A rather sweet scene - Page 4

Originally posted by: EtTuBrutus

Thats a very interesting take and I liked reading it simply because it was different and you have a way with words. But I disagree on quite a few points and I will try to articulate that :)

a. Mishti has been unfair to Kuhu a few times. Like you rightly pointed out, it was extremely unfair on Mishti's part to out Kuhu's feelings for Kunal. And I'd like it add that Mishti was wrong in not explaining to Kuhu as to what exactly drove her to reject Kunal esp after she got to know that Kuhu has feelings for him. Mishti had legitimate reasons to refuse the alliance yet she never tried to discuss this with Kuhu (does not matter whether Kuhu would pay heed to this or not). Similarly, I also agree that Mishti should have revealed what Meenakshi was doing with her and given the complete picture to Kuhu and then let her take the final call. But what I don't agree with here is that she did this just to protect her perfect image and ensure her relationship with Abir is not exposed. If this 'relationship' will shatter her image before BP and BM, so will her stunt of insulting Kuhu and calling her illegitimate and exposing the reality of their bond before the entire family. As stupid as it was (and I still hate the fact that Mishti gave in), she was literally willing to give up her one chance at happiness with Abir and leave home just to make sure the marriage happens. Abir showed incredible trust in her is a different matter altogether. The point is she was willing to do it just because she was convinced Kuhu and Kunal love each other. We can debate on the ridiculousness of her action but I completely disagree that Mishti did this just to protect her image and make sure her relationship with Abir is not exposed.

b. Mishti might be a lot of things. Maybe patronizing, may treat Kuhu as a child, maybe dismissive of Kuhu's feelings and is probably guilty of not sharing a lot of things with her but there is no denying that Kuhu has been incredibly abusive towards Mishti right from the time the show started. Nothing Mishti did, can justify that kind of mental abuse. Calling someone charity case, puppy or reiterating every single day that she is not needed in anyone's life is nothing short of traumatic. Also, Kuhu consciously plotted with Kunal to break Abir-Mishti. Wasn't Kuhu unilaterally taking decisions for Mishti by forcing her to stay away from Abir? Wasn't she being downright mean in that e-mail fiasco and watching Mishti get insulted in front of her family? How do we justify such behaviour? I know you aren't but my point is its very convenient to blame Mishti's behaviour for all of Kuhu's insensitivity.

c. Coming to Abir-Kunal, again I partly agree and partly disagree. Abir is at fault for not understanding the consequences of his lifestyle. Him running away has resulted in Kunal taking up more than his share of the responsibility and it has also pushed Kunal to be too dependent and too subservient to his mom. But IMO, this is exactly what makes Abir over-compensate. He almost babysits Kunal and conveniently shifts all the blame on his mom even when Kunal messes up. During that Kunal-Mishti track, Kunal voluntarily messed up on a lot of occasions but Abir eventually blamed his mom for everything. Its the same with this shaadi. Kunal ran away yet its all Meenu's fault. Kunal voluntarily led on his bhai and even told him he will elope if maa does not agree yet when the truth is out, it will somehow be about Meenu's manipulation. And its interesting that you talk about Abir micromanaging Kunal. What about Kunal micromanaging Abir? Doesn't he assume Abir is a baby who needs to be protected from evil Mishti? Did he not devise an elaborate plan to use Kuhu's feelings just to separate Abir from Mishti? Did he not willfully go ahead with his mother's plan of using Mishti to expose Kuhu's parentage just to make Abir hate Mishti? If he was so concerned, why cant he just talk with Abir? Why cant he just express his fears and then let him decide? At least Abir wanted to deal with Shwet because he knew Kunal was hurting and he hates her now. At least he went ahead with this KuKu shaadi only after Kunal gave him definitive signals about being game for this marriage. What about Kunal? Why is his micromanagement okay?

I think I have written a very long post 😆 But IMO, Kuhu has been extremely insensitive to Mishti and has been borderline abusive. And Kunal has been super egoistic and unable to handle a rejection which has resulted in this chain reaction. I see no honesty there because Kunal literally played with her feelings just because he was apparently protecting his bhai. He could have backed out from the shaadi even at the last moment but he chose not to and kept relying on his mother to do something. He blames everyone apart from himself for the mess he is in. Ditto with Kuhu. Forget Mishti, she can actually see how much Abir dotes on her. He has supported her multiple times even when Kunal was being insensitive to her feelings yet she finds it okay to abuse and disrespect his relationship with Mishti behind his back. To cut the long story short, I think Kuhu and Kunal have a lot of growing up to do and most of the mess they are in is a result of their own actions. Most definitely not Abir-Mishti's.

P.S. Keep visiting the forum. Your post made me write an essay after ages 🤣

Perfect Deepika...

Long post...but it was completely making sense...

