Posted:
It's long. I know. Bear with me, please 😳
This is purely my personal analysis on the character of Anjali. I know that others might disagree with it. You're entitled to. I just wanted to share this because doing so, putting my thoughts out there, helps me get a clearer view.
Please refrain from commenting negatively, bashing, etc. You're free to comment and share your thoughts from a constructive angle. Thank you.
Recently, it seems that the Raizada siblings have become favored targets of viewers' emotional distress 😳 In the wake of it, I wrote an analysis on Arnav - not to defend or excuse him, but simply to explain his behavioral pattern and maybe help viewers understand him better, analyze him rather than condemn him.
Now I've written an analysis on Anjali, because the woman doesn't deserve half the chappals that are thrown her way after each new episode 😆 Let's take a look at her character, shall we?
1. Who is Anjali?
She is one of the most complex female characters that I've ever encountered. Her parents died in some sort of traumatic accident. She and her brother were kicked out of their father's family and, at some later point, taken in by their mother's family. Anjali has a physical disability (it is unknown whether she has had it since birth or if it occurred later on in her life). Her first marriage didn't happen. Her second marriage happened to Shyam (a psycho with Khushi issues). We know that Anjali is a sweet and kind girl with the tendency to interpret bad omens out of most things that are normal and/or random to the rest of us. She's close to her brother, more than to anyone else in the Raizada house. She lives with her brother in spite of being married to a decently earning lawyer.
Anjali has a unique ability that I'd like to call empathy. This makes her want to fix things - associate with people, understand them, mend and mediate. But it also makes her incredibly sensitive and frail because she doesn't know how to balance it. Most people find her clingy, for that reason. She's obsessive about details - everything has to be perfect. In that sense, she is like her brother. She seeks control.
She forgives easily, unable to hold grudges for long. But the codependent relationship between her and Arnav means that they seek each other's presence and support subconsciously, and if they don't find it in each other, the sense of betrayal kicks in. For instance in the scene where Naniji commented that Arnav was like his father. Arnav looked to Anjali for denial and defense, but she didn't comfort him. It was a kind of betrayal to him. Vice versa when Arnav marries Khushi and then shuts Anjali out.
2. Is it Anjali Singh Raizada or Anjali Shyam Jha?
One of the best ways to understanding a woman such as Anjali is by looking at her relationship to the very people that surround her. They are, quite literally, the purpose of her existence. In fact, her relationship to Arnav is probably the best way to understand Anjali's character. Their codependent relationship through which they both seek mutual trust, understanding, support, love, safety, and comfort is fascinating - to say the least - as it cannot really be labeled by any specific psychological term. Despite the umbilical cord that continues to stretch between them, binding them together in happiness and sorrow, it isn't the Oedipus complex here. It's something else entirely.
Whatever it is, it nourishes them both with the basic survival elements that they need/seek and which they won't allow others to come near. They transfer self-destructive emotions to each other. When Anjali fears, breaks - it has an impact on Arnav who mirrors her feelings and vice versa. For instance, in the scene when Anjali returned from her car accident.
The most curious part about their relationship is how they've isolated themselves from everyone else, not trusting, not allowing others to see and understand what they have - to come between them. This, in fact, includes Shyam. The question remains whether - apart from being in love with Shyam - Anjali has actually married him? She continues to live with her brother - the excuse being that Shyam doesn't have enough money to buy a place of their own. But the amount of worry and care that she shows toward her brother, that amount of attention is never quite shown toward Shyam.
In addition to that, I wonder if she - deep down - knows that something in her marriage is malfunctioning, but she has (subconsciously) started to deny/ignore it in order to keep the illusion of her perfect marriage and/or husband. Does she believe that her pregnancy will fix the malfunction? Does she fear being left by Shyam to the extent that she's - subconsciously - trying to hold onto him by becoming pregnant?
This isn't to say that she's manipulative (or cunning, for that matter). But I do believe that she and Arnav have an innate fear of losing people that they love. If she has felt that the physical distance between her and Shyam (and then the emotional one following in the wake of his meeting with Khushi) has to do with her lack of being a complete wife - then this pregnancy might have lifted her hopes a notch - that a child will fix things between them. Because I think that she knows something isn't right between them.
If not his absence, then her mangalsutr breaking triggered something in the back of her mind; something that she - perhaps - refuses to acknowledge. Considering how observant she is (the way she notices tiny details, reads people's emotions from their facial expressions, etc.), it is quite peculiar otherwise that she has yet to dig in her husband's pastime/work. She doesn't strike me as an airhead, but she does strike me as the selective type - someone who selectively ignores things that might shake the foundation beneath her feet.
3. Is Anjali weak or strong?
Anjali is what holds the Raizada family together. She is the knot. The tie. The one thing that they all have in common, the one thing that they all love enough to forget their mutual differences and pretend for. She's not strong, but she isn't weak either. She's frail.
Some of her traits are remarkable - the kindness and care with which she tends to people (regardless of if it's family or strangers). Her generosity, patience, and warmth - these are qualities that aren't very easy to acquire. She's selfless in the sense that she always thinks of others before herself. She's sensitive. Despite being physically disabled, she hasn't surrendered to depression, anger, bitterness, and/or other emotions that would've made her a bitter woman. She copes and still stands.
4. Is she really over the past or is she in denial?
There's a contradicting element in her words and her actions. They don't connect.
For all the supportive words that she offered Arnav after the car accident about moving on, embracing the good things that come to you in life, etc., there is something rather contradicting in her words. She tells him to move on and not fear, but she holds on to him as if her life depends on it. She cries and there's so much pain in her eyes, her words, her voice - it sends mixed signals. What is she really saying?
When she weeps, she weeps like a child. She holds her arms close in a way that makes it seem as if she is trying to hold herself together, hold something in, or hold something out. Protect herself. From what?
Behind her genuine concern, anxiety seems to lurk. She's afraid. She has a sense of constant danger - and she cannot get rid of it. Her sense of security seems shattered, which makes her feel vulnerable at times. Her survival technique is Arnav. She depends on him - for better and worse. Though the symptoms in the wake of a traumatic event are usually anger, frustration, withdrawal, and so on; in Anjali's case, it's the total opposite. She's dependent on having people around. In relation to her brother, she has a fear of him shutting her out, and thus losing the support that helped her sustain herself for years.
She doesn't realize just how strong the umbilical cord between them is. Essentially, she feels alone and will not allow anyone - apart from her brother - to take away that loneliness. The scene in which Arnav, in his rage, said that "this is my house" and she locked herself in her room; she didn't allow Shyam to enter, to comfort her. It had to be Arnav. Shyam will always take a backseat in relation to Arnav and Anjali.
5. Conclusion?
Being a complex female character, Anjali has many layers that need to be understood from a deeper angle. She isn't an easy woman to be around in the sense that she can be strenuous. But her behavioral patterns tell us so much about her. It tells us that circumstances and her past has shaped her belief, her character in the way that it is now. And we need to cut her some slack now and then.
People with disabilities alone are difficult to live with. Anjali is more damaged than just physically, but she has managed to sustain a smile on her face and a lighter outlook on life - regardless of the fact that she hasn't moved on herself as much as she claims to have. Rather than condemn her for her clinginess and/or bothersome behavior, we should be able to see past it and understand her character better.
Humans are such complex creatures, aren't we?
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