Oh nice catch...those epis seem like eons ago now...but yes even then I think some of us wondered how come Mala felt no connect but Rudra felt it even while just seeing her eyes...
And given how these characters have turned out to be, it does add up...it's remarkable how much Rudra has ended up being affected by and VALUING the bonds he's made in his life considering that he was fed poison and bitterness for most of his life...yet he is able to nibhaao and value relationships better than both his weak-minded parents.
Even when he claimed cynicism, he was appalled by the speed with which people could spurn relationships and their most loved ones...this thought is UNTHINKABLE to Rudra...and it shows even now with the way he protects Paro, Dilsher even now...and soon he will defend Mala again as well as the spoilers say...this is the kind of guy he is when everyone else around him has failed him time and again.
I tell you...I'm just waiting for the poor guy to catch a break...blow after blow is landing on him...he looks so hunted...like a cornered prey with nowhere to go...Any lesser man would've lost it by now, buckled under the pressure...But not this man...He has some inner strength, a dogged determination to plow ahead...which makes him stay on his feet...