Originally posted by: Samanalyse

Kuhu has been my favourite character from day one as well, and @beguilling, I have really enjoyed your Kuhu-centric posts of late. I hope you don't mind me putting a little vent here on your topic, because I may well stop watching soon, depending on what they do with Kuhu this week. They seem hell-bent on making every character evil just to drive home how great the leads are, and that makes the show very flat. One of the most important things about characterisation is to show that a character is a certain way or possesses certain flaws and strengths, rather than just saying it. With this show, I feel like I am told repeatedly how great Misthi and Abir are, but as the show progresses, I see less and less evidence of this. On the other hand, I am told that Kunal and Kuhu are selfish and semi-villanous but I find them infinitely more sympathetic because at the very least, their actions are consistent with their motivations.

I am well aware that I am in a miniscule minority (I may even be the only one), but I totally get Kuhu's frustration with Misthi -- especially because it echoes my own frustration with the way the character has been introduced vs. how it has unfolded. Being outwardly mean and aggressive (as Kuhu is) isn't the only way to hurt a person -- you can also hurt them deeply by dismissing their feelings and being patronising, which is how Mishti constantly gets under Kuhu's skin. She keeps making unilateral decisions for Kuhu and then throwing her "help" in Kuhu's face.

In truth, her decisions and "sacrifices" are mostly unhelpful or straight up harmful for Kuhu, and her barely-forming relationship with Kunal. When Kunal and Kuhu's friendship was in its infancy (and Kuhu was just starting to draw Kunal out), she begged Misthi not to out her to the family because she didn't know how Kunal felt about her yet (yet another example of a sorted, pragmatic Kuhu), but Misthi went ahead and told BP everything, he then proceeded to push Kuhu into a new rishta, which made the equation all or nothing for Kuhu and Kunal, and gave Meenu such a giant upper hand. Notice that in all of this so-called honesty, Mishti did not and to this date has not mentioned her own "friendship" with Abir.

And I think that is what motivated her great "sacrifice" at the haldi too. If Mishti was the girl the show keeps telling us she is, she would have told Kuhu what Meenu was up to and let her decide whether she wants to be a part of that family or not. At least tell the elders, if not Kuhu herself! But therein lies the rub: in order to tell anyone about Meenu's blackmail, she would have had to reveal her equation with Abir and shatter the image of perfection in BP and BM's eyes. She wasn't willing to do that, so she made it all about sacrificing for Kuhu's happiness. When Abir made it so that she could have both -- their relationship and control over her image -- she came back and acted like nothing out of the ordinary happened. She only felt accountable to BP, so why are we mad that BP is the only one who is supporting her now?

And I have similar feelings about Abir and Kunal. Abir tries to exercise rights over Kunal that I don't think he has actually earned. As Kunal told Meenu the day of the wedding, he always tried to be the son that bhai couldn't/wouldn't be. Abir enjoys his free-spirit lifestyle without really thinking about the consequences, i.e., that the entire burden of the household, and managing Meenu, falls on Kunal's shoulders. This is where Kuhu and Kunal have a lot in common -- the family takes their samajhdari for granted when convenient (like when nobody thought twice to crack the surface of Kuhu's reaction to the Kunal-Misthi rishta) but then wants to swoop in micromanage them (like when Abir wouldn't "let" Kunal talk to Shweta).

This is why, despite where they are now, I find Kuhu-Kunal's relationship much more convincing than Mishti-Abir's. There is a raw honesty there that makes for a very interesting foundation. Kuhu knows more about Kunal's heartbreak and his past with Shweta than anyone in his family. Kunal knows about Kuhu's fake relationship with Mishti, and he has seen and acknowledged how mature and "sorted" she can be. I don't see what Kuhu is doing with Kunal now as a lack of self-respect necessarily -- she is just buying time to understand exactly what the situation is. Plus, she is trying to say, those rituals meant something whether you like it or not. We are married, whether you like it or not so let's figure out a way to make this work and avoid hurting our families. I am sure that after some time, if she finds that he won't budge, she will leave but in her mind, it hasn't come to that yet.

This got very long because it has been pent up for a while, sorry if I've gone wildly off topic. 😛 I guess the point is, Kuhu is a great character and I think her anger towards Misthi is very plausible, given how the story has unfolded. It doesn't surprise me that she is doing well in her sasural because that's who she has always been -- people in her maika just had an image of her as spoilt, jhalli, and nadaan and they treated her accordingly (except for Varsha, bless her) instead of actually listening to her and recognising who she actually is. The writers have done a great job with her so far, but if they continue to make her greyer to make Mishti more sympathetic, then I'm out. Here's a novel idea: give Mishti a storyline in which she can be proactive instead of just reacting to what happens around her.

Hi Sam,

Let me just begin by saying that it is so very relieving to read a perspective which is different from the views of the majority and genuinely lends an insight into who Kuhu as a person is and why she behaves the way she does.

