Ep 20: Kamzori haar ki nishani hai aur main haar nahi sakti

So, a very MayRalicious episode and very MaHilicious episode, without Mrityunjay, and we have Fifty Shades of Maya to add to that mix - in short the episode was a mixed bag for me. But what is interesting to me is the precap - Rishi finally meets Rudra's mysterious 'sanki' investor and let's see how does Maya manages to turn this around in her favor.

Maya's truth? - Many who saw tonight would feel that Maya's story was a lie. But I think whatever she told Rudra was the truth - apart from the name of the 'bada aadmi' she mentioned in her story. If you slowly listen to her story - it is easy to understand. Kaise kahun apni ma se that unka pati aur beta mar chuke hai - means that probably her mother knows but is delusional and Maya is playing along or Maya did not have the courage to reveal the truth of their deaths. Ek bade aadmi ke bade zindagi ne mere papa aur bhai ki zindagi badal di, mujhe badal diya - which is the truth. A rich man's rich life was so big to him that her family's life was very cheap and so they lost their lives and Maya changed completely. This line is completely honest because it was someone from the Roy family that changed the fates of Maya and her family. Uss bade aadmi ke pahiyon ke neeche aakar zindagi badal gayi - now this bit is debatable because it means that her father and brother were run over by a car - which hints towards an accident, but sounds to me like they were purposely run over. The rest of the story she narrated also is the truth - she wanted to protect her mother because she cannot bear the loss of her mother - so she cut herself from the world and made a world of her own where no one is allowed entry, except Rajiv. Rajiv was under the impression that Maya narrated a fake story, which would stop Rudra from enquiring further into her life. But I would maintain my stance that Maya really told him the truth. The most truthful Maya has ever been with anyone in this whole show, it is only Rudra.

Rudra's dilemma - Rudra's guilt of invading into Maya's life, pains him because somewhere Rudra gave Maya pain by reminding her of a tragedy. Maya correctly understood that Rudra is very good at reading pain, and hence he was fishing out her story to understand the reason for her pain. This is another point of similarity between Rudra and Maya where Rudra and Maya can understand the pain of each other rather well. Rudra has a deep wound that has scarred him for life, and so he can see Maya too has scars of her own, which Maya can conveniently use to draw Rudra into her Mayajaal. What I do not understand is his deep desire to know more of what Maya is - isn't she supposed to be a business investment - someone he wants to save his company, then why so much interest in her personal life. Or is this the loneliness of being Rudra Roy where he cannot share his pain with anyone, that he is seeking a partner of pain which he can see in Maya. Somewhere Rudra is drawn to Maya's pain and her reasons for being a mystery and he sees a person similar to him with wounds related to family, so he feels he has found someone with whom he can share his pain and find solace. The more he draws in on the scars and pain of Maya, the more he will fall for her.

Rishi's fire - Maya in her quest to make Rishi independent, has ignited a fire in him - in which he will do anything for her, cross all limits for her - even if it means defying Mrityunjay Roy. Rishi is young, and impatience comes with his age, so when Maya slaps him away on him trying to get intimate, it peeves him. His questions too are valid - we are dating, we are in love and you want to marry me, then why push me away. However, Maya turns it around on him, by making it a matter of trust issues she has of her own and she wants his help to save her. And this goes and hits Rishi at the right place - his ego, his knight-in-shining-armor comes out for Maya who is begging him to sail along this test of fire to make her live happily with him. Rishi tonight grew in terms of character - how? The kid who ran away at the sound of the fire alarm was now ready to sail the aag ka dariya to help Maya cross the bridge of trust with him - that he will never leave her. This also goes onto support what I said yesterday - Rishi is a Roy, he is Mrityunjay's son and Rudra's brother - he is stubborn and he is resilient. He has the capacity to go both ways - good or bad. So let us see where does this story take Rishi from here - aasman ki uchaiyon tak ya zameen ki gehraiyon tak.

Precap - The interesting part about precap is the revelation that Rishi's and Rudra's Maya are the same person to Rishi. Rishi is not so dumb to not put two and two together and he gets a whiff of a game being played by Maya, as seen in the precap. These are some speed bumps I look forward to in such dramas. What's the fun in watching Maya winning all her games so easily? Maya has been planning this game for 8 years - she should be prepared for such incidents to crop up here and there. So I would like to know how Maya has planned this out. In S1, I stopped watching the show because Maya was always winning all her games, in spite of being the villain in the show - it became so continuous and one tone, that it annoyed the hell out of me. I want to see something different this time. I think Maya will use Rishi's knowledge about Maya being the same person to drive a wedge between both brothers. I just hope and pray, that Rishi does not die. Dying will definitely happen, but much later. And as far as planning with Rudra is concerned, with him Maya is never planned - it is very circumstantial, she does not plan it always.

