There seems to be no let up in the deepening gloom that pervades PR, so much so that I actually found myself yearning for a Vishnu scene or scenes. His cocky brashness and casual arrogance and, in sharp contrast, his very deep love for and devotion to his mayee, would, with Balan and his moustaches as a tadka, have come as a welcome relief from today's proceedings.
But the CVs did not oblige, and I was left with the tea leaves, which promise nothing good, and no wonder.
-Archana's faux pas: Archana tries very hard (in a sustained spell of excellent acting by Ankita) to convince Purvi that since her marriage to Manav is dead and gone and there is now no prospect of their getting together again, it would be best for all concerned if the divorce went thru. She adds, with great emphasis, what appeared in the precap yesterday, to pull Purvi back from any guilt trip that she might be embarking on.All very wise and much needed. But then Archana commits a major blunder. Swept along on a tide of banked up misery let loose all of a sudden, she ends up saying a number of things that are bound to work against what she desires to ensure: that Purvi should not feel guilty about anything concerning the divorce, and that she should not feel that her marriage to Arjun would make matters worse between Manav and Archana.
For one thing, she lets slip that there is no chance of any reconciliation with Manav after what happened between Ovi, Purvi and Arjun. She confesses, as her tears spill forth unchecked, that she very much wants to be with Manav and her daughters,and that she needs them. That Manav is torn between her and his daughters who hate her. That the greatest sorrow of her life is that she has never been able to tell Ovi how much she loves her, and that she has not been able to make Ovi understand that what she, Archana, did in the Arjun-Purvi case was what was best for Ovi as Arjun did not love her. Because of this, she would be dubbed for the rest of her life as the villain of the piece. All of this will loom large in Purvi's mind once she learns about Ovi's offer to Archana.
Purvi: One does not need to be a psychologist to predict Purvi's reaction to the above, though she is careful not to reveal them to her aai. It is not clear whether or not Purvi has also learnt about Ovi's Grand Deal offer, by listening to Archana telling Sulochana about it, in graphic detail, at the temple (Purvi goes to buy some pedas, but she might very well have come back, quietly and unseen).
If she has listened in, her sacrificial tendencies will get a kickstart, like a Ferrari going from 0 to 60 mph in 50 (?) seconds. She can then be depended upon to try, with messianic zeal, to make sure, by jettisoning her marriage to Arjun, that her aai gets her heart's desire. But even if she does not learn about the Ovi offer, Archana's faux pas would be enough to get her started on the same path.
- Ovi's suicide attempt ?: Ovi's apparent suicide attempt is bound to not just make life harder for Archana in the Deshmukh household, but what is worse, it might make Purvi even more determined to tread the path of self-sacrifice.
I say 'apparent' because I do not think that Ovi wanted to actually commit suicide. She is shown slitting her wrists slowly, and she has taken care to let Teju know where she is and what she is supposed to be doing, thus ensuring that she is stopped in time. She probably counts on her suicide attempt achieving what she wants at this stage – making Archana feel guilty enough to put off the Arjun-Purvi marriage, if not drop it (curiously enough, Purvi makes the same marriage postponement suggestion to Archana, so that she does not have to leave Archana alone right now; it is shot down swiftly by her mother).
- Purvi's plans: The end result of all these negative developments appears to be reflected in the precap. Purvi, sitting opposite Arjun in a restaurant, is looking like death warmed over. Her face is tense and drawn. As Arjun is trying to pep her up (and get her out of what he thinks are her pre-nuptial jitters, by making out that his jitters are worse), she is hardly listening, and her thoughts seem to be far, far away.
Arjun does not know, poor chap, that it is not jitters but something much worse, and that the roof is about to cave in on him. I am, along with many of you, hoping that I am wrong, but it does seem at least likely that Purvi is going to bolt.
This said, I also believe that Archana will NOT let Purvi make a sacrificial offering of herself and of Arjun. So it remains to be seen if, and how Purvi does what she now seems to want in spite of Archana. The option (b) in my post of yesterday, of Purvi giving up on her tyaag scenario in the end, might very well come true, and then we can heave a collective sigh of relief.
But then again it might not, for from the point of view of the CVs, an early Arjun-Purvi marriage would cut several months out of PR's planned life. So, to keep the serial on life support but still among the living, Arjun-Purvi cannot be allowed to take their saat pheras in peace and as scheduled. So, option (a) beckons.
On the balance, no silver, or even copper lining is visible for the present, and we seem destined to plough thru another slough of despond, lamenting all the while over Purvi's folly.
Shyamala B.CowsikNB: For the rest, it was silly of Archana to make a theatrical production of the wedding invitation. It should have been given to Manav in private. She did exactly the same thing when she announced her approval for the Arjun-Purvi marriage. It was then, and is now, both pointless and counter productive, as it only raises everyone's hackles and served/serves no purpose that I can see.
Ovi too should have been told of Archana's answer in private. Her reaction would have been the same, but it would not have been so intense, because she would then not have had her hopes raised by the family group being assembled for what she assumes is a favourable answer to her offer, only to have them dashed again.
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