Originally posted by: Angie12
First the negatives:
It was a mixed episode for me as there were parts I liked, but there were parts where the logic is disappearing in order to make it a "Bhulbhaliya" type track. Also, interesting characters (Varad, Niranjan) have disappeared to make space for Aditi. Shlok's intelligence is also somewhat getting diluted to give Aditi the upper hand. As I stated many times before, I am interested in finding out the mystery of Niranjan/Anjali's relationship, Kalindi/Avdhoot's relationship, and Varad's past, or even Vinayak's with Anjali/Niranjan, because these characters are interesting and are connected to Shlok/Astha. I am missing Varad, Neeranjan, scenes between Sojal-Varad, even Vinayak and the Kirloskars. There are so many interesting characters in this show and I want to see them more than this bhakti athma.
Shlok's past with Swati is interesting in context of how Niranjan was involved and how it spoiled Shlok's relationship with Anjali and why Shlok changed so drastically. But showing somebody dressing up like a bride without showing the face and then that person roaming Agnihotri mansion with only Shlok noticing it and without any servant, curious Sojal or alert Anjali finding out it does not interest me much. If they show Aditi to reveal Shlok's past or to show Shlok's evolvement or to link it with Kalindi's past or to show Niranjan's manipulations, then it is fine. But if she suddenly becomes the central character (for however months), then I lose interest. Yes to all here...
Ok...now that my rantings are over, I am going to write about the parts that I liked.
Astha/Shlok scene in the bedroom
Shlok is looking for his black shirts that are in low supply because Astha has replaced them with colored shirts. He rejects all of them until he finds a blue/black one, but it has a button missing. Shlok was exasperated but not angry that Astha has turned his wardrobe upside down. Chipkali of course comes running (did she break the shirt button) and starts hovering over Shlokie who is both baffled and irritated with this unwanted intruder. He tries to dismiss her, but then she starts reminding him about childhood events that he does not remember. So a 4 year old can remember all such incidents while a relatively older Shlok cannot recall even a single one. So is she making up everything because she knows that Shlok would not care enough to ask anybody else about them. Yes...
She then recalls an event which seems to be similar to what Shlok did to Astha in the jungle - pushing her in the river that almost drowned her. She talks about never forgetting the hurt that Shlok has given her. So is Chipkali pretending to be both Swati and Astha now? And does Shloke has a habit of pushing people in water? Anyway interesting point is wanting to be both but how did she know that Shloke pushed Astha in water... Chipkali needs mental treatment soon. Misti mentioned that Astha has all these patients to cure and it seems to be true. Not that Chipkali needs to be treated. Astha needs to bring a restraining order against her to stay away from Shlok - at least a mile away.
Then Chipkali decides to bring the needle to sew a button on Shlok's shirt, forgetting conveniently her promise to Astha that she would not take her place. Who cares about some silly promises... Who comes barging in another woman's room while her husband is changing and then invades his space even if he was some childhood friend. Anyway, Shlok might be clueless at this point, but not clueless enough not to sense some danger. He decides to protect himself by wisely deciding to look for another shirt.
But since he is so stubborn about not wearing the bright colors given by Astha, he fails to protect himself and Chipkali throws herself at him. Meanwhile, she is also telling him that he used to play "house,house" games with her which tests Shlokie bear's patience. Thankfully, he sees Astha observing them uneasily from the windows and shrugs off Chipkali. He almost runs out of door after putting the red shirt. Poor Shlokie...what he had to do to save himself...
Astha is getting very uneasy with Chipkali's actions though she has not started to put together all pieces. First it was that shriveled tulsi ; Anjali mentioned that it was not lack of water but probably pouring of something (acid?) to shrivel it up like this. I also thought of acid... So since Chipkali was not allowed to light the diya, she destroyed the plant. Astha vows to bring another plant. So Astha will rebuilt whatever Chipkali tries to destroy. Yes....But Astha was thoughtful about the plant getting shriveled. Yes....Then she is getting an uneasy feeling seeing Chipkali hovering around Shlok or prying into her life. Yes She is again not convinced at the end when Chipkali is the one to bring up cooking on the stove and tries to assure Astha that she would not let her down. So Chipkali is giving these assurances to Astha even without Astha asking for them. Astha has to open her mind and listen to her instincts about Aditi. Yes again...Astha needs to follow her instincts that are warning her.