For me the connect with Kuhu is personal. That is also the reason why it hurts all the more when the writers tread with the character insensitively. I haven't got the chance to watch the episode yet, but for them to even imply that Kuhu could do something as ghastly as pushing someone to a life threatening situation, is rediculously demeaning to the character to say the least. Kuhu wouldn't have framed Mishti for those photographs either, she simply isn't that person to do such things. (And I firmly believe that it is not my delusion to believe so, regardless of whatever Kuhu maybe shown to do for the sake of creating drama)

I share a different opinion about Mishti especially in the context of what she did during the Haldi day. I feel her intent was not to safeguard her own reputation in front of BM and BP, she just got really petrified thinking that she would become the reason for Kunal and Kuhu's marriage to get called off. Prior to that day multiple times she was put into difficult situations, she was made to feel unwanted. Multiple times because of Meanu and Kunal's scheminng and Kuhu & family's reactions, she was made to feel like she could become the reason why this marriage won't happen. Because she believed that Kunal loved Kuhu, that ultimately led her to the conclusion that no matter what he would always be by her side and Meenakshi's behaviour both of them together would be able to deal with.

Sigh, where do I even begin with Kuhu. You aren't the only one my friend who gets Kuhu's frustration with Mishti. I think while feeling frustrated is fair enough, I also wanna see the side to Kuhu who genuinely loves her sister regardless of how mean she acts with her. Now that she is seeing Kunal for who he is, I really wish Kuhu understands that Mishti cannot be held responsible for how Kunal behaves.

Remember there was a scene during Mishti & Kunal's "marital courtship" phase when Kuhu rebukes Mishti that because of her condition the family is being so tensed and had she been at her place she wouldn't have tried to have this courtship at the expense of their family's happiness. At that time I didn't really take Kuhu's statement seriously, I felt she didn't really mean what she was saying. The current situation in her life is actually exhibiting that she did mean it after all. Sad part is just how much Kuhu values and loves her family is never really seen in the way Mishti valuing and loving her family is seen. Kuhu is always considered as "selfish", which she is but not always for herself.

I received a message the other day with the link to the scene when during a cycling competition Kuhu kicks Mishti making her fall, that also could have resulted in a grievous injury. But it was evident the Kuhu who did that was a lot more immature than the one who is actually trying to get her life together by dealing with a loveless marriage on one hand and trying to keep her own family and in-laws happy on another. And surprisingly, the narrative is not trying to hail her as a hero doing so, one gets the feeling this is something a girl as normal as Kuhu IS capable of doing.

I have a message for Mr. Rajan Shahi that Sir, if you believe Kuhu is one of those evil sister characters which Indian TV regularly dishes out because of their lack of maturity, sensitivity and depth, then you are highly mistaken. In Kuhu we have found a character which is relatable, someone who isn't always right or wrong, someone immensely senstive to others and yet highly insensitive in a fit of anger. And that is how people usually are. Shouldn't and doesn't necessarily mean they are villainous or would set out to take others lives. Please do not take away a character we are rooting for for the heck of stereotypical serial twists. The audience and Kuhu deserve better.

Completely agree to all parts @bold and for the parts in @red !! 👏 Couldn't have put it better. Thanks a lot Sam!! <3

Thank you all for the responses! More than supporting any particular character, I am always a fan of good writing and that is what I see slipping away on the show. I am just really disappointed that they are falling back to pitting women against each other to move the story along. As a viewer, I need to understand the motivations of characters and for me, the writing of Abir and Mishti has been wildly inconsistent ever since Kunal and Mishti's rishta broke. I think it's completely justified that some people disagree with me on Mishti and Abir but I see that more as the gaps in the writing -- you fill them depending on your feelings for the characters. If you feel for Mishti, you might see her as helpless but what I see is a girl who made decisions and has not been held responsible for them; in fact, for the most part, the writing foists the consequences on Kuhu and justifies it by having her say some OTT mean things to Mishti, so you continue to sympathise with the latter. As someone who has liked Kuhu a little bit better from the beginning, I feel betrayed by the writers when this happens. Why can't they both be fleshed out characters with their own important plots? Isn't that better for the show overall?

Similarly, Abir has never faced consequences for pushing Kunal into a rishta and now a wedding that he was clearly not interested in. Why is Abir allowed the freedom not to marry but Kunal isn't? The fact that Kunal ran away from the wedding sends a pretty clear signal to me -- in fact, even Kuhu is asking him now why he bothered to come back, because logically she might have been better off left at the mandap. So if I analyse Abir's motivations with that in mind, I see less concern for Kuhu and more desperation not to lose his access to Mishti. And @EtTu, you are right. Abir doesn't hold Kunal responsible for anything, but to me, that is exactly the problem. Kunal is expected to be an adult when it comes to managing their mom and the entire business, but as soon as he does something Abir doesn't approve of, he's a clueless kid who needs to be managed: I find it hard to stomach that Abir is basically saying, "do as I say, not as I do." Is it any wonder that Kunal is trying to micromanage Abir in the Mishti issue? He is just following the precedent his bhai set with Shweta.

