Shimla Episode – Nitin Chauhan Vs. Ranveer & Usha Chauhan
Nitin Chauhan is a tattoo artist who has a successful business in Chandigarh and believes passionately in his art. His father, Ranveer Singh Chauhan, is an agriculturist who has apple orchards. He is a traditionalist who believes his son should follow in his footsteps. The mother – Usha Chauhan – tries to strike a balance between father and son and is torn between them. She lives with the son in Chandigarh and with the father in Shimla alternately.
Father and son love each other passionately, but cannot express their feelings. In fact, every conversation between them turns into an argument.
The Gulatis are sent is as replacement parents and straightaway attack Nitin – they pile on to him about everything from his tattoos to his life choices to his body piercengs. Nitin gives it back as good as he gets. Then Nitin’s girlfriend comes over and they don’t like her. So there’s an argument over her. As a result Nitin is so angry that he makes another tattoo on himself. And of course the parents have a problem with that too. On the second day though, the conversations run deeper and end with the parents beginning to see and accept Nitin’s point of view, when he argues for himself and his art passionately in a way he never has with his real parents.
The switch happens and the Chuhan parents are back in the house with their new son, Suraj. Suraj spends the first half of the day getting to know the parents intimately and understanding everything about them. The mother and father are amazed that their new son takes so much interest in understanding them, but then Suraj, using the information he’s collected, goes into attack mode. He confronts the mother, accuses the mother for not taking a stand and it is because of her that the son and father are like this she can’t keep sitting on the fence and saying that both are right. And finally the mother breaks, and confesses that she really believes her son is right and the father is wrong. Ranveer Chauhan is shattered and goes into his room. Suraj follows him in and keeps pushing him to give an answer. The father is driven to a wall, the tension builds and then explodes – but into a sudden change of heart. The father hugs Suraj and cries saying that you have opened my eyes and you are like my son, and even more than a son, you have done what no one has ever done – opening my eyes and making me see. The next day is a happy day. And they have breakfast and lots of chatting and the lunch and while having lunch Nitin enters the house to check what’s happening. Suraj and Nitin have an argument and Suraj attacks again. Nitin defends and the tension is palpable. The father has to intervene and take Suraj away and then Nitin follows them into the room and there are more arguments and personal remarks made.
The reality ends and we head into the studio for the showdown. Rahul Mahajan is the special guest and part of the family jury. He adds a great deal of perspective to the judging process using personal stories from his own childhood, anecdotes, and even a couple of parables from mythology to steer the jury towards a unanimous decision. Nitin is declared the winner, and gets to put a tattoo on his fathers arm. But the whole family is thrilled as they are together again, and father and son can once again express their love and respect for each other.
