ACtually i think the way things are turning out to be, the death is the obvious choice.
Both simran and astha are right in their place.
Astha is right coz she was adopted and given the name of a lost child, every reason for her to be angry and the she feels the reason why neha died is coz of her miserable state in which she was due to simran trying to get close to abhie and act as other woman in his life.
Simran is right in her place coz she had loved astha more than anything and she cares for her if she is her real mother or not... but she is unable to answer the questions of astha logically and hence is helpless. The strength of simrans character is diluted coz she always keeps falling for spineless abhi whenever she sees him i think she loses her head and he only brings misery in to her happy lives as always and this time is no exception.Due to her prejuidice of the same, she has lost a good friend like manas. i bet most of us like manas more than simran here.
so, hence aasthas death is justified , and also she signing a tamil film will do her a lot good than being one of many strong characters in a daily soap. as for simrans losing eyes, god help us as we are in for more of weeping and crying!!! hope manas comes in , long time since we have seen him, he might put some sense in to her mud head.