So today's star was Niranjan Agnihotri - the evil hot daddy and he earns a hug from me...
No I am not going crazy...It is because he decided to correct a wrong committed by his dunderhead DIL Astha. Astha, the party pooper interrupts everyone's fun - whether it is viewers or Shlokie baby's. So just as she had vetoed the idea of having her own tiny one room house within the Agnihotri mansion (much to Shlokie's disappointment who wanted spicy non-potato food in his life), she vetoed the idea of Kalindi moving with them much to the disappointment of viewers and baba. So baba took the opportunity to invite firebrand Kalindi to his house even though both baccha and sasubai were displeased. Poor baccha...he does not want to share his pet toy with sasubai Kalindi and mommy does not want to have competition when it comes to baba. Baba of course wants spice in his bland life and hence he is taking all the right decisions these days. First he ordered Anjali to make sure that baccha and his honey pot move in together, now he is indulging his baccha by letting his honey pot work for him and then he is inviting Kalindi to stay with them. All things are quite pleasing to India forum viewers who are anticipating hot dances between baccha and honey pot and hot scenes between baba and Kalindi.
Ok now that is out of my way, my comments on today's episode:
Shlokie and Astha
Shlok and Sojal were actually right today when they questioned Astha playing house. Kalindi is also right in wondering why naive little Astha is doing all the DIL things when she is there temporary.
First of all Astha goes to take shower in Shlok's room. Yes, her shower was not working and Anjali did not allow her to use her own room. And it seems that Agnihotri rooms are only opened on a need basis. So the rest of rooms where Jyoti stays or Kalindi will be staying are closed. But...she could have used Sojal's bathroom or Jaya's bathroom too. Both of them would have gladly shared the bathroom with her as their sole purpose is to avoid letting Astha get close to Shlok...But Astha decided to use Shlokie's bathroom. Then she did not change her clothes in the room, but came out wearing bathrobe and collided with Shlokie.
Poor Shlokie...he took the "sprawling Astha on his chest" as an invitation to get a kiss as a payment (Shlokie as a shrewd businessman does not give anything free despite his claims of generosity), but was rebuffed by Astha who only wants to play house with sasubai. Then on top of that, Astha threw his own words of "I am Shlok Agnihotri" at him much to his dismay, after he condescendingly told her that she needed him - the husband to solve problems.
But Shlok was not too much off mark when he mentioned that Astha says one thing and does another thing. If she is so interested in being their only for six months, then why do all the Agnihotri DIL stuff - preparing pujas, serving breakfast, cooking lunch (that too before going to the office) and promising Kavya to be there forever. Shlok called Astha confused, but she is not confused. She wants to be Shlok's wife and is willing to do whatever is required in Agnihotri household.
That's why she was cutting off her mother who was rightfully concerned about her. Kalindi was worried that Agnihotris were too clever and trying to trap Astha. But she is only partially right. Shlok and Niranjan do want her to stay forever, but Astha is a willing participant. Else she would not be following Agnihotri traditions of not talking to anybody while serving food or justifying to Anjali why she needed to go to the office. It does not really seem that Astha wants a career. Else she would not waste time preparing lunch or preparing for the party. She could have easily told Anjali that she did not have time to do so. Instead she decided to be late to the office, despite Shlok telling her to come on time.
I am with Shlok when he blasted her for acting like boss's wife and compromising with the job. If Shlok was not her boss, would she have dared to come late (after lunch) to the office. So her priority is not having a career, but being Shlok's wife. That's why Shlok does not take her denials seriously.
Shlokie had a smile on her face when he saw Astha preparing for puja and then promising Kavya that she would be with her forever. He was only irritated at the dining table when Astha took her mother's call. Shlok wants to separate Astha from Kalindi as he considers her a threat for his relationship with Astha.
Also Astha is not noticing that Shlok actually wants her to work. Otherwise being a boss in the company, he could have easily torn her bond. But Shlokie baby wants 24/7 entertainment - both in the office by lording over Astha as her boss and at home by lording over her as her husband. Baba is not as much as the priority anymore. Otherwise, he would have made sure that Astha maintained traditions by not working in his office.
