Cant help but vent my absolute disheartenment to see the state of Sai on this show. Ayesha's performance makes me really feel so much angst and pain for a fictional character. The way she has been conveying her pain is just beyond excellence. She is so on point with her performance. It really hits me straight in the heart...
But it brings me to the rant-
Why arent we getting any flashbacks of Sai's life and journey bringing up Sai as a single parent?
Why cant we get some semblance of justice. Why is it that Sai needs to watch V-P, V-P-Vinu, V-Vinu and full CN ka unanimous support and go through that pain but we dont get one decent person in Sai's life.
How hard would it have been to show UM as a consistent, supportive, genuinely warm person. If she knows everything how can she not hate V and not understand Sai.
Everytime she shows up to speak to Sai, she looks like she is trying to win a bet or prove a point, not as if she is offering consolation, empathy or support.
When she asks Sai- oh arent you affected by V- its like she just wants to break Sai's resolve and make her say yes. Well, if she does break- what would UM do?! It doesnt look she cares about the implications
how disrespectful and demeaning is it to see UM constantly tell Sai to reveal Savi truth to V despite seeing how things are and to see JM- a "reformed" criminal give pravachan to Sai on how to parent her child.
Sai is holding herself strong and acting unaffected because she has things to do, a daughter to take care of, a duty as a doctor to fulfil(as ridiculous as that whole subplot of her lep applying and Ted talks are for a medical cure) , obligations to herself, her ambitions, and to society at large . I really wish they could have spent more time on her focusing on her career and the struggle to raise a child while still pursuing her post graduation...why couldnt they dwell a little bit on such aspects.
She is clearly not super well off which is actually close to the reality of a doctors life in India. Contrary to popular belief that doctors are "well paid", most regular doctors working in govt hospitals get paid peanuts for working 36-48 hour shifts. Its a measly stipend and it takes years to have any reasonable savings. yes they are not downtrodden but it takes time to build enough money to do things like buy a house etc etc. As it is by the time a doctor finishes their education they are in their 30s, yet the remuneration is not at par at all. everyone is obsessed with doctors needing to treat people for free, doctors charging too much. So actually Sai's financial condition is also actual realistic. Thats why it made NO sense to show Sai build a hospital in Kankauli and buy land. She cannot afford all that. It'd made more sense to show her try to revive a hospital on the verge of shutting down.
But my big grouse is - amongst all the odds that Sai has to fight- ungrateful cruel people, terrible coincidences and circumstances, goons and criminals in her life, being an orphan, dealing with the loss of 2 children- miscarriage and then Vinu also, a complicated pregnancy, and then singlehandedly raising a daughter, financial difficulties, heartbreak and betrayal from her husband- the love of her life, and his whole family - why is it that the makers cant dwell on her life, her pain a little more. why cant she have ONE person.
We got one scene of her-aabaa when KJ made a comeback but that was also very generic. They thankfully didnt show KJ out and out support V but also they didnt make him say V was wrong to leave a gem like Sai and pick pp and his so called family to prioritize over her.
Why cant Sai have just one person in her life to be all hers.
I thought Savi was that person- her baby girl- all hers. But even that kid is obsessed with her dad and Vinu. I really wish that they had shown a little less obsession from her side but how she tells others not to ask about her father because her aai is more than enough for her. I wish it had been that narrative. would have been nice to show Savi call her aai as aabaa just like Sai did for KJ
Because this is a sure shot buildup to more Sai blame. The kid craves for her father and she will be the heartless mother who kept a child from her father. Even though thats clearly not the reality.
I really do not understand why they make the plot so toxic. the cycle of abuse is too much. she doesnt get some peace before new kaand starts.
They barely dwelt on her pain as she delivered the baby all alone, with complications and everything. it was all so cursory.
and not one person is shown considering all those things. how can they be SO heavily tilted towards showing abuse and Sai bashing, Sai blame.
Will all these things Sai has endured, sacrificed, faced ever be addressed. Will there ever been any sense of justice. Its Navratri- its symbolic of the goddess triumphing , good over evil and yet we only see extreme toxicity on this show. Not even a sliver of some payback to everyone who has hurt Sai repeatedly.
The narrative instead is hell bent on whitewashing others.
I want to see Sai genuinely shake off the pain and heartbreak and truly move beyond it. but she is trapped. she has rebuilt her life for Savi but she herself has been lonely and in pain struggling to let go of the betrayal she has faced at the hands of the man she loves and the family that she selflessly loved and did SO much for. All she asked from them was to support her at her most vulnerable phase of motherhood which happened only after a lot of angst and struggle and they all collectively let her down in the most cruel way. yet no one felt sad. they didnt even grieve her for a day on the show.
V being devdas/suicide mission guy was more for Vinu more than Sai because he was all better as soon as he met Vinu and he was already on good terms with PP too as we see from the FBs we have got. if this was all about Sai too and his love for his wife- he'd never have been able to parent a child with another woman.
the very least the show makers could have done is to not WW PP but show her remain the conniving scheming manipulative person rather than make her into a goddess. Of all the people to see Sai's husband, the man KJ trusted with his daughter and took a bullet for- to see that man pick a criminal and call her his true friend and companion, feel concerned for her, go out of the way to care for her- that is just insufferable. he didnt care that his wife and child presumably died after leaving due to her.
Sai deserves better. Sai's fans and audience deserve better. As Sai completes 2 years on our TV/computer screens in a few days, I just wish we could get better content for the FL. Yes, we love to see the undedog win, and how our FL overcome all odds but its not fun and entertaining to constantly watch her only fight the odds in life. For a change can she pause to celebrate herself, her journey and can we get some justice. Can she get a break from her exhausting and pathetic life and the despicable people in it.
What is the message - that a woman should just suffer - either in silence like some docile bahus or be fierce like Sai but the suffering is unending.
Its exhausting. Its demoralizing. Its so saddening to watch this.
Book Talk
Anupamaa
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