Disclaimer: I am not justifying the actions of any contestants. This is just my own analysis and observations.
I will clearly state my bias that of all the contestants Ankit is my favorite. He's calm, mature, sorted, and intelligent. He's literally the ideal guy that every girl dreams of (edit: not all😆)...and Priyanka is not any different. It really bothers me how Priyanka constantly shouts and disrespects Ankit. But seeing this promo, genuinely made me feel bad for Priyanka and forced me to think deeper about her situation and the way she behaves:
They met on the sets of Udaariyaan around 2.5 years back and it's obvious that something brewed between them that was "more than friends" but maybe never had a clear label. Based of what I've seen on their vlogs and BB, they both are very fond of each other but don't have the same expectations from this relationship and that's the problem. Yes, Priyanka can be loud and overbearing but I think it stems from her frustration that Ankit doesn't accept this relationship. If you see her vlogs, she comes across as a very pleasant person and even how the crew/coactors interact with her, she seems like a likable person.
Despite her faults, no one can deny that Priyanka is a headstrong and honest girl and I think it stems from her upbringing - her father and all her siblings are in the Army. Army families are very dedicated to everything - their profession, country, and families. Being closely related to army kids, I've noticed that they are brought up with a lot of discipline and their outlook on life is very white vs. black. Nothing is "grey"...either it's right or it's wrong and never in between. Similarly, Priyanka has very definite opinions. She's wants a clear answer - yes or no...not maybe or eventually and this is the root cause of her frustration.
In the promo, she says that like every girl she desires a family, marriage, and kids. And for her, there is no better man than Ankit. Somebody mentioned on twitter that "Ankit is boyfriend material but sadly he doesn't want to be a boyfriend". Can't blame Priyanka for liking him so much...he really is that good. Also coming from an Army family, she probably saw her parents as supportive spouses who stick through thick and think together and yearns for something similar.
But what does Ankit want? In this interview, he clearly says he's not interested in marriage and isn't particularly fond of kids. He mentions in this interview that he was cheated on and this may be where his commitment issues are stemming from. I saw a video where he introduced his girlfriend and hinted at marriage and obviously that didn't happen. If you have ever been cheated on or have been closely associated with a someone who was cheated on, you realize that their personality changes and they become very cautious and distrustful of others. You give all of yourself to someone and let down your guards only to be betrayed. It makes you question your self-worth and then you decide that if you put up walls, no one can get in and hurt you again. "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me". This is how I perceive Ankit's mindset to be and he is not wrong in his place.
Ankit mentions in an interview that he's not very close to his family and he doesn't visit them often. He said somewhere that he gets busy in where he is and is not "actively missing" his family all the time although he does think about them. In his vlog, he said that his family wasn't very supportive of his acting career and he was left to fend for himself and got a job in a call center. So, it's not just Priyanka that he's emotionally unavailable to...it's his personality and his life experiences made him this way. He's made it clear on many occasions that he's "just friends" with Priyanka but his actions say otherwise. He needs to give her a clear answer or maybe he doesn't really know what he wants either. He says in one of his interviews that his biggest fear is ending up alone which contradicts his statement about never getting married. But, this is also very typical fear of commitment-phobics as with all humans as we are social animals.
The whole issue of their relationship is that they want different things and need to clearly define their relationship & boundaries. Priyanka wants a proper relationship that leads to marriage while Ankit doesn't want any of that. Priyanka is clear about what she wants and now Ankit needs to be clear too. It seems like he wants a friends with benefits type of relationship with her and she's not the person for that because she's a very committed, clear-cut type of person. If you are just friends then act like it! Stop cuddling her and saying romantic things...it's leading her on and giving her false hope that maybe ONE DAY he'll realize his love for her. Let her go and cut communication with her outside the house so she can finally move on and heal.
As for Priyanka, it's time to move on and waiting for someone to realize or change is not it...you'll end up waiting forever. Time is valuable and life is short. I think everyone has been at the "one-sided" love story at some point. You keep waiting that one day they'll see what you (and everyone else) sees but they won't and you'll keep hurting yourself. You can't force someone to love/accept you. But you (and everyone in this world) deserves to be loved. Do you really want to be with someone who has to think this hard if they love you or not? It's easier said than done to move on especially if the person is in front of you 24/7. Even if the other person doesn't like you back, it doesn't mean you are unlovable. At the end of the day, you need to love yourself the most and do what's best for you.
I don't think Priyanka or Ankit are wrong. They both are right in their own perspectives. Both of them have unresolved emotional trauma from past experiences. They need to communicate and clearly define their future plans and expectations until then they'll be stuck in this cycle of fight-make up-repeat.
Sorry for this huge essay 😆 if you read through this whole thing, I'm impressed (edit: If you made it to the end without getting bored). Thoughts and opinions are welcome!
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