Today's episode (Aug 6) reminded me of old YRKKH

Disclaimer: No negativity on my thread please 🙏🏼

Today's scene in the beginning of the episode really warmed my heart. How Abhimanyu acknowledged Abhinav's upbringing, how AkshNav assured Abhimanyu that he will always be part of Abhir's life, how Abhimanyu will always have a home in Kasauli as well, and especially, how Abhir said all THREE of his parents were the best and he loved them all. I am speaking of ONLY this scene (ignoring everything in the past and everything that is to come in the future).

When YRKKH began, it was a family drama. Up until the Capetown leap, the main character of the show was always the entire family unit. There were always multiple storylines of multiple characters, where the conflicts arose from typical situations and misunderstandings and different perspectives that we see in any regular family. There were no outright villains or antagonists. Even characters introduced as cameos were well fleshed out and given rounded personalities, rather than making them simply manipulative and evil.

In the beginning, the Singhanias and Maheshwaris were shown as very orthodox and traditional Indian families that appealed to the masses at the time. But as the show went on, the families changed, reflecting the changes in our society as well. They became more tolerant and open to things like women's attire (Akshara's ghunghat), love marriage (Shaurya-Varsha and Mohit-Nandini), women working outside, traditional vs modern in-law relationships, and even things like intercaste (Anshu-Jasmeet) and interracial marriage (Yash-Rose).

One of my favourite arcs was that of Raj Banna's second marriage with Devyani. As Devyani became part of the family, so did her children Naman and Muskaan. It morphed the Singhania family from a traditional joint family unit to a blended family with step children and step siblings. By the end of that season (before Capetown leap), the step family (Devyani, Naman, Muskaan) became truly part of the "original" family such that you couldn't even tell the difference between those related by blood and those by heart.

In my opinion, after the Capetown leap and after Kaira were introduced, the focus slowly shifted from the entire family unit to just the main characters and their love story. Same thing happened with Abhira in the next season. The focus on the main couple left little room for other characters to have their own storylines and consistent characterization. It appealed to many audience members but it didn't appeal to me. For me YRKKH was always a family story, not a love story.

After Abhinav was introduced however, I felt the OG vibes returning.

However, there was a very well pronounced difference from the original "family unit." AkshNav and Abhir in Kasuali reflected the newer nuclear family dynamic that is more and more visible in modern society. Joint families like the original Maheshwaris and Singhanias are not always feasible in today's day where grown up children branch out on their own and choose to live in farther places with their own partners and kids.

And today's scene (solely focusing on that ONE scene and NOTHING else) reflected an even newer type of blended family that is coming up more and more in today's societies. Divorces, second marriages, and pre-marital relationships are becoming more and more common (for many reasons, both positive and negative) resulting in blended families with step siblings, half-siblings, and parent figures that differ from the traditional heteronormative dynamic.

But even as the family dynamic has changed from traditional joint families to smaller nuclear families to blended families, what remains at the core of each structure is LOVE and SUPPORT.

Today's scene showed a very healthy example of how ex-spouses and step parents should rise up above past grievances and form healthy relationships with each other to provide a loving and supporting environment for their children. It also shows a healthy example of how, if a child is properly loved and supported and understood, then he/she can thrive in any kind of family. A traditional heteronormative family is not the only kind of family out there. There are children with three parents, with two parents of the same gender, and many other kinds of parent figures. What matters is, as I said before, LOVE and SUPPORT.

Another honourable mention to one of the later scenes in the episode: when Manish tells Abhimanyu that he is always available if he needs to talk. Another example of how adults can be mature and move through past conflicts to create nurturing, meaningful relationships in families with dynamics different from the norm.

After a very long time, I felt the OG YRKKH vibes in this show. The family dynamic has changed very much over the past years (both in this show and in the real world), but I'm glad to see that there are still some visuals of the core values of what we consider to be "family values."

Also, I am very pleased with how much attention Abhinav is getting right now, considering his death is coming soon. It is quite a nice and respectful farewell for him, both for Akshara and Abhir, and for the audience members that have grown attached to his character. Both us and Akshara-Abhir will be left with nice, happy memories of him before his character ends.

It reminds me of the great farewells that the OG Gayatri, Akshara, and Naira got before they died. I wish Neil had gotten this kind of a farewell. He was one of the audience's loved characters too.

Please leave your thoughts below.

DT Note: This is an open forum. Comments against this spirit removed.

I wish even in their gen they focused on other storyline’s as well, not just the leads cos then ofc the storyline would get saturated soon. If audience are invested in supporting cast story lines as well, it will be so wholesome.

For example, I felt abhiM and Shefali bond was awkward and out of the blue cos I haven’t seen them interact as much. But if they cared to show it consistently from pre leap . It would come off as natural. Similarly muskaan and abhiM brother sister bond, latter was even more awkward and forced

Oh thank you for writing this. I have liked literally only two stories for their content in itv. And even that had many regressive elements regarding conditioning women as good bahus. But that was a very minor aspect of the story to not be able to detract from the good writing

Even when they have a great lovable family, and healthy respresentation of masculinity in shows like SGP, the agenda remained to turn Suhana, the unruly, ultramodern, childlike girl into a good bahu that doesn't disrupt the fabric of the loving family with her abrasive, independent ways. So, while I love Ishaan-Suhana as a couple, and most of the characters individually or even together, it fell apart on a closer inspection

One of the great things about yrk was this acceptance of adoptive, step relationships so much so that a middle aged divorcée's remarriage with a middle aged widower could lead to a spin off series where the granddaughter from the divorcée's first marriage could be raised by her stepson's in-laws. Mishbir, y'all?

Bonkers how the reticence to remarriage or step/adoptive families got resolved instead of being shamed for it? The lack of khoon-khandaan jaap was refreshing. Even when Naman was kind of a shithead, he wasn't alienated or told to just seek his own paternal family.

