My Random Musings on Kunal and NBT - An Encyclopedia of an Actor

The sun was just setting down one fine evening and it was twilight, I was on my way back from office trekking the short walk to board my bus back home. It was a dull day at office with routine work nothing great happening to liven things up..my thoughts move over to Kunal and Nbt... With ‘Bhula dena mujhe’ playing on my mobile headset and reminscing Kunal in that song, I was just wondering what made me go gaga and crazy about this charming, wonderful gentleman actor, a gem of a person, that I spend almost all my free time watching Nbt episodes all over again or one of his many interviews which introduced me to this exotic actor whom we all know as Kunal Karan Kapoor.

My mind went back to that day five months back when Kunal just flashed and whizzed into my life on my TV screen as Mohan of Nenjam Pesudhae(NBT dubbed in Tamil) when I never even knew there was an actor by his name. Staying in a hostel during weekdays and sticking to my usual habit of just having my dinner and going away to my room preferring being all by myself - have never been an avid TV show watcher - I was just about to leave, when this young, handsome, energetic guy of Nenjam pesudhae captured my interest and got me hooked to Kunal for eternity. It was the scene where Mohan has a showdown with his mom after passionately declaring his love for Megha and he’s so terribly angry that he yells at Guru and asks him to leave him alone and Guru leaves the house and the next morning he’s back serving him coffee and I felt here was a man who was different, unique, not just another actor but there was something really interesting, quixotic about him and he makes us think, sit and take notice of him. The rest for all who happen to know me is history.

Kunal in NBT as Mohan Bhatnagar is an encyclopedia of acting all by himself. We are left bedazzled as to which side of him to admire..the ultimately romantic emotional Kunal -The King of Romance, the hardworking intelligent and smart reporter, the Kunal who is Nanhi’s best friend - Spiderman, the humorous Kunal with his comic sense and timing or the Kunal - Guru bromance the lovely relationship where Guru is everything for his Bhaiya both in best and critical times in season 1 and 2.  Each phase of NBT season 1 initiates us to various facets of Kunal leaving us awestruck and just when we think ‘hey Kunal you can’t do better than this’, he outdoes himself and throws us off balance in another heartrending episode.

In the initial episodes he is aggressive, impulsive, tempestuous and Mohan and Megha’s tumultuous relationship blossoms into a romance like never seen before. In the scene where he realizes he has published false evidence against Amar and comes running to meet Megha at Pratik’s holi party and when he tells her “patha nahin meri galathi maphkarne ki layak hai ya nahin, lekin phirbhi mang rahahoon, kyonki iswaqth mujhe aur kuch sochnahin raha, mujhe aapki baton par yakeenkarna chahiye Mrs.Vyas, baar baar mera dil kahtha hai ki aap sach kahrahen, par man, apnihidhun mein apni overconfidence mein, mujhe jo jo sabooth milthegayen main unke saath…apke pathi Amar Vyas nirdosh the”  he is utterly lost and makes us shed tears with him for the pain he undergoes, we never for one moment remember that it’s a show and Kunal is acting but feel that they are two real life Mohan and Megha who are close to us and the moment is so intense and emotional that it leaves us palpitating. Mohan feels so repentant, lost and upset that we suffer and cry with him, he gets into the skin of the character and lives the role to the core.

In another heart touching scene in the corridor of Jannat resort, the way Mohan tells Megha, “kabhi kabhi rona acha tha, tumhara kajal thoda.., his voice so soft and he does’nt speak much and the way he wipes her tears, my heart skips a beat, I can watch it a 1000 times..so heartrending and touching.. And in the ultimate scene where he comes drunk to Megha’s house and declares his love for her in front of the whole family and just begs her to tell once the truth that she too loves him he wins our hearts and makes us cry for him and just floors us totally. His never say die attitude, the passion with which he woos Megha never losing faith in himself and eventually winning her over, inspires each of us to never lose hope in life. He is inspirational not only in his romance but all through NBT in each and every action and spoken word, when his words don’t speak his actions speak for him and he takes us with him rightroyally on this roller coaster ride.

Mohan's relationship with Nanhi and the bond he shares with her is so beautifully portrayed that Spiderman and Nanhi’s friendship pulls our heartstrings.. Mohan and Megha are always made to understand each other better by this little cutie pie and the love she showers on Mohan is so touching that I have no words to express my feelings...In the scene where he publishes the news about Amar Vyas and Nanhi stops talking to him, the way they both miss and feel for each other is so beautifully portrayed and when he goes and begs her to give him a chance, ‘pls Nanhi aisa math karna, ek chance dhe dena, pls chavanni” he makes us go aww..Then after the holi function, when Mohan finds his way back home lost and dejected and Addu throws the colored water ball on him, Nanhi asks Mohan “mere spiderman ko chot tho nahin laghi?” and asks sorry holding her ears he kneels down in front of her and Mohan says “maphi tho mujhe manghni chahiye, thu kyon sorry kehrahi” and then Nanhi says “tum ithne sad kyon hua, kya tum sachmein koi galathi khi hai, humein moral science mein padayajatha hai, ki agar kisiko galathi karke buralagtha hai, tho phir bhagwanji unhein maphkardethe hain, tumhe bhi maphgardhenge, tum chinta mathkaro aaj holi hai, aajkaedin tho smile kardho!” Mohan and Nanhi bring tears pouring down our eyes and leaves us broken and speechless, we have to just be with that moment and experience that scene, I can only watch it again and again and feel my heartstrings being pulled, a glorious best scene of season 1. In another scene on the swing when Nanhi brings him the jalebis and Mohan is so happily eating it she asks, you seem to be so happy today and imitates Mohan and he says with that unique lovely smile ‘you act better than me’ they leave us smiling and content asking for more, Mohan and Nanhi’s happiness is so infectious that we keep smiling and laughing in front of our Laptops/TV screens all alone others giving us quizzical looks..

Just when we think Kunal is so good in these tumultuous and emotional scenes with Megha and adorable scenes with Nanhi, Kunal shows himself at his humorous best too, his sense of humour and comic timing is so good that he can make us laugh with just the way he looks or dances with the mannequin, his funny expressions and sometimes even with a straight face or look, like the scenes in the lift with Megha and the lunch scene at office when Pratik calls Megha for lunch, Mohan makes everyone join in and goes and sits next to Megha acting as if he doesn’t have a clue about what’s happening, that was just too hilarious, we can't stop laughing at Pratik. Mohan and Guru can pull on a laughter riot anytime by just the way they talk to each other, their camaraderie is a treat to watch. 

No other actor other than Kunal deserves the title "King of Expressions and Romance". I can go  on writing about Kunal and Nbt, not sure where to end and if this space will be enough to put all my thoughts on Kunal who has become an inseparable part of my daily life.. but I need to stop somewhere and I would just like to say Kunal  is a viewer’s delight and his diehard fans' dream actor who can make us smile even in our dullest moments, laugh with him when he is happy and cry with him when he is sad,  a person who can light up the lives of lakhs of fans with just his smile, simplicity and his bindass style and attitude, a really cool dude. He is simply exotic and we staunch fans want to see him lighting up our screens and lives again in the near future. He is our one and only True Rockstar.

Written By : Kalaivani Vasudevan (Kavya Nbt)

Image Edit : Belicia Alphonso