Where are the ShiVi we fell for, writers?!!

I am too pissed these days to gather the motivation to make anymore posts. I miss the days when I would wait to wake up to catch a glimpse of Shiva and Raavi in the day's episode even though I knew they would only have a small scene, if they had one at all - those small scenes were packed with meaning and drew you in with the allure of all that churned unsaid in the air between them. I couldn't stop rewatching those token scenes leading up to the wedding, and I spent a lot of time rewinding to catch every microexpression of the wonderfully cryptic character Shiva, especially in Raavi's presence. The only problem I had with the ENTIRE show at that point was Shiva's manhandling - even that made sense when you explored the character's headspace, albeit not being justifiable.

I came for the couple, stayed for their beautifully crafted, unique and indecipherable connection, and fell in love with the feel-good family vibe. This show used to cheer me up on days I felt miserable, it worked like magic on many of us dealing with a depressing state of worldly affairs. It was simple, heartfelt and pure love with the littlest amount of drama and felt soothing to watch.

Where is that show? Where are the Shiva and Raavi I came here for?

I am too frustrated to elaborate, but I will use this thread to curate some eloquently penned, on-point responses from the EDT as I don't want these posts to go unnoticed in the rush of the EDT in case the forum gets stalked. I really hope the writers go through these opinions and realize what we fell in love with and what they're letting go of.

Please feel free to pen your opinions of the same here. I intend this to be a ShiVi specific thread, without any dissecting of other characters or discussion of arcs - the aim is to do our bit to get the point across to the CVs, as silly as that might sound.

PS. I hope the users don't mind my copying their responses here

Shiva is still the same but they’ve ruined Raavi’s character and they’ve ruined the dynamics they had before their wedding. It’s like the CVs have completely forgotten that they’ve known each other since their childhood. They’re trying to make Shivi like every other itv couple who hate each other and have a ton of misunderstanding. I started watching because of pre-wedding Shivi, more specifically Raavi. I loved how her character and her determination to win over Shiva. They have crazy chemistry, even now. But their relationship is so different from what it used to be. Shivi is not progressing in terms of plot and characterisation. It’s just working because of Kanwar’s and Alice’s chemistry.

I am posting whatever I posted on EDT regarding this.

Dhara-Raavi Scene

Everyone knows my soft corner for Raavi, given her fragile emotional state.

The anger and lashing out at her by Dhara again today broke my heart. I don't mind her being okay with the beating. We need to understand that she might have been genuinely witnessing all this beating since childhood, so it's normal to her. We can't expect her to start respecting Shiva within five days because he is her unwanted husband now. She did take the ointment for both of them but left because of Dev. So, I am assuming Dev is still a sore topic for her, and they both need to resolve by verbalising an apology from Dev and Raavi just closing it with him.

Dhara screaming at her-Why, can't she take care of Shiva is gaslighting of another level! Like Dude, why the f***k did she get her devars married if she still wanted to be the center of their universe? Only to procreate? I am sorry but this strange Dhara is extremely toxic! Pyar, samman and Izzat cannot be beaten into people. I am sorry but no! Her partial treatment towards Rishita is unbearable to watch.

I am all in for a story that involves a considerable attraction but emotionally distant Raavi! That'd probably be the first time I shall see such exciting dynamics between a couple.

Shiva and his emotional loneliness are so evident even with all the brothers hugging. We see there's no malice in his heart, and he is in love with his brothers. If you'd notice Shiva, he is someone who internalises his grief or feelings. He is vocal as passionate only when it comes to emotions like love for his family or anger. Deep down, the part which he internalises is highly vulnerable and distant from everyone. It’d be such a pleasure to watch Raavi touch that extremely hidden part of him.

For once, I don't want Shiva to fall for Raavi because she cares for the family. I find that the most bizarre reasons on ITV! Look she fed me, I love her for cooking my favourite food. Look, she respects my family. Those can be added bonuses, but two individuals should fall in love because they found each other compatible and not merely due to family.

