..RAcHNA,gUNJAN AUR...

After the complicated emotions last few episodes, "sapne! ' went a long way toward redeeming and refocusing the show. There were real, heartfelt, pretty honest moments; there were moments that were difficult to watch; and sometimes these moments were the same. While Gunjan remained her quiet self throughout most of the episode (with no talk of her why vihaan crisis suddenly, with whom she ended last week's episode; I expect the real feisty gunjan will return at some point), she had a couple of moments that went a long way toward reinvigorating the female friendship motif of sapne...

Even better, though, there were hints about what these characters want, and why they're doing what they're doing, with less of the messy commentary that the previous episodes have offered. There's a little less of overdramatisation and a little more this-feels-relatable-and-even-true-in-some-way. And there's a sense of motivation, even if it's a motivation we might not want for ourselves. Purpose! It is here, a little bit; it has shown its face, and for that, I am glad. I don't care if these characters are ruined ' there can be something great about unlikable characters ' but I want to have a clue about why they're doing what they're doing, and if I don't have that clue, I want them to acknowledge that they don't have a clue, either. I got some of that, which felt good.

Here's why...

After Gunjan 's doing which cost Rachna her engagement, we see her actually getting ready to leave, a reenactment of a friendship-ending that already happened. "I can do anything for Rachna," she tells Mayank, and says she won't mind her state for her, which takes them back to their relationship. Perhaps they're even, perhaps no former-roommates can ever be even. There's a telling line in this little scene after the fiasco, in which Rachna says to Gunjan, "I made a mistake trying to connect with you." You can't, it seems, despite your best efforts, just replace friends with other friends. You can't repurpose or refurbish them, either, making someone into a substitute for your ex-roommate and best friend. That's a little bit of enlightenment there.In short,it was more of a cry of Rachna nonwiling to lose Gunjan and at the same time sorry for her existence..

This idea of repurposing people, or trying to make them fit what you want and failing, is all over this track.. Of course, the Garg situation is an abject disaster. Seema,sangeeta and even Dayal is epically and impressively rude, which is kind of fine because thats how they are meant to ." The days goes on just terribly, with Rachna's dad complaining and Shail the mother essentially defending . And Gunjan confessing she s bearing all for Rachna.

Mayank non believing and Shail still deploring onto whys with her firm thoughts for Gunjan. now,This is a great scene because it felt real (based on Gunjan s bond with her) and also because someone cared. Shail loves Rachna or is angry of Gunjan or both; Shail has feelings! Gunjan leaves, and Shail gets up and goes after her (more feelings!), and then we find out that Shail has actually sort of been in a state of finding the real cause ... Shail is not happy with this turn of events. ...but she still wants to believe in Gunjan...

Rachna apparently hates Gunjan ..Rachna sleeping on sofa and looking teary eyed at Gunjan walking away...she calls gunjan a traitor, but there's something there in this defense of her best friend, I think: Gunjan is still her best friend.

gunjan and mayank are another story. They might hate themselves a little bit, particularly mayank, who tells his exgirlfriend as they meet in college "I have lost you once due to my nature," and that he's just been counting the days til she figures that he is still there for her. Mayank is more concerned with her state of being ..traditional things, like how she should be truthful and save herself. " He says it twice, so she hears it over the noise, and she looks at him in shock helplessly.

Gunjan makes her way to rachna's room, and rachna is sitting on the bed. rachna is clearly upset; she gets into a book and starts to read. There's another soft moment from gunjan here, as she doesn't know quite what to do, and then she does ' she makes small talk, and rachna, on the other hand, looks up and then quietly deposits the request . And then there's another statement that I choose to believe was heartfelt: "I really love you and I'm sorry you're sad," says gunjan in her monologue, who tells herself that regardless of all that, she can't solve rachna s problems now.

Maybe this is a turning point in sapne, or maybe it's just a turning point for now, but it feels good to think, as I leave these characters until next episode, that things are not so bleak and awful as they sometimes appear, that these characters, as the cvs have drawn them, have at least some potential to find themselves and figure out what they want while making the mistakes that everybody makes as we grow. And maybe that it's been happening in front of us the whole time, a little bit. But it's not like everything changed here, either. Far from it. At most points during her early bonding days, Gunjan always tells Rachna to "grow up." and practice positive thinking'.many episodes later,when Rachna decides to enter college even after her recent broken engagement despite everyone else urging her not to proved that , "I am grown up, that's why I am brave enough to face my fears." It takes more than growing up to do that. That's the evolution of characters in sapne ...that always evokes my interest because i find them real...

rachna,gunjan aur... Let 'em have love. And mayank and rajiv and maybe even charu, too. For continuing friendship despite continuing friendship.