Abhinav sort of represented this familyhood of fellow travellers. Not just with Akshara and Abhir but also with Neelamma and Muskaan. Even if I had to headcanon Abhira reunion with Abhinav still alive, I would picture him in Kasauli, with Neelamma and Muskaan — taking care of them and being a parental figure to Abhir akin to Moonlight.

Originally posted by: focus7

I wish even in their gen they focused on other storyline’s as well, not just the leads cos then ofc the storyline would get saturated soon. If audience are invested in supporting cast story lines as well, it will be so wholesome.

For example, I felt abhiM and Shefali bond was awkward and out of the blue cos I haven’t seen them interact as much. But if they cared to show it consistently from pre leap . It would come off as natural. Similarly muskaan and abhiM brother sister bond, latter was even more awkward and forced

Very well said. I didn't really follow gen 3 before Abhinav's entry, but the problems you mentioned were present in gen 2 as well. Characters were just introduced without proper development.

For eg. Shubham was introduced as Swarna's son and Kartik's brother but their bond was not properly developed for me. It didn't make sense that the entire family could fall apart over this one guy.

Originally posted by: Deltablues

Oh thank you for writing this. I have liked literally only two stories for their content in itv.

Which stories? Can you share please? I have hardly seen content in ITV that passes all my personal checkpoints regarding being progressive.

Originally posted by: Deltablues

And even that had many regressive elements regarding conditioning women as good bahus. But that was a very minor aspect of the story to not be able to detract from the good writing

Even when they have a great lovable family, and healthy respresentation of masculinity in shows like SGP, the agenda remained to turn Suhana, the unruly, ultramodern, childlike girl into a good bahu that doesn't disrupt the fabric of the loving family with her abrasive, independent ways. So, while I love Ishaan-Suhana as a couple, and most of the characters individually or even together, it fell apart on a closer inspection

SGP is one of my favourite shows simply because of how loving the entire Kashyap family was to Suhana. Compared to how modern bahus are treated (on TV and in real life), I think the Kashyap family put up a very good example about how to treat new daughters-in-law.

But now that I think about it, your points make complete sense to me. I think everyone in that family was very loving and supportive, but there was always an internalized template in them of how a girl (especially a bahu) should be.

It amazes me how pervasive misogyny and patriarchy is in the fabric of our society, especially in the traditional Indian family sense. Every time I unwrap one layer, another layer is revealed.

Originally posted by: Deltablues

One of the great things about yrk was this acceptance of adoptive, step relationships so much so that a middle aged divorcée's remarriage with a middle aged widower could lead to a spin off series where the granddaughter from the divorcée's first marriage could be raised by her stepson's in-laws. Mishbir, y'all?

Bonkers how the reticence to remarriage or step/adoptive families got resolved instead of being shamed for it? The lack of khoon-khandaan jaap was refreshing. Even when Naman was kind of a shithead, he wasn't alienated or told to just seek his own paternal family.

True. YRKKH has been one of few shows that has validated the existence of step/adoptive and non-blood relationships. The other show I can think of is YHM.

Personally though, I don't think Mishti's story was properly developed. Her distance from Devyaani and the rest of the Singhanias, what happened to her mother Karishma, why she was living with the Maheshwaris....? Her story became enmeshed with that of the Rajvansh family (her sasural). Her individual journey never made it to the forefront.

Originally posted by: Deltablues

Abhinav sort of represented this familyhood of fellow travellers. Not just with Akshara and Abhir but also with Neelamma and Muskaan. Even if I had to headcanon Abhira reunion with Abhinav still alive, I would picture him in Kasauli, with Neelamma and Muskaan — taking care of them and being a parental figure to Abhir akin to Moonlight.

Very well said!

Many gen z and millennials have distanced from their parents (either emotionally or geographically) and we make up our own family units with friends and neighbours. Not only is Abhinav a good role model (IMO), but also relatable as an individual. One way or another, we are all craving for people to call our own with whom we feel at home.

Originally posted by: Deltablues

Oh thank you for writing this. I have liked literally only two stories for their content in itv. And even that had many regressive elements regarding conditioning women as good bahus. But that was a very minor aspect of the story to not be able to detract from the good writing

Even when they have a great lovable family, and healthy respresentation of masculinity in shows like SGP, the agenda remained to turn Suhana, the unruly, ultramodern, childlike girl into a good bahu that doesn't disrupt the fabric of the loving family with her abrasive, independent ways. So, while I love Ishaan-Suhana as a couple, and most of the characters individually or even together, it fell apart on a closer inspection

One of the great things about yrk was this acceptance of adoptive, step relationships so much so that a middle aged divorcée's remarriage with a middle aged widower could lead to a spin off series where the granddaughter from the divorcée's first marriage could be raised by her stepson's in-laws. Mishbir, y'all?

Bonkers how the reticence to remarriage or step/adoptive families got resolved instead of being shamed for it? The lack of khoon-khandaan jaap was refreshing. Even when Naman was kind of a shithead, he wasn't alienated or told to just seek his own paternal family.

Abhinav sort of represented this familyhood of fellow travellers. Not just with Akshara and Abhir but also with Neelamma and Muskaan. Even if I had to headcanon Abhira reunion with Abhinav still alive, I would picture him in Kasauli, with Neelamma and Muskaan — taking care of them and being a parental figure to Abhir akin to Moonlight.

So true! And with Naman, no one blamed his lack of khoon ka rishta for his shitheadedness. It was seen as a character flaw that only Naman was responsible for. In fact it was pointed out that Naman's shitheadedness was because HE was unable to build a dil ka rishta with his step-family, unlike his own daughter, who was unequivocally considered one of them.