I love the importance of family, but I am sorry, individuals matter too. They have hopes, dreams and ambitions. It's not a crime to love yourself too. Dev refused a job. Freaking stupid. He could have taken the position to support more financially and maybe later migrate to a chain of stores with his MBA degree. Plan better. Invest in the strategic growth of the business while Shiva does operations and hard work.

Raavi needs to think beyond cooking for the family. What's precisely her ambition? Rishita apparently is educated more? What's her dream?

How long can you just rely on a shop to meet expenses.

I don’t even look forward to their scenes now, it’s heartbreaking the kind of scenes we got before marriage and the entire marriage set a standard and now I’m disappointed some way or the other when I watch them. They don’t have the intensity now, it’s like they’ve become the typical nok jhok vala couple and while Alice Kanwar chemistry is enjoyable they don’t come across as the old Shiva and Raavi. As for the family drama, It’s become boring too. Maybe writers changed idk but want our intense ShiVi back

Thanks for making this thread Felicie, hopefully we can just send this thread to one of the creators of Pandya Store or to one of the cast members to forward our thoughts and feelings. Here's some additional thoughts I have to offer on the matter of ShiVi...

To the CVs or creative heads of Pandya Store that are reading, I began this show to explicitly to watch how the Kathir and Mulla love story would play out as I loved that couple in the original. I only expected to follow at max 1-2 episodes as I am not a native Hindi speaker, but the depth and chemistry between ShiVi caused me to stay in the long run. At a certain point, especially pre-Kesar, I felt as though Pandya Store was doing an even better job with the ShiVi romance. There was depth to their relationship (especially considering their childhood), there was attraction between them (if the eye locks and shocked gazes mean anything), and underneath it all, those two were perfect complements to each other.

As Kanwar mentioned in one of his Instagram posts, "If two people were exactly alike, one of them would be unnecessary. I'm glad we balance each other well"

And ShiVi are exactly like that. They balance each other out in the best of ways. Both of them are impulsive, but in different ways. Shiva's impulsivity comes from his anger and his need for his family to be protected at all costs, and Raavi's impulsivity comes from her need to be love and spread love to everyone in her vicinity. As I watched the show, I expected to see a story where Raavi manages to slowly melt away all the walls Shiva has built. I expected to see Raavi become Shiva's greatest pillar of comfort, become a woman Shiva relies and comes to need in order to find peace and happiness. Likewise, I expected to see a story where Shiva teaches Raavi to fight for her beliefs and wishes.

These two are perfect complements with the same goals and passions. They both want pure love and understanding. And as the audience, we realized that only the both of them could satisfy the other. No one in this world would love Raavi as much as Shiva (especially looking at Shiva's love for his bhabi) and no one in this world would understand Shiva as much as Raavi (especially considering how she constantly looks to him despite being "enemies"). And in between all of this, we received wonderful sprinkles of their childhood--only to realize that these emotions/feelings were probably present all along.

It was a beautiful relationship, one where trust and mutual understanding could grow. However, over the past several weeks, this relationship has been ruined over and over again. Raavi has all rights to be mad at Shiva considering she mistakenly believed he abandoned her, but the Raavi we saw in the beginning would not have held this grudge against Shiva for so long. He's called her so many names, hurt her so many times, told her she would never have a place in his family, yet she always looked out to him and promised she would change Shiva for the better. She believes in love and family over anything else. So, with that being said, how CVs is she still hating/not believing Shiva? Why can't she understand Suman's words or Dhara's words? Why are her insecurities causing her to completely disregard the shared childhood she had with Shiva?

Does one moment of abandonment give Raavi the right to criticize Shiva and call him a gawar? Does it give her the right to constantly bring up her unhappiness to Shiva, even when he is trying to be nice and diplomatic? The old Raavi would have tried to change Shiva in other ways, and she wouldn't have ever called him gawar.