I am done with my ramblings. Would love to hear your insights on the episode and precap

Originally posted by: libran90

So, a very MayRalicious episode and very MaHilicious episode, without Mrityunjay, and we have Fifty Shades of Maya to add to that mix - in short the episode was a mixed bag for me. But what is interesting to me is the precap - Rishi finally meets Rudra's mysterious 'sanki' investor and let's see how does Maya manages to turn this around in her favor.

Firstly I was expecting more MayRa scene today.. but it was as good as the promo which was a bit disappointing...

Maya's truth? - Many who saw tonight would feel that Maya's story was a lie. But I think whatever she told Rudra was the truth - apart from the name of the 'bada aadmi' she mentioned in her story. If you slowly listen to her story - it is easy to understand. Kaise kahun apni ma se that unka pati aur beta mar chuke hai - means that probably her mother knows but is delusional and Maya is playing along or Maya did not have the courage to reveal the truth of their deaths. Ek bade aadmi ke bade zindagi ne mere papa aur bhai ki zindagi badal di, mujhe badal diya - which is the truth. A rich man's rich life was so big to him that her family's life was very cheap and so they lost their lives and Maya changed completely. This line is completely honest because it was someone from the Roy family that changed the fates of Maya and her family. Uss bade aadmi ke pahiyon ke neeche aakar zindagi badal gayi - now this bit is debatable because it means that her father and brother were run over by a car - which hints towards an accident, but sounds to me like they were purposely run over. The rest of the story she narrated also is the truth - she wanted to protect her mother because she cannot bear the loss of her mother - so she cut herself from the world and made a world of her own where no one is allowed entry, except Rajiv. Rajiv was under the impression that Maya narrated a fake story, which would stop Rudra from enquiring further into her life. But I would maintain my stance that Maya really told him the truth. The most truthful Maya has ever been with anyone in this whole show, it is only Rudra.

Maya wasn't lying.. they are dead for sure.. killed may be.. framing the words into an accident creates a fix in Rudra mind not to go further and also now he might think Nandini a bit differently and no matter what she will tell him he will keep out of it ..

Rudra's dilemma - Rudra's guilt of invading into Maya's life, pains him because somewhere Rudra gave Maya pain by reminding her of a tragedy. Maya correctly understood that Rudra is very good at reading pain, and hence he was fishing out her story to understand the reason for her pain. This is another point of similarity between Rudra and Maya where Rudra and Maya can understand the pain of each other rather well. Rudra has a deep wound that has scarred him for life, and so he can see Maya too has scars of her own, which Maya can conveniently use to draw Rudra into her Mayajaal. What I do not understand is his deep desire to know more of what Maya is - isn't she supposed to be a business investment - someone he wants to save his company, then why so much interest in her personal life. Or is this the loneliness of being Rudra Roy where he cannot share his pain with anyone, that he is seeking a partner of pain which he can see in Maya. Somewhere Rudra is drawn to Maya's pain and her reasons for being a mystery and he sees a person similar to him with wounds related to family, so he feels he has found someone with whom he can share his pain and find solace. The more he draws in on the scars and pain of Maya, the more he will fall for her.

Rudra actually is searching for the truth.. today he said he saw the real Maya today who has nothing hidden.. actually he did see.. Maya might have woven her words smartly but Rudra is more into finding out who she really is.. I also felt that Maya understands that Rudra has a pain but doesnt know what.. if their pasts have crossed roads then it will start making a difference..

Rishi's fire - Maya in her quest to make Rishi independent, has ignited a fire in him - in which he will do anything for her, cross all limits for her - even if it means defying Mrityunjay Roy. Rishi is young, and impatience comes with his age, so when Maya slaps him away on him trying to get intimate, it peeves him. His questions too are valid - we are dating, we are in love and you want to marry me, then why push me away. However, Maya turns it around on him, by making it a matter of trust issues she has of her own and she wants his help to save her. And this goes and hits Rishi at the right place - his ego, his knight-in-shining-armor comes out for Maya who is begging him to sail along this test of fire to make her live happily with him. Rishi tonight grew in terms of character - how? The kid who ran away at the sound of the fire alarm was now ready to sail the aag ka dariya to help Maya cross the bridge of trust with him - that he will never leave her. This also goes onto support what I said yesterday - Rishi is a Roy, he is Mrityunjay's son and Rudra's brother - he is stubborn and he is resilient. He has the capacity to go both ways - good or bad. So let us see where does this story take Rishi from here - aasman ki uchaiyon tak ya zameen ki gehraiyon tak.

Rishi can go either ways.. but more importantly he is also smart.. he might have acted kiddo till now but in precap he also started joining the dots . It can be as simple as him thinking that she works with Rudra or try to slowly find out things.. Rishi might go MJ way at how I feel..

Precap .. Ananya Rudra distancing could be mayas plan..

