Anirudh innocent and rescued him, this drama has excelled in every single of its arcs, bringing up social issues with a beautiful and captivating writing. All, but the last one. Batuk’s entry spoiled the entire show.
I know how much Indian dramas love to ruin themselves but hoped – and even worse, believed, that this show is spared from the ITV curse. Yes, but no. Why did the writers have to make Batuk Anirudh’s look-alike? I’m not even going to rant about the look-alike thing – it’s not happening for the first time in an Indian drama and it won’t be the last. I’m also not going to rant about him hating Bondita – of course someone had to hate her. Can you tell me why does he hate women, though? Anirudh has grown up in London, and that’s why he believed in gender equality. Shouldn’t Batuk also know that women can be independent fully-fledged human beings? He too has grown up in a civilised European country (why Italy and not UK like his brother?). His misogynistic and backward thinking makes no sense. But this is not the thing that made me mad the most.
The thing that got me angry are the unfinished character arcs. When I first saw what Binoy has been turned into and how Anirudh was crying for him, I was like: don’t worry Ani, your dad is going to get well, I’m sure. Because this is an Indian drama and in Indian dramas such characters always get well. That’s what I love about them actually, good eventually wins over evil. Both Tupur and Tapur’s character arcs have been wasted opportunities. While Tapur could have been a call out against superstitions, Tupur was the epitome of the mistreated wife facing domestic violence. She should have been shown moving on from the abusive relationship and start her life afresh, and while we did see her eventually seeing Chandrachur’s true face and standing up against him, the only thing we got is his ‘miracle transformation’ and her having to wait for him for 10 years. What the makers should have done is giving her a new love interest! Perhaps Batuk maybe? Imagine the 3 sons of the Roy Choudhury family being married to the 3 daughters of the Das family. This would be awesome and create a beautiful and indestructible bond between the families, that could have served as a model to the till-recently enemy villages, spreading the message of love and power of relations instead of hatred and destruction.
The way those character plots were ignored, especially Binoy, as well as the way Batuk’s character was written caused me quite the pain and sadness and honestly had it not been for the period issue being tackled (I know how innovative this theme is for ITV) I would have dropped this out of my watchlist. I can’t believe what they did to my favourite drama! I’m only interested in a few Indian dramas and honestly, I don’t see myself picking anything new from this kind of fiction ever again.
Now that I spilled my soul, I would like to share my own version of the story’s ending (right from the start of Batuk’s arc). I’m not a fan of the idea of Anirudh going missing, neither do I find my version of the last arc perfect, but this story is not perfect anyway and I tried to stay in Indian drama style, without screwing up the story too much:
Batuk is NOT the look-alike of Anirudh. It’s not possible in the real world, and it makes no sense for the story either. He is still bad-tempered and has bad habits like drinking (not too much like alcoholics, just likes to ‘have fun’) and partying, but is neither mysoginist, nor a womaniser (Mallika does not exist, *muahahahaha*). He is more like a tsundere, and the only reason he hates Bondita is because he holds her responsible for Binoy’s condition.
Anirudh goes missing. The Roy Choudhuries are shattered, but Bondita is strong and decides to live, for the sake of their children and continuing to pursue their dream of changing women’s lives. Like in the OG version, Batuk initially wants to get rid of Bondita once the children are born (and nursed, of course). He acts nice to Bondita and takes care of her for the sake of the children’s health, but in reality resents her and does some dirty tricks (cancels Somnath and Tapur’s marriage). He grows fond of Tupur and they eventually become love interests. The time he spends with both her and Bondita makes him gradually realise his wrong ways and he develops a soft corner for Bondita. Tupur finds out that he has caused the misunderstanding between Tapur and Somnath and exposes him with the help of Bondita and Sampoorna. Batuk is reprimanded for his actions, his true face is revealed and he expresses his hatred towards Bondita. Trilochan supports Bondita. Bondita fights and wins the widow’s case. On the day she is to marry, some group of conservative angry villagers attack the wedding and try to kill her. Bondita defends her and the villagers question why she does not remarry herself if she thinks widow remarriage as of something so great. To protect her, Batuk puts sindoor on her forehead. The villagers insist for an official wedding ceremony and Bondita unwillingly agrees, for the sake of the widows’ rights to remarry. Anirudh is in a comma, in another village, where he is taken care of by Chandrachur and doctors. Chandrachur is in hiding, as he ended up there after the police escort met with an accident, and found and saved Anirudh. He lives under a fake identity as he still doesn’t want to surrender himself. After months Anirudh finally wakes up and tries to go back to Tulsipur. After a brief struggle with himself, Chandrachur decides to keep his promise to Anirudh and do the right thing. He helps Anirudh get home where they find out about the situation. An adventure sequence happens with the evil villagers where Binoy’s life gets in danger, as he is in a similar situation to the one he was when his head got hit. Bondita gets in danger while rescuing him and screams the same way Anirudh did when Binoy got hit. Binoy remembers everything and goes back to being sane again, saves Bondita. This causes Batuk to forgive Bondita. Anirudh breaks the wedding and remarries Bondita, whom Batuk happily gives to him, apologising for everything. Chandrachur repents for his sins in front of everyone, decides to give a divorce to Tupur and blesses her and Batuk’s relationship and surrenders himself to the police (who also arrest the evil villagers). Batuk and Tupur get together, deciding to marry after her divorce, with him promising to get her to the best doctors in London, to treat her infertility, and so do Tapur and Somnath. The series ends on their wedding day, where Bondita gets labour pains and gives birth to the twins. The family happily welcomes them, promising to raise them equally and never discriminate between boys and girls.