When the show started, I was really excited about the potential for both couples. I saw them as mirror-images of each other and I thought there was so much that could be done with that. But ever since the rishta swap ended, Abir and Mishti have been stripped of everything that made their characters interesting and their only plotline other than their romance has been to play god for Kuhu and Kunal, and this is where the leads are losing me.

@beguiling: Likewise! I have been in hiding for a long time but your recent posts drew me out because I wanted to talk about Kuhu, and you were doing such a beautiful job. I loved her from the start because she was so honest and so in love with herself, something we never get to see with Indian female leads. I completely agree that the writers have really made her characterisation a matter of convenience, and it irritates me to no end. On Indian TV, either a sister has to be a devoted minion who thinks no end of the lead, or she has to be jealous and scheming. With Kuhu, they really had the potential to break the mould and what is bothering me is that despite this, despite writing an incredibly compelling character, they are throwing her under the bus because they are too lazy to write real depth into Mishti's character.

I did some reading about the parent show a few weeks back, just to know more about Kuhu's backstory, and realised that Kuhu wasn't exactly a baby when she came to live with the Maheshwaris. She was at least four or five, which means that she remembers her birth mother and the experience at least vaguely. Heck, even if she doesn't remember, the experience would have had a huge impact on her. She has a past that is equally traumatic, and her abandonment issues should be equally deep so why does the show treat her like the brat who grew up without a care in the world, and Mishti like the only one with trauma? This is why Kuhu's resentment makes so much sense to me -- she learned to embrace life and be positive despite her trauma but her cheerfulness gets red as shallowness by her family and she is treated like a brat. Meanwhile, it must seem to her like Mishti is rewarded for being broody and quiet -- while Kuhu gets labels like jhalli and nadan; Mishti is gambhir or samajdar.

For the most part the family is responsible for this, but the worst part is probably that Mishti totally buys into that labelling and treats Kuhu accordingly. I think Kuhu and Mishti summed up their respective stances perfectly -- when Kuhu called them #frenemies, Mishti responded with #family. To me that meant that Kuhu at least saw them having an independent relationship outside the family that forced them together; Mishti didn't. This is why we never get to see Kuhu's loving side when it comes to Mishti -- she knows that Mishti's priority is the family (particularly BM and BP) and not her, and she doesn't want to be hurt and rejected yet again. Every time Kuhu starts to open up, Mishti proves this to be the case when instead of talking to Kuhu as an equal, she just makes decisions because she knows what's best for the family. Nobody wants to share their innermost secrets with someone who, instead of sharing back or listening, just wants to "fix" everything and take credit for it.

In all this, is it any wonder then that Kuhu really fell hard for Kunal? He saw her in a way that nobody in her family did (except Varsha, bless her). He recognised her sense of humour as her strength and not a sign of her shallowness, and he appreciated how sorted she was in the Shweta issue. All this was before any plotting began. Even when Kuhu was threatened with a new rishta, she didn't cry or make a fuss; she went straight to Kunal, told him how she felt, and asked him what he wanted to do. If he had turned her down, she probably would have been open to the new rishta. That kind of drama-free straightforwardness is something you so rarely see in young women on Indian TV.

Lol, apparently my love for this character is endless so I'll stop here for now. I absolutely second your message to the writers and the PH. Kuhu is incredibly relatable and a beautifully fleshed out character with real flaws and strengths. Please pull up your socks and find more interesting ways to make Mishti relatable than constantly positioning her as a victim for sympathy; this is is lazy and tired writing. You have two potentially great female characters on your hands -- instead of pitting them against each other, wouldn't you get double the views, fans etc, if you gave both of them convincing, parallel plots?

I somewhere understand kuhu from day 1.. If we trace back her life to the day mishti came into her life.. She might have known that varsha's not her real mom and that might have been very difficult for a little girl to understand. She might have been teensy bit insecure about her equation in the family..whether they will always love her and so on and then mishti who was her good friend till that time was bought into the family and suddenly all her attention and love was taken away and then her insecurity increased..

More than kuhu, I blame the family for it..when they bought mishti home, she must have been given extra care and love for the situation that poor girl was in with her father being in jail, her mother abandoning her to get married, her own daadi just giving her to another family and going away from her cousins and bff..she deserved all this but no one in the family sat kuhu down and made her understand the changing dynamics of the family... and kuhu started hating her for taking her love and being forced to share her relationships...

So much so that hating mishti, blaming her for everything became second nature to her..if there are two kids in family and one of them is going through a difficult phase does not mean complete attention is taken away from the other.. similar track was introduced in yrkkh when naksh started feeling bad that naitik had only time for naira when they both were in mumbai and everyone(fans) belittled naksh for it.. It takes a hell lot of maturity and understanding to let go of the feeling of neglect and being a parent it's your duty to cater to all your kids..If you are giving 10 hours to one, then you need to give atleast 1 to the other.. Just because your problem are not life altering does not mean they can be ignored time and again...

