*Sorry for the long rant
This is such a thought provoking post ❤️
Coming to the content of it, when you were describing Virat, I realised that he's real. What ever description you gave of him, is not just something from reel, but real. You would find a Virat in almost all men today, at least parts of him. As a 21st century man that was raised in very much patriarchal joint family, yet ruled by a matriarch, that is exactly where the seed of Virat's 2-personality life came into being. On one side, in the dynamics of his parents, his father held the crown, suddenly turning towards his family as whole, his aunt controlled stuff. The opinion that men should always be in control is both supported and negated in this situation.
His relationship with Sai, had it been a real life one, should have taken the most natural course of sustaining. In the absence of speeding heart beats, electric touches and cool breezes thus thus a relationship that had the capacity to grow into the strongest of ones. Simply because, it's 2 humans. 2 humans bound by circumstances. Their marriage wouldn't have been their 1st choice, but it wasn't a revenge marriage or a fraudulent one or something of that sort. When Virat described to Sai that she should have no expectations, I cheered. He was saying the truth wasn't he ? In a situation where the other woman is physically absent, the strain in their relationship would have been less stronger. But , Patralekha was in front of their eyes. Reminding Virat that he broke a promise and reminding Sai that she had no one, for herself.
Virat gets influenced, easily. He's a man that wears his sleeve on his heart. His promise to Patralekha, his regards of Samrat's feelings and his promise to Kamal Joshi. All of them stem out of the good part in him. But when you wear your heart on you sleeve, it's equally easier for him to get hurt. Spending time with Sai, observing her as she is in the confines of their bedroom, not just as a stubborn girl from Gadchiroli, but as just Sai, created feelings in him. Feelings that once again, made him falsely believe were love. Just like with Patralekha. Had the realization come naturally to him, without any prompting, as be he would have upheld values of love.
His guilt of seeing Patralekha alone, gravitated him to her side in the early days of his marriage. Once again his big heart. But the dynamics changed. Sai made a place for herself and this gave rise to expectations. When he feels, they were not met, the patriarchal Virat comes out. The one that accuses his wife, the one that manhandles her and the one that kicks her out at night. He's the villain of his story. The Bad Virat.
Not very unsurprisingly, Virat is a representation of real humans. The good and bad. The evil and kind. The conservative and liberal. He's the kind of guy that wants the butterfly to fly but in the confines of a sanctuary.
Like you, the moment the defined SaiRat for me was the more when applies baking soda to Sai's feet. This wasn't ACP Virat Chavan fulfilling his responsibilities to his teacher. This was the husband Virat Chavan, taking care of his wife, because she did something that gave birth to wife in her for the first time. And that is exactly when the husband in him was born as well. What happened in that scene wasn't love. Not romance. It was the birth of a role for Virat Chavan. As a husband. A role that he would handle and mishandle. It was also a moment that made him imagine for a minute, Sai as his wife, not a ward.
I might hate SaiRat now, I might think they're the most toxic couple on earth. But tomorrow when he cries infront of her or for her, I know that I'll melt and go back to being a shipper. But that's me. And my toxic relationship with SaiRat. But I'm a human and I'm fallacious. My mistakes and faults are allowed and to an extent, excusable, as long as they affect only me. The second it causes harm to a second person, I'm to be held liable. The onus is on me, to correct myself. The same with Virat Chavan.