I'm sorry but Prerna Sharma has been one of the dumbest heroines to have graced ITV and putting her in the same line with words like 'role model' 'women empowerment' is a little indigestible. (and this isn't aimed at EJF who portrayed one of my all time fav characters before this show).
And please don't tell me she'll take the deal because she loves Anurag, oh so so much. Her character has zero depth and zero purpose except pandering to Anurag's family, racking up all the insult she can from the Basus, losing face and being slapped, verbally abused, and emotionally blackmailed by her own in supposed in laws while she carries her mahaanta charade.
No one told her to marry Naveen in the first place. In fact that should've been a lesson. That women ARE NOT BURDENS ON THEIR PARENTS, do not need others' validation AND HAVE THE RIGHT TO SAY NO, no matter the consequences. But what did she do? Jump into a marriage on day one because she literally had zero brain capacity to get out of that one.
Fine. Then she ends up sleeping with Anurag, which by the way, WAS FULLY CONSENSUAL and somehow puts all the blame on him because...
Then she gets humiliated in front of the whole world, thrown out, and he marries someone else. Her father's dead, her family is in emotional and financial shambles too, but what does she care? She packs her bags and forces herself on people who insult her with every breath they take. Let's not forget how demeaning and outright intrusive her actions were. Chanting about a marriage that was done/(i mean i don't even understand that part so i won't even try) without consent or intent and losing face every minute to prove what? She wasn't even playing the destroying game lmao. She was busy being jealous/chasing Anurag.
And post all that, not once does she want clarity. Nope, everything's solved. Her self respect is miraculously restored, Anurag is the moon and Sun and everything's hunky dory as far she's concerned.
Then Mohini insults her. And not just insult, the worst kind of insult you can give another, throws her mother in jail and what does she do? AGAIN folds herself for the woman. I get that they're in a situation of distress, BUT NOBODY, NOBODY would be all lovey dovey with the person who'd just insulted them and their parents. Her father is a naukar. Her mother is a low class cheap tactician teaching her daughter how to be a gold-digger but that's okay cos Prerna needs to hug Mohini so she can finally finally validate her? I'm sorry? Self respect who?
Again, I don't understand the whole hoopla and cry around Bajaj? WHICH PART EXACTLY here is a shock? How was this NOT expected? Bajaj is a grey character. He was a grey/almost black at times character in kzk1 and he will be that HERE TOO. He's not going to make things easy, he's SUPPOSED TO BE A MANIPULATIVE, DARK SHADED character. And loving great characters and justifying them are TWO DIFFERENT THINGS. People follow grey characters because they're intriguing and because their journeys are what pulls the audience in in the first place. It's the transformation, the peeling of layers you look forward to. And comparing Bajaj to Naveen makes zero sense because Naveen was a lustful pervert who ran sex rackets. Bajaj's motives are yet to be revealed.
But again, using a situation to your advantage and outright blackmail is different. You know what would be nayi soch? Prerna not sitting their and sprouting dialogues like 'main Anuraag ke liye kuch bhi karsakti hoon' and the show LITERALLY glorifying such sentences and making her sacrifice look like it's the mahaan, divine choice and teaching girls worldwide that they're OBLIGATED TO PROVE THEIR LOVE under these circumstances BY MAKING CHOICES LIKE THESE! Nayi soch would've been Prerna going like no, I WON'T MARRY YOU, and me not doing that DOES NOT LESSEN my love for a man or make me unworthy. That is self validation, a concept that flies over Prerna's head anyway. Ruining your life for a boy you love. What a great love story.
I mean if we have to go on about how problematic the show is let's remember IT HAS ALWAYS BEEN THIS problematic.