This attention issue reminded me of something..there was this young baby prince who fell in a borewell or something and he made out of it alive..it was something in 2006 or 2007,..that baby was all over the media, everywhere..there were functions held for rewarding him and the family was so focused on him that they lost his elder sister who might have been some 7 or 8 years in one of this function.. and somewhere I felt so bad for her.. Children are too delicate and they need a parent, a guide to help them handle their jealousy and neglect feelings..

I don't think anyone would have filled that role for kuhu..like no one is filling that role for mishti now.. She is going through mental abuse and everyone in the family is allowing it..just letting it go on..Like BM gets to know that jas said something to mishti and all she can do is go talk to mishti..Why can't they sit all of them down and just address their concerns.. Just rebuking them once or twice makes them target mishti more.. I understand that mishti is all mature but I wouldn't mind if the girl just cries it all out once a while... and I love her for that, there's so much going wrong in her life and she still goes on to look at the positive side...

And for kuhu, today's episode might becoming a defining moment.. her sportscar dream is already shattered and somewhere hse also knows that this time mishti's having no part in it...and All those flashbacks she had before pushing that child from ngo,, I get that whatever she did was in her own jealousy of seeing mishti happy and her fairy tale falling apart, some of the reason being that whatever she wanted in life, mishti has it without asking(Abir's love) and her dialogue that.. "kunal ko mishti se jeetkar bhi mei haar gayi" ..she has been so focused in hating mishti and getting married to kunal that she ignored all the red flags right away. So now her guilt, her sympathy is going to be a tool in her looking at the situations from a different perspective..getting to know that hating mishti has never done her any good and now she dislikes herself for the person she is becoming..

I am so looking forward to the upcoming episodes to see how this goes on..

Originally posted by: Samanalyse

@beguiling: Likewise! I have been in hiding for a long time but your recent posts drew me out because I wanted to talk about Kuhu, and you were doing such a beautiful job. I loved her from the start because she was so honest and so in love with herself, something we never get to see with Indian female leads. I completely agree that the writers have really made her characterisation a matter of convenience, and it irritates me to no end. On Indian TV, either a sister has to be a devoted minion who thinks no end of the lead, or she has to be jealous and scheming. With Kuhu, they really had the potential to break the mould and what is bothering me is that despite this, despite writing an incredibly compelling character, they are throwing her under the bus because they are too lazy to write real depth into Mishti's character.

I did some reading about the parent show a few weeks back, just to know more about Kuhu's backstory, and realised that Kuhu wasn't exactly a baby when she came to live with the Maheshwaris. She was at least four or five, which means that she remembers her birth mother and the experience at least vaguely. Heck, even if she doesn't remember, the experience would have had a huge impact on her. She has a past that is equally traumatic, and her abandonment issues should be equally deep so why does the show treat her like the brat who grew up without a care in the world, and Mishti like the only one with trauma? This is why Kuhu's resentment makes so much sense to me -- she learned to embrace life and be positive despite her trauma but her cheerfulness gets red as shallowness by her family and she is treated like a brat. Meanwhile, it must seem to her like Mishti is rewarded for being broody and quiet -- while Kuhu gets labels like jhalli and nadan; Mishti is gambhir or samajdar.

For the most part the family is responsible for this, but the worst part is probably that Mishti totally buys into that labelling and treats Kuhu accordingly. I think Kuhu and Mishti summed up their respective stances perfectly -- when Kuhu called them #frenemies, Mishti responded with #family. To me that meant that Kuhu at least saw them having an independent relationship outside the family that forced them together; Mishti didn't. This is why we never get to see Kuhu's loving side when it comes to Mishti -- she knows that Mishti's priority is the family (particularly BM and BP) and not her, and she doesn't want to be hurt and rejected yet again. Every time Kuhu starts to open up, Mishti proves this to be the case when instead of talking to Kuhu as an equal, she just makes decisions because she knows what's best for the family. Nobody wants to share their innermost secrets with someone who, instead of sharing back or listening, just wants to "fix" everything and take credit for it.

In all this, is it any wonder then that Kuhu really fell hard for Kunal? He saw her in a way that nobody in her family did (except Varsha, bless her). He recognised her sense of humour as her strength and not a sign of her shallowness, and he appreciated how sorted she was in the Shweta issue. All this was before any plotting began. Even when Kuhu was threatened with a new rishta, she didn't cry or make a fuss; she went straight to Kunal, told him how she felt, and asked him what he wanted to do. If he had turned her down, she probably would have been open to the new rishta. That kind of drama-free straightforwardness is something you so rarely see in young women on Indian TV.

