#10- Salaar: Deva & Varadha | Indian Cinema's Biggest Clash - Bollywood Films Uncovered

We were last speaking about loved ones, about love, about

power, about promise. I do have some questions for

you. That's right.

Buckle down. Get ready, my friends.

You don't get more real than love or power, right?

Knowing that there are many types of power and many types

and ways of or to love, I'm curious to know.

Be honest with me if you can. You, yes, you, you.

Are you a deva or a varda? And yes, I am giving you the

benefit of the doubt. I'm not asking if you are a

different type of character with a different role to play.

I'm assuming yes. If you are here with me together

now, no doubt about it, you are clearly no villain friend.

So tell me now, which type of hero are you in this regard,

this story, this dynamic and friendship on a team, in

relationships, in life? Maybe you are neither of these

two options. There are many types, but I

started to go into last time when we last spoke.

What Salar, what the character, what the story means to me,

represents to me, speaks and is for me just in general, story

arc wise, symbolically, what I value in a person, in a moment,

who I have been in my life, character wise and who I want to

be depending on a situation, who is needed.

But if you were to isolate dynamically just these two

characters, these two heroes, these two friends, like, do you

find yourself naturally stepping forward in a crisis, acting

decisively and protecting those around you, often at personal

cost to yourself? Are you a diva, a warrior, a

protector, a force of justice? Or do you tend to lead through

empathy, unity and careful strategy, fostering harmony,

moral clarity, even when it requires patience and restraint?

Do you identify more with Varada?

Are you a thoughtful leader, caretaker, and steady?

Guide me. Well, I'll get into it.

You know I will, but I have more questions first.

Next question, no matter how you answered our first question

here, I want to know, do you have a deva or a varada in your

life? Have you ever?

And what does that look like for you?

Are you blessed with such a person or such a teammate,

family member or friend Hard to come by?

I would assume, otherwise our world would probably look very

differently than it currently does.

A diva in your life is someone fiercely loyal, protective,

deeply committed, and ready to take bold action to defend you

emotionally or practically. Intense, sometimes reserved, but

also, you know, a stronghold in a crisis.

A warrior ally, Someone who fights your battles and stands

as your shield, yet may be intense, sometimes demanding

even, due to their passionate nature.

Avarada feels like someone in your life who's more like a

steady, nurturing presence, who balances emotional storms, helps

navigate complexity with wisdom and patience.

OK, OK. We are moving right along here.

Yes, yes, very, very good. I can't stop.

You know how I get next question for you.

What is it like for you? If you have such a friend, what

is it like? Does it work for you?

Is it all good? Does it get you in situations

into trouble? Does it like Red Bulls

commercial, give you wings basically like you are

unstoppable and drunk with power?

Does it invite competition from others, Invite attention, maybe

unwanted attention? Provide dominance,

opportunities, worry. Tell me, tell me what's it like

for you if that's the case? For example, if you have someone

in your life like a dabba, do they ever take it too far?

Can having someone protective turn into someone who can be

overly protective? Same with their intensity, does

their fire ever burn more than is wanted?

If you have someone in your life like a varada, can they be too

cautious and actually by doing so sometimes put everyone in

more actual danger? If you are lucky enough to have

a deva in your life, how has it not only affected your life like

we talked about, but how? How does that affect you as a

person? Are you inspired sometimes or in

general encouraged more to show up braver in your life moments,

Facing challenges more head on than you would ever think

possible if that weren't the case?

And if you're lucky enough to have a Varada in your life, are

you finding yourself more enlightened, more encouraged as

you grow and evolve to reflect more in your life, to be more

patient, more strategic, diplomatic, or even more

emotionally mature, aware or balanced?

It kind of reminds me of video game character menus, right?

Like, pick your player. Who do you want to be?

Who do you think would help you win the game of life?

Who would you want on your team as well at your table

strategizing your next moves in the war room?

Is there a site for this wanted like dating sites or dating apps

or meet up groups or websites? Can you go old school and take

out an ad in the newspaper or I guess definitely now online

wanted Dava wanted varada must have looking for as if so I

thought about all these questions as well with you.

OK, you are not alone in trying to figure out where you fit in

all of these options. Who you are, who you show up as,

who you want to be, who is with you, maybe who you wish was with

you. I thought long and hard because

I'm sure for you as well, thinking about it, it's

complicated. The relationship with yourself

or who you are, who you work to be.

I mean, not that odd Facebook romantic relationship, online

status option. It's complicated.

Here's what I came up with. Hear me out.

I think who I act as, who I am with this is situationally

dependent, depending on the situation, but also dependent

upon the person or people around me.

My closest friends, my best friend, we inadvertently,

probably, if I think about it in retrospect, switch it up.

Sometimes I am more like a devil or more like a Varada.

Sometimes my friend or friends in the situation is more like a

devil or more like a Varada. And sometimes we are both even

at times more like a devil or Varada together at the same

time. Twinning.

I don't know if it's an evolution, if we transform over

time individually, or if we are in fact transforming and

influencing change in each other.

But even if this is the case, situational aspect aside for

now, that's what relationships of all kinds are ideally for.

Purposefully, right? Bringing strength to another

person's area of weakness while also strengthening another

person's area of weakness over time and vice versa

situationally. If I think about it, it also

changes moment to moment as well.

Nothing happens in a bubble after all.

There are so many factors to consider if we are going to look

back, analyze here and break it all down.

So I was thinking maybe it depends on personal knowledge of

each person or friend, areas of expertise, or even individual

personal triggers or different stances on particular types of

issues or types of situations. And if this is the case, it'd be

smart or you would luck out possibly if you were closest in

this dynamic with others who, yes, have different ways of

doing things, different strengths and weaknesses, but

even different types of experiences or types of

responses to certain issues or situations.

So you keep the balance strategically, logically, due to

your individual and particular differences with, of course,

mutual goals, mutual purpose, mutual values, deep trust

mutually. That probably shouldn't be

different, right? They're supposed to be on the

same team. So back to deep trust mutually.

It got me thinking, of course. I think without trust, yes, even

deep trust. Now that I think about it, I

don't know if such helpful and winning dynamics that can do the

impossible at times would even work without trust.

So that makes me wonder, OK, in a world where true trust can be

honestly so hard to come by at times, can a lack of trust or

trustworthy individuals get in the way of the wins we all need,

individually and universally?

#10- Salaar: Deva & Varadha | Indian Cinema's Biggest Clash

About this episode