Now coming to Shiva, CVs what have you done to him? Where is that sensible, young mature man we saw during the wedding sequence? The man who carried out the wedding and supported Raavi in front of a crowd. Where is the man who looked up at the noose with a sense of guilt and sadness? Where is the man we saw during the post-kidnapping scene where he stood silent despite all his wife was saying because in his heart he knew the truth of what happened? After seeing how shocked and affected Shiva was, I expected him to tone down the teasing and the anger, and instead, try to understand where she is coming from.

However, instead of the mature conversation the audience wants to get. One where ShiVi can speak about their personal beliefs, wants, and desires for their marriage and the future, we get endless nok-jhoks with no clear resolution in sight. Why is it that even after their nok-jhoks, Raavi continues to not trust Shiva fully? How can we have scenes where she is gazing into Shiva's eyes or eagerly waiting for Shiva's words, only to have the next scene be where she doesn't trust him.

Why are their characterizations fluctuating so much? Please just give us back the old ShiVi. We loved them to pieces! I want to see a mature love story where these two souls realize just how perfect they are for each other. But, through their process of falling in love, I also want them to retain their child-like innocence. They deserve all the happiness in the world!

https://www.instagram.com/p/CPAUx3EBkIT/?utm_medium=copy_link

I was okay with the slow burn!! But I never expected Shivi story to come to a complete standstill. ShiVi story development has the maximum potential in Pandya store, but no makers dont want to explore and organically develop their relationship. All they are interested in is paying more attention and trying to show everything else other than ShiVi.

With all this delay, somewhere the ShiVi charm is getting lost! I really feel Alice and Kanwar speak up and raise their voices since maximum viewers are interested in ShiVi story development. I have no problem if they give equal importance to all the couples in the show. But here its like ShiVi are at the bottom of the barrel with no idea where there story is going at the moment!

I didn't have the heart to go through all the post in the EDT after reading what a disappointment today's episode was. But all of you have summarised what we are missing.

The shivi which we saw pre-wedding was completely different to what's been shown now. There is no emotional connect. Not even proper anger or hatred.

Even Shiva's anger and angst seems to have subsided.

The nok-jhoks are not that entertaining as there is no connect. The dialogues are repeative or mis-placed and scenes are even more misplaced.

Makers are loosing so many opportunities to move the story forward.

Risitha taunting Raavi and Raavi's crying could have been used to explore both their marriage relationships.

How Risitha is insecure about her marriage and worried about having Raavi in front of Dev at all times. Raavi clearing the air for both their marriage and her equation with Shiva. Shiva's state of mind regarding his marriage and knowledge that his wife had her entire future planned with his brother. (That one scene of Shiva seeing the gift Raavi bought for Dev had more depth than everything we have been seeing since then)

I was so looking forward to their changed relationship but nothing of that sort has been shown.

The shooting restrictions might hamper the original plot but they could atleast show some family fun instead of this intense drama. Wishful thinking I guess !! 😔

Originally posted by: Transference

https://www.instagram.com/p/CPAUx3EBkIT/?utm_medium=copy_link

As Milkcakejamun said in her lovely post, where is this Shiva?! Where is this wonderful, layered, organic character you created? Why have you ruined his intensity and maturity, and Raavi's inherent goodness and affability towards Shiva? Why are you not addressing the numerous problems between them, their mental health and the marriage that binds them? Why did you stop abruptly when their journey was being carved out perfectly, with all the right reactions and emotions till the dawn of Kesar track? After that, all that Shiva's cared about is Kesar and Raavi's been busy playing hot and cold with him.

These days you're simply tossing them into lighthearted nokjhok moments that don't gel with the tone of the story, transitioning in and out with choppily edited scenes. Don't use your fan favourite jodi, characters and exemplary actors to spoil a plot with a great deal of potential!

Everything was smooth sailing and aesthetic and most importantly, sensibly wrought before Kesar 2.0 went down!

M gonna stop watching PS , the makers ruined them . Bye PS ! Please carry on with the dhara show . It sucks