Lol, apparently my love for this character is endless so I'll stop here for now. I absolutely second your message to the writers and the PH. Kuhu is incredibly relatable and a beautifully fleshed out character with real flaws and strengths. Please pull up your socks and find more interesting ways to make Mishti relatable than constantly positioning her as a victim for sympathy; this is is lazy and tired writing. You have two potentially great female characters on your hands -- instead of pitting them against each other, wouldn't you get double the views, fans etc, if you gave both of them convincing, parallel plots?

Not getting into abir and kunal discussion..thats just going to take a lot more time😳

I don't think kuhu's has been so much in love with herself. I mean she is so understanding to everyone in the world, to being so clear and upfront regarding shwet, believing kunal and for being a sister to ketki and creating beautiful relationship with everyone in her in laws but mishti is her blind spot. Like abir has a blame meenu for whatever wrong kunal does, then kuhu has a blame mishti for whatever happens in her life, even when mishti has no relation to it. Blaming mishti has been so ingrained in her that she has never owned up to her own mistakes. Like if she loved herself, then I don't think her self esteem would have allowed herself to beg kunal for whatever reason, she let kunal get the upper hand over her, for playing like a puppet with the email fiasco.. she has been so focused on getting away from mishti, getting kunal back from mishti..even her dialogue "mei kunal ko mishti se jeetkar bhi haar gayi" gives an idea how connected she is to mishti even in her hatred.. she never focused on her relationship with kunal as much as she was focused on beating mishti..

I don't understand this point, like who treats kuhu like a brat..the family in their own twisted ways, loves her, thats not helping her in anyway is another point but they do love her..varsha is always taking her side to the point asking mishti to be understanding and let kuhu walk all over her.. shaurya pampers her and BP and BM are nice to them both whenever they can be...her in laws adore her and she has issues with kunal and finds mishti to blame for it.. when he has made his feelings perfectly clear regarding this marriage...Though I agree the leads glorification is an issue and it's still not to kaira's level in yrkkh but still...only BP and BM glorify her..nanu loves both kuhu and mishti equally..jugnu is a bit partial to mishti(he's allowed that😛)..

she knows that mishti's priority are BM and BP but it's not like mishti is her first priority, so I don't get why kuhu gets to complain there.. mishti prioritized family in kunal kuhu's case and kuhu prioritized herself in mishti abir's case. She knew apart from that one thing, mishti has done alot to get her and kunal together, she knew abir supported her and kunal completely and was one of the main reasons of this relationship going forward and still goes on to do kunal's bidding and not upfront like mishti, not being clear that yes, I am going to do such a thing but behind her back..Let's say mishti never got to know about kuhu's involvement then kuhu was never going to tell her and she was all for breaking mishbir apart if it meant her and kunal got together..like I said she has been she has been so enveloped in hating mishti and her sportscar dream that she never focused on anything else...

Also, she never cared about what if her family got to know about all this, how will they feel then, she never felt thankful towards mishti for not telling the family about it.. anything good mishti does..lets ignore that and blame her for everything wrong in her life has been kuhu's theory everytime.. And I am hoping that today's episode is getting her to feel something else towards mishti, a new emotion..and I hope that goes well..

I think her love for kunal was firstly all about her fairy tale.. and secondly someone she wouldn't have to share with mishti..then he was a nice person build up it all.. And kuhu being sorted.. well that is one thing I agree if we talk about during the courtship times.. I so appreciated her for ignoring her resentment for mishti and giving her a chance to have this relationship..that needed some big heart coming from kuhu's side.. but she also prioritized her family over mishti when she berated her for asking for courtship as it was affecting her family.. I think both the girls are so similar in their love for this family..🤗

I understand your love for kuhu and I think you are being a little too harsh towards mishti but regarding mish getting the sympathy..well that is never going away in a Rajan shahi show..the show is still having a storyline right now..after 2-3 years it will work solely on the sympathy thing..first generate sympathy for mishti and then have abir do something stupid so that sympathy increases, then get mish to make mistakes to settle the score and generate a lot of drama, throw in kunal and kuhu to act as villains and the family members to act as props..well the show goes on and on (all prototype rajan shahi as seen in yrkkh)

Originally posted by: Isolophiliac00

I understand your love for kuhu and I think you are being a little too harsh towards mishti but regarding mish getting the sympathy..well that is never going away in a Rajan shahi show..the show is still having a storyline right now..after 2-3 years it will work solely on the sympathy thing..first generate sympathy for mishti and then have abir do something stupid so that sympathy increases, then get mish to make mistakes to settle the score and generate a lot of drama, throw in kunal and kuhu to act as villains and the family members to act as props..well the show goes on and on (all prototype rajan shahi as seen in yrkkh)

LOL, for all the blind hate and rage Kuhu gets, if there is one rando like me who is harsher on Mishti, I think it's healthy for everyone's sense of perspective.😊

