This week on Sanjivani was not only full of action and drama, but also some pretty important character development.
I know some have complained about the back and forth between Shashank/Juhi scenes and Sid/Ishani scenes. Editing aside, there were interesting parallels. Until now in the show, Shashank and Juhi were the steady ones, the voices of maturity and reason. They had a good relationship - not a romantic one, but a relationship nonetheless. Sid and Ishani were the ones who were struggling to understand each other, to find common ground. And in this week alone, the foundation of Shashank and Juhi’s relationship was completely shaken up by Anjali; meanwhile, the foundation of Sid and Ishani’s relationship was set as their misunderstanding about the poster was cleared up and she finally saw Sid for the good person that he is.
Ishani’s character also made big strides this week. She recognized that she jumps to conclusions too quickly and that can cause her to judge people wrongly. We also saw her start to open up her heart. She was deeply touched by Sid’s mother’s affection towards her, so much that she forgot about her germophobia. She threatened Rishabh on behalf of Asha, showing that she has accepted Asha as a friend and will defend her.
And she started opening her heart towards Sid as well. She danced with him at the festival, let him hold her hands. And when he was hurt, she was devastated. She touched him freely, begged him not to leave her. Even when Sid woke up enough to tease her about touching him, she didn’t back away. Nothing was more important to her than his survival. When she prayed for him, she acknowledged to Ganeshji that Sid is a good human being with good intentions. She called Sid her friend. It struck me that Sid is probably the first person that she has truly considered a friend since her childhood. She told him that she didn’t let people close to her because they inevitably left her. How heartbreaking that when she has finally let someone in, she is at risk of losing him. I don’t think Ishani is ready to acknowledge that she feels anything more than friendship for Sid right now. Even acknowledging the friendship is a big step for her.
We even saw character development with Vardhaan. He has come across as the big villain until now, but it was interesting that even he didn’t wish for Sid to die. I hope that means that Vardhaan has some morality somewhere, because I prefer characters who are grey rather than completely evil. Rishabh, in fact, has now been set up as even more heartless than Vardhaan, not caring about Sid or even his own father. As much as I dislike Rishabh, I look forward to seeing where they take his character.
Like everyone, I’m also curious to see what they will show the relationship between Sid’s mother and Shashank to be. I feel like the writers have made it seem too obvious that Sid might be Shashank’s son, and in fact have a different surprise up their sleeves. But there is a part of me that hopes Sid really is his son, just because I love Sid and wish for him to have a good father. Regardless, I’m excited to see this storyline play out.
Really looking forward to next week! 😊
Anupamaa
