Now, when I deliberately go through some of the Aditya- Imlie vms, I am honestly confused..here is a lovey dovey couple, good actors pouring in earnest emotions..and yet all comes undone. Where did it go horribly wrong? Wasn't there red herrings from the start? Or was Imlie viewing everything with the wrong shades? You mentioned that Aditya was flawed earlier too..so his narcissism did come through from the start?
I apologize for the essay and I am going to put a disclaimer, I do not ship Aditya but unlike another thread where there is constant bashing of Imlie and Aryan with no objectivity whatsoever, I am presenting this in the interest of maintaining our impartial/forgive and forget status as Arylians. We only ship Arylie and nothing else matters. Bear with me.
Was Aditya always narcissistic? I am not sure. He was shown as a workaholic, with a low emotional IQ, highly idealistic, proud of his credentials as a journalist, unafraid to confront difficult political issues. The initial interactions between him and Imlie were friendly enough until they were married at gunpoint. From then onward, he was only irritated by her presence, and as he later reveals, how that wedding had lead him to question his manhood, self-respect. He does attempt to tell Malini, but as soon as she faints, he gives up - mistake #1. I think, in a normal world, the character should have persisted and been honest. But his maintenance that Malini was mentally fragile became an excuse and he married her.
Right before the marriage, Imlie vows to stop it and Aditya, in private says he was fine with that, calls her bluff and tells her lets go do it. But Imlie steps back and is shown to give away her sindoor to Malini.
At this point he continues to remain irritated with Imlie but feels a grudging obligation to protect her as well. He keeps attempting to get Imlie to return to PD to study and pursue her life, because he knows she is getting attached to his family and breaking those bonds later will be much harder, but destiny keeps interfering.
Eventually, he convinces her to leave and is somehow tasked with dropping her off to PD, where he offers her money right before they part at the bus stop. A very nice scene here where Imlie tells him off for giving her money for the work done at the T house. They go their separate ways, he to a guesthouse and she goes home. Circumstances bring them together again, and at the behest of Satyakaam, they get married again - same threat, Imlie begs him to go through with it or they will kill him. Aditya reaches the end of his rope here when the village girls prepare a room for them for their SR and he lashes out at Imlie for planning everything to snatch him away from Malini. Another beautiful scene between them, Imlie's angst is shown so well here, fabulous performance by ST.
Then comes the Dil Se scene after which he leaves the next morning with the understanding that she would never return to Delhi. His dilemma is portrayed quite well and after the events preceding and during the Dil Se drama he has developed some respect for her. That's when Imlie has her first NDE. And the first monumental shift in Aditya's perspective about Imlie happens here. Amazingly well shot scenes that I probably watched on repeat for the sheer power of acting from both GM and ST but especially GM.
He brings her back to a hospital in Delhi and she subsequently goes to the T home. Aditya's feelings have changed from irritation to friendly/mentor like. He recognizes that she is a smart girls and encourages her to pursue her studies and her dreams. With Malini's blessing.
Imlie has maintained the entire time from day 1, that to her, he is her husband, she had faith in their relationship and it did not matter to her that he did not consider their relationship real and that he was married to another woman. She would continue to consider him as her husband from a distance. Lots of conversations later, Aditya respects Imlie and becomes fond of her, in his mind like a friend.
He is still loyal to Malini though, and asks Imlie to discard her beliefs about their marriage and move on to a better life, quite casually after the two of them complete a sting operation. This enrages her and she decides to leave for PD. But in the interim, Aditya is kidnapped by the goon he and Imlie were doing the sting operation on, Imlie of course, saves the day, saves Aditya and leaves for PD.
When Aditya regains consciousness at home, he finds out that IMlie has left, becomes restless, makes an excuse and follows her to PD without telling people at home where he was going.
PD#3 trip is memorable. There were so many good scenes between them. The normally conflicted Aditya, is shown to find peace in PD and temporarily forgets his obligation to Malini while in PD. A funny scene of him teaching her the pythagoras theorem, a lovely dance, his desperate and successful attempt to make sure she reaches the exam venue and his argument with the proctor to allow Imlie to sit the exam even though she is an hour late, his encouragement that he believed she was brilliant and even if she had less time, she would ace this exam -- all are worth watching.
He tries to convince her to come back but she refuses saying he cannot give their relationship a name and asks him to go back to his wife, Malini.
Beautiful conversations centered around Imlie's faith in their relationship, her conviction that this relationship was for life and that she would never look at another man, all bother Aditya.
At a puja organized by her mother, he finally calls her Imlie AKT. So, Imlie who already worships him as a husband, ideal journalist, now is both excited by his acceptance and upset because he has a wife waiting for him at home.
She finally refutes all his attempts to take her back to Delhi and he leaves. Another beautiful parting scene. By now, Aditya is at a point where he is going to tell Malini about his marriage to Imlie, no matter what. But it is Imlie that forbids and delays this confession. Imlie comes back to Delhi for college, lives at a women's hostel but Aditya more or less gives her no choice but to come back to the T- house.
He is actually shown quite impulsive here, unable to wait to tell Malini and his family the truth, divorce Malini and give Imlie her haq (yup! that dreaded word). Eventually, (I think it was months in ITV time, or at least felt like it) he convinces Imlie that they needed to tell his family and Malini. He tells Malini, she attempts to kill herself, he brings her back reluctantly, Imlie does a lot of Malini Jaap ad nauseum, irritating Aditya and all viewers who wanted to bang their heads on a wall or just shoot themselves. Malini pretends to have an affair with a fictional KC but when seeking divorce she really meets a real KC.
Viewers sigh in relief, hoping Malini and KC will hook up and all will be well with the world again. But NO, Malini turns evil, KC tells her to F**k off and leaves the picture, Aditya feels guilty that KC was a fictional lover, somehow Malini keeps returning to the T-house, tries to discredit Imlie in every possible way, Janmashtami happens where Aditya in his drugged states thinks he is pursuing Imlie and sleeps with Malini who is dressed in Imlie's clothes. The rest as you know is history, the downfall of AKT begins and now he is so deep in the abyss that there is no hope for redemption. So, I will still maintain, he was a man with flaws, but he was never lewd/never sexually harassed Imlie. Whatever happened between them, hand-holding, cheek kiss, shoulder kiss 🤔, was mutual.
That was my objection. On this thread of late, I have noticed that AKT is bashed, he rightfully should be given his current role as scumbag #1 and just appalling behavior, horrid choices, BUT he was never sexually inappropriate with Imlie. Did he give in to holding her hand or hugging her, yes. But it never went beyond that. Even after family acceptance when Imlie enters his room as his wife, he tells her there was no pressure and until she felt comfortable, there would not be a wrinkle on the bedspread.
So, in conclusion, love Arylie, hate Aditya but I beg you all to try to refrain from inaccurate accusations if you have not watched all the episodes from the start.
It is a complex story for a reason. Get the facts straight, is all.
An avid Arylie shipper,
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