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Zoya has noticed almost all of it. She remembers enough to know that Asad had been crying for her and that he had even kissed her. She has noticed his softness, his care, his warmth all the way until they reached home. Today she was subtly happy about that and she was accepting of all that he had offered her. She is honest with herself. She accepts life with open arms instead of locking herself up like her counterpart.
Asad on the other hand? Oh my, his solo scene in his room took me, the viewer, on a roller coaster ride right along with him. I had a knot in my stomach and my insides churned along with his. He's very aware of all that has passed between them and how he had reacted to almost losing her. In comes Asad, to his familiar surroundings, his prim and proper room that reminds him of everything that he is or rather should be but inside he is in turmoil with his feelings disheveled. What does he do? He returns to his comfort zone via denial. In the last two days, if he had taken 5 steps towards her, today he took 6 steps away from her. The question is how long will this last? The next few weeks will probably be about a some-times-hot and most-times-cold Asad. I think we can well expect him to be curt, distant, avoidant of any eye contact with Zoya and more immersed in work than ever while at night we might see him tossing and turning, feeling empty, getting off the bed to go feel the earring he still keeps in his drawer or take a peek at her sleeping. We will probably see him stealing a few glances at her and then punishing himself by moving even further away. All that is fine but time is short. He has three weeks to come around-that's a very short time for a composed man like Asad who has become adept at keeping his feelings in check all through these years of hardship.
On the other hand, three weeks of rejection, hot and cold from a man she has started caring about, under the already existent weight of running short of time in finding her father, is more than enough to drive Zoya to do something drastic (and by that I'm unfortunately thinking of a hasty marriage with Ayaan). She might label his seemingly temporary change of heart in Mangalpur as care and fear only, with no hint of love. Being a recipient of his coldness will push her into remembering and believing all the harsh words he has said to her so far while burying the connection they had formed when they faced death together.
Remember that after Ayaan's engagement today, the plan is to get him and Humaira married in two weeks. Both Zoya and Ayaan have deadlines and that leads me to fear a contract marriage between the two. What is worst is that just around the time that Ayaan-Zoya marry, Asad will come around to accept his feelings with the help of Dilshaad and be ready to confess but only to be faced with this dead end. Dilshaad is already in on the change in behavior between both Asad and Zoya. It won't be long before she deciphers what is brewing in her caged son's heart and helps him let himself loose. At that point, I fear a moment when Asad comes home to confess to Zoya only to find out that she has married Ayaan in desperation. He'd be in a spot where his love would remain unrequited and he wouldn't even be able to hate the man who 'stole' his love because he happens to be Ayaan, his most precious sibling. At this point, I think he'll take the easier way out: hating Zoya.
There is an alternate idea brewing in my head. What if Asad is hot and cold but Dilshaad sees through him and insists that he marry Zoya in the next month? Then we get to see a roller coaster of a marriage but without the third wheel, Ayaan. We'll see more denial, more rejection, more miscommunication. We might see a marriage in which by the time Asad is ready to accept his feelings and shower them on Zoya, Zoya has given up on him changing and retreated to superficial indifference. An insecure Asad might then interpret her behavior to mean that she does not feel anything for him. In a bid to do what's best for Zoya he would set her free from this trap of a marriage by divorcing her. Through all this we, the viewers, get to see angst, passion, drama on both sides. Enter Ayaan and halaala. Can't have a Muslim show without halaala, can we? I still don't see how Asad would ever be happy with this arrangement of halaala. As of now, his character is too above such pettiness in manipulating the system and the woman he loves to suit his needs.
Yet another alternate: in coming to accept his feelings in the next month, he can't help but work on getting Zoya's visa extended. Then we get to see some more-hot-less-cold behavior for some time and then some uninterrupted romance for a few weeks more. And then the bomb of separation hits for whatever reason-I'll leave the details out because the possibilities are many like 3rd wheel Ayaan, mean Mamu, misunderstandings etc. But with this track, we get to see a slowly drawn out love story that so many of us want.
Somewhere among all this will also be the truth about Mamujaan being Zoya's dad. Yet another hurdle for AsYa. Can Asad (re)marry the daugther of a man who has ruined his and his mother's life?
This show is going to keep us painfully glued rather than happily glued. I don't think I'll be watching today's episode more than 2-3 times (as opposed to my usual 10-15 repeats of AsYa scenes). Can't bear to watch my bubbly Zoya in pain! Oh my days.
Ps: this PH is so good at choosing background songs. They are always apt and lovely.
Jojo
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