Precap - The interesting part about precap is the revelation that Rishi's and Rudra's Maya are the same person to Rishi. Rishi is not so dumb to not put two and two together and he gets a whiff of a game being played by Maya, as seen in the precap. These are some speed bumps I look forward to in such dramas. What's the fun in watching Maya winning all her games so easily? Maya has been planning this game for 8 years - she should be prepared for such incidents to crop up here and there. So I would like to know how Maya has planned this out. In S1, I stopped watching the show because Maya was always winning all her games, in spite of being the villain in the show - it became so continuous and one tone, that it annoyed the hell out of me. I want to see something different this time. I think Maya will use Rishi's knowledge about Maya being the same person to drive a wedge between both brothers. I just hope and pray, that Rishi does not die. Dying will definitely happen, but much later. And as far as planning with Rudra is concerned, with him Maya is never planned - it is very circumstantial, she does not plan it always.

I am done with my ramblings. Would love to hear your insights on the episode and precap

If rishi goes MJ way then it definitely will be maya ki haar. I mean rishi is Mrityunjay strength. She would want rishi also to turn against him or leave Mrityunjay.

As always amazing thoughts. Really appreciate these analysis threads.

I want to list a few points. While it seemed Rishi was a bit in background last week, this week has brought Rishi on track being an equal priority for MayaAlso her plans to play love game with Rishi has turned into a game to empower Rishi while for Rudra her plans to play game of challenge is on its way to become a game of love?

- Vrat part 2: So the planned vrat/fast by Maya, the intended forced vrat by Rishi and the unintended forced vrat by Rudra went on. We saw the trio skip food and even ice cream tooThis triangle is getting exciting.

- Ice cream connection: Thanks to Shibani for pointing it out, we had RuAn and MaHi both holding ice creams but interestingly neither MaHi nor Rudy were shown eating it. Kya twisted mohabbat hai

- Trial by fire: Fire is often a symbol, a witness, a purifier, a liberator, or an annihilator. Yesterday we saw some interesting glimpses. Maya said the fire represented her inner burning feelings when she is touched, the fire also helped symbolically purify Maya after Rishis unwanted touch. I also referenced about Sitas purity test by fire in Shreyas thread.

- The touch: Starting from first episode, Maya has consistently shown disgust at being touched unwantedly. Be it Rishi or Rudra. But while with Rudra she has gotten comfortable over time. With Rishi her disgust kept increasing and exploded yesterday. The touch of respect & love will always outdo lust

- Maya ki kasam: Anu is pretty good at sensing the inner turmoil of Rudra and rightly highlighted that he need not overthink since Maya isnt his gf, unless he is in love. I found Anu saying "tujhe sirf main pyaar kar sakti hun" important coz Maya has been saying she has no place for love anymore so even if it seems Rudra is about to fall in love with Maya, she won't be really reciprocating for a while. And the biggest proof was him relent his ice cream to Anu on her taking Mayas name.

Interesting post Sohini 👏

I want to share two things that stood out for me in the episode:

1. Har kahani jhoothi hoti hai, uske kirdaar sacche:

There is no better way to summarize the intricate web of lies and truth that Maya is designing, than these words by her. The side of Maya, which is vulnerable, broken, scared to fall in love, that she stages in front of Rishi is actually a piece of her. Although its all an act in front of Rishi, in the given situation, that vulnerable Maya really comes out once in a while. Mostly in front of Rudra, ironically in front of whom she wants to create an image of stoic and strong woman, and most memorably when she hid herself under the table and was calmed down by Rudra. So I feel, each word she said to Rudra about her past was true, but it was so guarded that it encrypted the real truth. The way she remembered each and every word of that voice message tells how many times she had called that 'dead' number just to hear her brother's lively voice. She was still crying hearing that voice remembering her past, when Rajeev entered behind her and claimed she was lying. It did not seem she was lying up to that point. Neither after that, when she took out her brother's phone that she had jailed in her coded locker. I also felt a bit weird when Rajeev called her mother Maa, not once but twice. Maybe I am overthinking.😆

2. Rishi: Man! First of all accolades to the actor for enacting the scene. Rajat is a newcomer, but the way he brought out the characteristics of both MJ and Antara in one scene is commendable, 👏 writing is there, but he had to enact it. His acting stood out in front of an acclaimed actress like Jenny's, that's a feat I believe! Now coming back to Rishi, the character. He looked exact replica of MJ the way he raged on being slapped. I thought he would leave her and run away again amidst the fire, but he actually came back, extinguished the fire and bowed down to her passion. I saw Antara in him in that moment, someone with inherent goodness and a desire to be loved passionately. I see Rishi's innocence being pivotal in extinguishing the beyhadh fire raging inside her (he is still innocent in spite of his vices). But before the Antara in him comes into fore, the MJ in him would. I think he would err and then return.

I did not plan on writing about Rudra, but I couldn't help but write. The fellow let go of his ice-cream for Maya! Who let's go of a nice scoop of ice-cream? 😆 He is deeply into reading the book called Maya, seeking answers and asking questions. But the way he equates falling in love with death, I wonder when he would realize he has lost his heart to that intriguing woman named Maya.

BTW, Maya broke her fast with alcohol 😆

Beautiful analysis of the episode by you, Sohini!