I think even Shakti must be puzzled by the character he's portraying. Kunal seems nothing like the guy from the first 25-30 odd episodes. That guy was another character...very very different from this one...his nature seems completely altered. the guy who was moaning on the phone yesterday abt Mauli finding out the wrong was is not the same guy who was saving lives when he and Mauli had to stop their car due to a road accident...something went very wrong.
I think Kunal became obsessed with his infatuation. IDK if that makes sense. See, we feel and think many things throughout a day...not all are the sexual kind...for example, you have depression patients who think of suicide perhaps every day but end up conquering that urge and sometimes even healing. Kunal just never gave himself time. He couldn't think straight as soon as he felt sexually attracted to Nandini.
IDK how many guys would admit this, but I have read many times that men often fantasize abt their partner's best friends...I am sure married men aren't excluded from this...not all will do this, but many will. Maybe your hormones will point you to a certain direction, but your heart should never follow, nor your mind. Here, it seems he completely fell out of love with Mauli. I'm sorry but I don't buy that. Either he never loved her or he still does somewhere. I hope this is clarified one day. Emotions aren't black and white...there is a gray area in my opinion...right now it looks like Mauli is just a stranger for him...he fell out of love with her...how in blazes is that possible? He was in love with her like a month ago...cuddling her in bed...how could years of bonding and companionship go to hell?
If it was truly love which Kunal had for Nandini then I honestly believe that he wouldv'e held back and not confessed or had sex with her. There are ppl who end up having feelings which they know are the forbidden kind so they deal with it and resist...and one day they move on. If Kunal had succeeded in that and moved on, and ended up living happily with Mauli, he would have been so proud of himself for conquering that destructive force which could have ruined his life.
Here he didn't. I woud've respected Kunal if he had fallen for Nandini and never acted upon his feelings. Nandini could have fallen too. Both couldve been aware and never confessed...and ended up separating...they could have shown a leap where 2 years later we see a Kunal who's over and DONE with any kind of feelings for N...and lets the audience know how happy he is that he controlled himself and stayed with his wife because she was truly the ONE, and Nandini was just a temptation which he successfully fought and overcame...the same couldve been shown from N that she found a great guy and is grateful that she didnt ruin Mauli's life...