I totally agree with you on the sympathy factor in RS's shows, and on ITV in general. I thought this show had potential to avoid it a little bit longer, but I was wrong. I can feel myself losing connect as all the characters get flattened out and I think I'm actually kind of grateful for that. 😆

Originally posted by: Samanalyse

Thank you all for the responses! More than supporting any particular character, I am always a fan of good writing and that is what I see slipping away on the show. I am just really disappointed that they are falling back to pitting women against each other to move the story along. As a viewer, I need to understand the motivations of characters and for me, the writing of Abir and Mishti has been wildly inconsistent ever since Kunal and Mishti's rishta broke. I think it's completely justified that some people disagree with me on Mishti and Abir but I see that more as the gaps in the writing -- you fill them depending on your feelings for the characters. If you feel for Mishti, you might see her as helpless but what I see is a girl who made decisions and has not been held responsible for them; in fact, for the most part, the writing foists the consequences on Kuhu and justifies it by having her say some OTT mean things to Mishti, so you continue to sympathise with the latter. As someone who has liked Kuhu a little bit better from the beginning, I feel betrayed by the writers when this happens. Why can't they both be fleshed out characters with their own important plots? Isn't that better for the show overall?

Similarly, Abir has never faced consequences for pushing Kunal into a rishta and now a wedding that he was clearly not interested in. Why is Abir allowed the freedom not to marry but Kunal isn't? The fact that Kunal ran away from the wedding sends a pretty clear signal to me -- in fact, even Kuhu is asking him now why he bothered to come back, because logically she might have been better off left at the mandap. So if I analyse Abir's motivations with that in mind, I see less concern for Kuhu and more desperation not to lose his access to Mishti. And @EtTu, you are right. Abir doesn't hold Kunal responsible for anything, but to me, that is exactly the problem. Kunal is expected to be an adult when it comes to managing their mom and the entire business, but as soon as he does something Abir doesn't approve of, he's a clueless kid who needs to be managed: I find it hard to stomach that Abir is basically saying, "do as I say, not as I do." Is it any wonder that Kunal is trying to micromanage Abir in the Mishti issue? He is just following the precedent his bhai set with Shweta.

When the show started, I was really excited about the potential for both couples. I saw them as mirror-images of each other and I thought there was so much that could be done with that. But ever since the rishta swap ended, Abir and Mishti have been stripped of everything that made their characters interesting and their only plotline other than their romance has been to play god for Kuhu and Kunal, and this is where the leads are losing me.

@beguiling: Likewise! I have been in hiding for a long time but your recent posts drew me out because I wanted to talk about Kuhu, and you were doing such a beautiful job. I loved her from the start because she was so honest and so in love with herself, something we never get to see with Indian female leads. I completely agree that the writers have really made her characterisation a matter of convenience, and it irritates me to no end. On Indian TV, either a sister has to be a devoted minion who thinks no end of the lead, or she has to be jealous and scheming. With Kuhu, they really had the potential to break the mould and what is bothering me is that despite this, despite writing an incredibly compelling character, they are throwing her under the bus because they are too lazy to write real depth into Mishti's character.

I did some reading about the parent show a few weeks back, just to know more about Kuhu's backstory, and realised that Kuhu wasn't exactly a baby when she came to live with the Maheshwaris. She was at least four or five, which means that she remembers her birth mother and the experience at least vaguely. Heck, even if she doesn't remember, the experience would have had a huge impact on her. She has a past that is equally traumatic, and her abandonment issues should be equally deep so why does the show treat her like the brat who grew up without a care in the world, and Mishti like the only one with trauma? This is why Kuhu's resentment makes so much sense to me -- she learned to embrace life and be positive despite her trauma but her cheerfulness gets red as shallowness by her family and she is treated like a brat. Meanwhile, it must seem to her like Mishti is rewarded for being broody and quiet -- while Kuhu gets labels like jhalli and nadan; Mishti is gambhir or samajdar.

For the most part the family is responsible for this, but the worst part is probably that Mishti totally buys into that labelling and treats Kuhu accordingly. I think Kuhu and Mishti summed up their respective stances perfectly -- when Kuhu called them #frenemies, Mishti responded with #family. To me that meant that Kuhu at least saw them having an independent relationship outside the family that forced them together; Mishti didn't. This is why we never get to see Kuhu's loving side when it comes to Mishti -- she knows that Mishti's priority is the family (particularly BM and BP) and not her, and she doesn't want to be hurt and rejected yet again. Every time Kuhu starts to open up, Mishti proves this to be the case when instead of talking to Kuhu as an equal, she just makes decisions because she knows what's best for the family. Nobody wants to share their innermost secrets with someone who, instead of sharing back or listening, just wants to "fix" everything and take credit for it.

