Nice analysis neerja.
@bold
this is precisely why I think virat avoids confession. So many questions he will have to answer. He will have answers but will he be able to convince her with those? Sai is not easy to convince when she gives so much importance to his initial commitment words…so it is better she seeks her answers in his love towards her!!
Seeking yourself the answers is a Tiring and time consuming process but when you discover your answers, they are clear! So it is now Sai’s turn to figure out why virat does what he does for sai. It is zimmedari also, but not limited to it.
Hmm.. I think I have a slightly different take on this. Words matter to Sai a lot....especially Virat's words. She knows he is a man of his words, which is part of the reason why she is still hung up on the wedding vaada to begin with. This is also the reason why she was completely shattered when Virat indirectly accused her of being characterless. Everything he says, she takes in. The problem is that while Virat has told her that he doesn't want her to leave and even that he wants this marriage to be real (she was in no state to comprehend the significance of this statement), he has never told her the reality of his feelings without any jalebi ad-ons. Even when he was gifting her the ring, he said that he is starting to like her a little bit followed by he thinks she's different than everyone else and therefore the most special. If we contrast this with Sai, she has actually made quite clear to Virat how she consciously feels about him at this point. She has told him how deeply she appreciates what he has done for her, how much she respects him, how she is closer to him than anyone else, and essentially how he has the spot of abba in her life now. Yes, she has not expressed her inner-turmoils about her feelings extending into love, but that is because she herself is unclear as to what her emotions are and whether or not they are real. In her mind, if Virat loves her and sees her more than a zimidari/ doesn't have any place for Pakhi anymore, why can't he just say it? We have seen this during the college fest scene and ring gifting scene and pool fight scene... it is clear that Sai wants to hear him say that he is not her guardian/she is not his farz... she is desperate every time she asks him, but every time, he chooses the safe way out. She already sees that his actions towards her are more than a zimdari, because if she didn't, she would not keep getting confused and saying that she doesn't understand Virat...
While Sai expresses herself verbally, Virat is more timid and prefers to express himself through actions. In this way, they have different love languages. I don't think that Virat is avoiding confessing because he does not want to answer her questions. To be honest, I'm not even sure if he has thought that far as to what would happen. I think it is more that he does not realize how significant those words were to Sai that he made on their wedding day, because to him, his actions should be showing her otherwise. This is why he keeps asking himself why Sai is not understanding. So there is a crucial disconnect between the two of them. Every time he has been on the verge of saying his feelings, he stops himself. To me, this is ultimately due to a fear of losing her. Just like she is insecure, he is also insecure that she will leave him... and he has always had this fear, even before she said that she was going home with Pulkit. He does not want to rock the boat, because every time Sai questions him, she comes across as always having made up her mind that this is a zimidari... he does not realize that this is merely a defense mechanism for her. So, he gets scared of her reaction, and instead chooses to keep this unlabeled relationship if that means he can keep loving her.