The investors ask Harsh why he never introduced Manjari to them before, and Harsh makes up an excuse saying he was busy. Akshu is excited, but still hasn’t realized what has happened. Manjari keeps signaling him telling him not to stay anything. Harsh taunts Manjari saying that Akshu didn’t know the reality, but she did & she is using it as revenge. He threatens her. My heart broke for Manjari in this scene — she was so terrified. Whatever has happened in the past between these two - even if Manjari has messed up - she does not deserve this abuse. Harsh is a vile human being, and I hope he is redeemed properly in the future instead of being whitewashed over a day.
Akshu looks entirely shocked to hear these taunts. She had no idea that this was going to happen. Yes, she got overly excited and went over the top, But, all she wanted was to celebrate Manjari by bringing the family together. All her conversations with Manjari prior to this indicated that Manjari did desire to celebrate, but no one had the time nor cared. Manjari looked so touched by the saree gesture as well. To a certain extent, Akshu succeeded in making Manjari feel seen. But, at the end of the day, she ended up unintentionally hurting her due to Harsh’s inevitable reaction to the party.
The cake comes, and Harsh refuses to feed Manjari.
Abhi comes and cuts only the slice of cake that says “maa” on it and feeds it to Manjari. Instead of feeding Harsh, he stuffs his own face. This cake is a direct trigger to his past childhood trauma of Harsh saying he hates Manjari and refusing to cut the cake. Abhi was trying so hard to hold it together in this scene for Manjari especially… but, he himself was breaking. The impact on children witnessing their parents’ abusive marriages is huge and lasts a lifetime, and in this moment, Abhi was reliving his worst nightmare.
Again, watching this entire scene unfold before her eyes, Akshu looks so heartbroken and guilty. The only other time she has seen Abhi stuffing his face like this was during tilak 2, and she knows this is a way of him dealing with his pain.
However, Akshu did not know about Abhi’s deep traumas, and she had no idea that this party would create so much tension and stir up so much pain. Her only intention was to bring Manjari, and through her, Abhi happiness. I don’t blame her at all.
The truth is that Abhi craves the love of a united family. It is what he has missed throughout his entire childhood and adulthood — that is also why he enjoyed all of the Goenkas’ rasams so much…because he never got to experience the meaning of family before. And, Akshu will be the one to give him that happiness. It will take time, and she will mess up along the way — that is natural. But, that is just who Akshu is — she will keep on trying until she can make a difference and heal this family. And, this needed to happen for the reality of the Birlas to come before her eyes.
Anand and Mahima take the guests away and talk about how this is so bad for their reputations. This is exactly what is wrong with the Birlas — they don’t care about each other’s pain, but rather their PR.
Abhi takes Manjari’s hand and leaves too. At this point, his priority is protecting his mother and making sure she is okay. This isn’t the same as him leaving Akshu behind with the Birlas, which he would never do. He knows that she is safe with the Goenkas.
Kairav and the Goenaks tell Akshu not to feel guilty, because her intentions were pure. She wanted to do something good. But, Akshu says that even if her intentions were good, she messed up. She knows that she ended up hurting her loved ones so deeply.
Abhi is talking to Manjari in his room, telling her that Harsh doesn’t deserve these tears or her — he found out from a very young age. He tries to console her. Manjari wants to go back downstairs to entertain the guests — this is the sad reality of her life — always looking out for others and suppressing her pain.
Akshu comes to apologize, but she sees this, and goes away. She cannot bear to face them. Akshu had gone through hell in her first 2 days at the Birlas, and she was already emotionally exhausted. But, she put on a smile and sucked it all up, finding the beauty in the small moments. Akshu can tolerate all of the pain and insults to herself in the world, but she cannot see those she loves in pain. That is the essence of who she is. And, not only are Abhi and Manjari in pain, but she is unintentionally the reason for it. This, for Akshu, is more hurtful than quite literally anything else.
Before leaving, Manjari tells Abhi not to get upset with Akshu, because she tried her best. Abhi says that she didn’t know, but she should have asked first. Neither Akshu nor Abhi are wrong here.
Akshu bumps into Harsh and apologizes to him. She says that she doesn’t know why he is upset, but she takes full responsibility and that Abhi and Manjari tried to warn her, but she just got too excited, because this is the first time she could celebrate her parents’ anniversary. My heart broke for her in this entire scene. Harsh says he doesn’t care and that everything can go to hell. Abhi is witnessing this entire scene, and he is having flashbacks of Harsh insulting Majari downstairs. Again, Harsh is insulting the 2 most important people in his life.
Akshu goes back down, and Kairav announces they will take Akshu a night early for pag phera, because she was supposed to go anyways tomorrow. Manjari says that’s a great idea. Akshu looks broken and says she will go talk to Abhi first.
She is scared to go back into the room, but she does. She trips, and both of them fall onto the bed. Abhi is trying to leave, but she back hugs him and says the family wants to take her. He tells her to go, and the shirt scene comes. All of his buttons fall off, and she says that she knows he doesn’t want her to go, but if they don’t talk with love, then lots of things can get ruined — and each thing she picks up a button — relationships, trust, friendships, and love. While the shirt scene was so off-putting and random, this button scene was actually really nice. She knows that Abhi is too angry to talk to her, and she is too guilty to say anything either. Both of them need to work on communicating in these situations, but with time, it will come.
Tuj se naraz plays, and it is so perfect for the situation. Abhi is breaking and turns away, because he cannot look at her. He knows that her intentions were pure, but his anger and hurt is so justified. And, Akshu is so broken that she cannot even speak — she sees the plane tickets on the table and feels even more guilty. I don’t blame her for not being able to speak, because she is crumbling. Abhi clearly wants to stop her, but he doesn’t.
Precap is Abhi upset and Manjari telling him to go pick up Akshu, and Akshu waiting for Abhi. Akshu is about to faint, and I’m guessing Abhi will catch her!
I am sure that Abhira are going to have a heart to heart conversation once things have calmed down -- Akshu will apologize, and Abhi will explain his POV too. It cannot have all happened in today's episode!!
Indian Idol 15
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