Niranjan and Anjali
Niranjan was pleased as a punch when he saw Astha serving food like the way he thinks DILs should. He too was furious at Astha taking Kalindi's calls as he wants her to break relationship with Kirloskers and make Agnihotri house her priority. But when he saw Shlok trying to go after Astha, he stopped him as his style is different from Shlok and Anjali. Shlok and Anjali go after a goal with open emotions. Niranjan likes to play a subtle game. So he asked Astha to invite Kalindi to stay with them and also invite her parents to the party. He is trying to kill two birds with one stone - show Kirloskers their place at the party (they are always humiliated at public gatherings by Anjali) and spread the word that Shlok and Astha are happily married couple.
So he has decided to invite some prominent person in the society for the event. So it is going to be coming out party of Astha in a way where she would be paraded as a duitful DIL of Agnihotris who is there to stay. The prominent personality "Joshi" seems to be Diva like character who is more influential than Niranjan. That's why Niranjan was sucking up to him (he is going to personally escort him to the party and Mr. Joshi would be there only for 10 minutes). But with all the players in Agnihotri household playing their games, baba's plans are going to have a glitch. He does not have as much control over his household as he thinks. First of all there is baccha who is rebellious in his own way. Then there is Sojal who is feeling increasingly insecure about her position in the house.
Coming back to baba who was looking mighty pleased with his plans, Anjali came to tell him that Astha cannot be controlled. Now Anjali was right in a way that Astha does things her own way. But she was wrong in telling Niranjan that it was Astha who wanted to do the job. Or perhaps she did not want to tell Niranjan that it is Shlok who is insisting on Astha working in his company. Is it because she does not want to break Niranjan's illusions that Shlok is his son in every way or because she is protecting Shlok in her own way. So she puts all the blame on Astha for whom she does not have much care.
Niranjan was right when he told her that not everyone can be controlled in similar way. So he gave her advice to give some initial freedom to Astha and then use her weaknesses (desire to have Shlok) to curb her freedoms. Niranjan is asking Anjali to manipulate Astha by love. In some sense, Astha is already weakening towards Anjali. The more Sojal tries to make her feel like an outsider, the more Anjali speaks in favor of Astha and brings her closer to Anjali. But Niranjan is miscalculating as he has not realized that once Astha starts feeling loyalty for someone, she would protect them. So Niranjan is pushing to bring Astha closer to both Shlok and Anjali. Once that is done, this would be a great disadvantage to Niranjan because then Astha would become highly protective of both of them. She already has a lot of loyalty for Shlok. She refused to press domestic violence charges at him and she speaks in his favor in front of outsiders (media, others etc.).
Sojal and Varad
When Shlok was abusive to Astha, they were showing her life in parallel to Jyoti's who was facing much worse at Abhay's hand. Now they are showing a parallel life of Sojal and Varad who are both unhappy with each other. Compared to Astha, Sojal's situation is actually worse. Jaya was not wrong when she told Sojal that her indifferent act towards Varad would only work if Varad is interested in her to begin with.
Sojal can see that despite his proclaimation of hate, Shlok is very drawn to Astha. That's why she feels so jealous of Astha because her own husband has no interest in her. She is not wise enough to realize that Varad would not be attracted to her by petty tricks as Varad has lofty image of a spouse. Since Sojal does not meet Varad's expectations, she does not warrant a second look from Varad. Varad and Sojal are very different personalities. Shlok and Astha are too, but they complement each other too. Astha has given Shlok unconditional love and Shlok has always been drawn towards Astha and fulfills her image of a husband.
Sojal's life on the other hand is quite empty. She has a mother who gives her wrong advice because of her own selfish interests. Astha has a mother who protects her interests fiercely. Astha also gets attention from everyone from Anjali (at Niranjan's orders) and Shlok (because he wants her in his life). Sojal does not get attention from either Anjali or Varad - the two people from whom she wants the maximum attention. So the more Sojal gets insecure, the more she is going to go after Astha. And the more she goes after Astha, the more protective Varad would become of Astha as he desperately wants Astha to be in Shlok's life. In that sense, it is not hard to feel sympathy for Sojal despite her short comings.
Overall, I liked the episode as they are now showing slow evolution of Shlok and also showing some parallel stories of other characters.
Edited by Angie12 - 12 years ago