Changed title: Character Study - Rishi, Indira etc - Page 2

I have seen no evidence so far that she has motherly tendencies for any of her children. So self absorbed is she in her devotion to her philandering, divorced(?) husband.

For a second, leave aside the girls. Easy to believe that she followed the very conservative model of reluctantly putting up with girls, but not too fond of showering love and care at them.

From what I see, she does not show motherly care for any of her sons either. Given she is a woman in traditional model, expectation would be that she would be as enchanted with her boys, as she is with her husband. But that is not the case. She never mentions Vidit, never fondly remembers him, never calls him, inquires about him, or place her hopes for easy money on him! This is especially puzzling when she is so money minded. One would think that having a son in US would have been her ticket to financial security. She would have made extra effort to be in good books of Vidit. But we see none of this.

We have never seen her shower Munna with affection either, making sure he has good meals, money he needs for his not-so-kosher activities etc etc. All we see is her scheming with him to sell Sharma Nivas, or berating Indira. She and Munna share a fear of what would happen to them if Indira leaves them. That is it. It appears to me a common interest driven partnership, rather than a mother-son relationship. If tomorrow Inder Sharma asks her to cheat Munna out of his share of SN, or something similar, I believe that she would not hesitate for one second.

But her definition of wife seems to be stuck at the "bride"/"Dulhan" stage where initial blush of romance dominates. It was fascinating to see her play blushing bride games when Inder Sharma was cornering her at the temple, seducing her with honeyed words to sign the Sharma Nivas papers.

If she had love for herself, then all her relations, not just with Indira, would be driven by what the other person brings to the table for her. We would see her playing "woe betide me" games with her children to guilt trap them to do what she wants. We do not see that either. Granted she in not an intelligent lady, but everyone has some basic concept of self-love. (not to mention guilt-trapping powers that mothers-to-be super-naturally acquire when they get pregnant 😉😆)

We all know what happens in real life of young girls when they are abandoned by their fathers. Research shows that many either grow up to chase men, become promiscuous, chasing the love that they lost with their fathers...or...many become nun-like, losing all trust in love or men. Sounds familiar?😉

Mandira chose the rebel route. Her good looks greased her way into becoming an incorrigible flirt, irresponsible, lacking empathy and love for everyone in her family. We never see a moment where she expresses affection for either her mother or her brother, even Vidit. But we also never see a moment where a family member is showering genuine affection for her, nurturing her, and maybe correcting her wild behavior gently. Indira does not know how to, and she is too absorbed in her struggles to keep the family afloat. Mother too absorbed with her ex, her bhabi too silly for deep thoughts, Munna bhai absorbed in his wild ways.

Think back to the time when Indira, in her disastrously executed plan to get Mandira married off, started laying down ultimatums, threats, deadlines etc. It was Rishi who sensed that Mandira will truly react badly to these tactics. Danger was afoot. Realizing this, he engaged in a "keeps friends closer, but enemies even closer" strategy to make Mandira think he was in her corner and would help her escape Indira's machinations. His plan was ultimately failed because Mandira's desire to escape her sister's plans and her love for money was just too strong for even Rishi.

If Mandira had not run away to Macau, I believe she would have run away with another man before her wedding, leaving Indira in shambles.

Originally posted by: -Rinky-

I want to ask one thing...Why is Mandy not afraid of the consequences of her actions?