So the best part I liked in the scene was Shlok shrugging off Aditi after he sees Astha. Previously out of politeness, he was tolerating Aditi's antics. But he refused to do so when he sees Astha. Despite whatever he says, he cares about Astha's opinion of himself. Yes...He tolerates Aditi because she does not matter to him and she is his father's favored guest. But Astha is something different. He is emotionally attached to Astha and reacts to her. Yes again
He also reacted when she was touching his things in the car. He was his usual snarky self when Astha was teasing him about not trusting her. But there was no anger. He is actually quite getting used to Astha touching his things. He would start missing that if suddenly Astha stops invading his privacy.
Shlok in the Office
Shlok is not the person who would allow people to play with his emotions. So he asks Anand (CVs: please bring back Suresh rather than this bland Anand) to find out the person who was making blank calls. He also invites the college buddy who tells him that he should concentrate on Astha and forget his past. That was a good advice, but why did that "good" friend bring out Swati's name when he wants Shlok to move on. True...it is like poking him....As before, Shlok allows Anshul the "good" friend to convince him that he was imagining things. Shlok does use his intelligence to start investigating, but then he does not follow through. He did that with Abhay and now is doing with this blank call thing. Is it because he does not want to face the truth. Most probably...
One interesting thing was Shlok's unemotional reaction when he heard that Swati might be dead. So Swati does not really matter to him anymore. Yes... Yet he cannot move on. Swati is not the one who is holding back. It is he who is holding himself back probably because he does not want to get hurt. He does not refute Anshul's comment about having a lovely wife with whom he should move on. He just was regretting that he is unable to do so despite his efforts. But has he really made an effort to move on? So far his efforts are to try to do everything to stop moving forward.
Jyoti in the kitchen
Poor Jyoti is really given no freedom because Sulbha and Abhay do not want her to escape. They know that if she escapes again, this time she might not return especially when Shlok had given him a stern warning before. She is getting spied on her small activities. So it would be harder for Jyoti to hide her pregnancy for too long. Jyoti is getting desperate too as she is hanging on by a small thread. In some sense, it is good for her to be pregnant as it gives her the fighting spirit that a mother gets when she has to save her child. Hopefully, Jyoti would realize that she needs to contact Astha to get help from Shlok as he is too involved in his own issues to think about his sister, and Anjali is not going to help her openly. Yes or she will have to take a strong step herself ...
Finally the best scene was between Astha and Anjali
Astha is beginning to pierce Anjali armour a little bit. Anjali's case is that of "once bitten, twice shy". She does not trust relationships and like Shlok, tries to keep herself as detached as possible from new attachments because she too has been hurt and betrayed so badly. Yes again...the mother and son pair are very similar...Yet Astha with her unconditional caring is beginning to bring back the old Anjali who is buried deep. It is a slow process, but there is some change in Anjali as she is starting to lose control over her emotions. Yes again
Astha wistfully approached Anjali to teach her to sew a button. Thankfully, CVs are now showing hte old imperfect Astha - a pampered child of a middle class family who was given a lot of freedom and enjoyed her life rather than learning about maundane stuff like cooking and sewing. Yes...maybe someone heard you Angie...π
She is also shown taking advantage of being an owner by working from home and that too whenever she wants. So all that contract thing is now a thing of past. She also rubbed it in Shlokie's face that she was part owner. Shlok actually grumbled but was not furious the way he used to be. So is he getting used to her being his partner? most probably...π
So Astha is learning all this because she loves Shlok and wants to do these things for him. She did not like Aditi trying to take her right of sewing a button on Shlok's shirt. So she approached Anjali who did seem pleased. Though Anjali was exasperated with Astha's incompetence, she did teach her quite patiently. Also Anjali looked moved when Astha talked about enjoying her pre married life and not realizing that life after marriage would be so tough. Anjali could relate to that as she too was like this at one point. Yes to all here...
Then when Astha in her happiness called Anjali "aai" and held her hands, Anjali became emotional. Though moments later, she removed her hands and Astha too apologized at taking so much liberties with her. But Astha has started thinking of Anjali as a mother figure and she too has started to love Anjali- maybe because she is Shlok's mother and also because Astha has a soft corner for mothers because of Kalindi. Kalindi would really find it hard to remove Astha from this relationship because it is not only Shlok whom Astha has started to love. It is also Anjali about whom she is beginning to care quite deeply. Anjali keeps on comparing Jyoti's situation with Astha and feels broken about her daughter. But she is also beginning to have feelings for Astha. Previously Astha was just means to keep Shlok. Now she is starting to look at Astha as a seperate identity. Yes to all here and perfectly explained...
Overall, I liked this scene the best in today's episode. Shrenu and Geetanjali have also good chemistry with each other. Yes again...
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