In all this, is it any wonder then that Kuhu really fell hard for Kunal? He saw her in a way that nobody in her family did (except Varsha, bless her). He recognised her sense of humour as her strength and not a sign of her shallowness, and he appreciated how sorted she was in the Shweta issue. All this was before any plotting began. Even when Kuhu was threatened with a new rishta, she didn't cry or make a fuss; she went straight to Kunal, told him how she felt, and asked him what he wanted to do. If he had turned her down, she probably would have been open to the new rishta. That kind of drama-free straightforwardness is something you so rarely see in young women on Indian TV.

Lol, apparently my love for this character is endless so I'll stop here for now. I absolutely second your message to the writers and the PH. Kuhu is incredibly relatable and a beautifully fleshed out character with real flaws and strengths. Please pull up your socks and find more interesting ways to make Mishti relatable than constantly positioning her as a victim for sympathy; this is is lazy and tired writing. You have two potentially great female characters on your hands -- instead of pitting them against each other, wouldn't you get double the views, fans etc, if you gave both of them convincing, parallel plots?

@bold 1- And how is Abir supposed to know its a rishta Kunal is not interested in? Kunal made Abir believe that he loves Kuhu. Yes, Abir jumped on the Kunal-Kuhu bandwagon and was excited at the prospect of them getting together but it was Kunal who gave him the perception that he wants to take it forward. It was Kunal who told Abir that he will elope if his mom does not relent. When Sourav came to see Kuhu, Abir clearly gave Kunal a choice. Again, it was Kunal who gave him the perception that he wants to stop the alliance and almost manipulated Abir and nanu to go talk to the Maheshwaris. All through the marriage rituals, Kunal happily played along and looked quite happy with Kuhu. How is Abir supposed to read his mind and understand that this is his silly plan to separate him from Mishti?

@bold 2- Okay Abir assumed that Kunal ran away because he was manipulated by his mom. Abir was under the misunderstanding that Kunal loves Kuhu but its his mom who is playing with his mind while his bechara brother is giving in and not taking a stand which is why he forced him to make a choice and marry. Lets just say Abir was at fault and he should have backed off the moment he saw that Kunal ran away. But what about Kunal? What was stopping him from confessing the entire truth and backing off? What stopped him from not being a coward and running away but instead take a stand? He could have confessed the entire truth to Abir. That this whole thing was a terrible plan gone wrong and I dont love Kuhu and I dont want to marry. There is no way Abir or anyone in the world could have forced him after that. Isn't it very convenient to somehow blame Abir for all the mess Kunal created? And I think its extremely unfair to attribute this agenda to Abir's action that the only reason he forced Kunal to marry was because Kuhu being stranded in the mandap will impact his relationship with Mishti. Abir was probably the only person who felt bad for Kuhu when his mom exchanged the rishta. He was the only one who stopped Kuhu from begging Kunal and took a stand for her when she came home after the haldi fiasco. Given Abir's character sketch, am certain he would have behaved the exact same way and felt just as bad for Kuhu even if she wasn't Mishti's sister.

@bold 3- Why is it made to look like Abir gave Kunal no choice? Its Kunal himself who created a situation where he had no choice. He willfully led on Kuhu and both the families for some stupid plan. He participated in all the wedding functions and was supporting his mom in arm-twisting a girl to insult his fiancee and her family just to make his bhai hate her. And when that silly plan fails, he decides to run away at the last moment right before the marriage. How is any of this Abir's fault? Kunal assumed that Abir needs protection. Kunal assumed that Mishti is evil and trapping Abir just like she apparently trapped and rejected him. Kunal assumed that he can lead on Kuhu and ditch her once Abir starts hating Mishti. None of it worked and he was forced to face the consequences of his action and this is somehow Abir's fault?

Its interesting that you compare Abir's micromanagement with Kunal. But there is a fundamental difference here. Kunal broke up with Shwet and hated her. Abir merely tried to protect him from that damage. He did not manipulate and try to create situations where Kunal breaks up with Shwet and starts hating her. Kunal on the other hand jumped in to plot with his mother the moment he got to know his bhai loves Mishti and has done everything possible to manipulate the situation and create circumstances where Mishti is humiliated/Abir starts hating her. How can both their actions be equated?

I completely agree that Abir and Mishti have flaws. Abir is completely wrong in assuming that marriage is the solution to Kunal's problems and he is also wrong in jumping onto the Kunal-Kuhu bandwagon the moment he got the opportunity to do so. Ditto with Mishti. As I mentioned before, a lot of her actions can be questioned. What I disagree with is that they are somehow responsible for Kunal and Kuhu's current state. They are entirely responsible for the mess they are currently in IMO.

P.S. I think this is the most I have written in this forum 😆

Originally posted by: Samanalyse

LOL, for all the blind hate and rage Kuhu gets, if there is one rando like me who is harsher on Mishti, I think it's healthy for everyone's sense of perspective.😊

I totally agree with you on the sympathy factor in RS's shows, and on ITV in general. I thought this show had potential to avoid it a little bit longer, but I was wrong. I can feel myself losing connect as all the characters get flattened out and I think I'm actually kind of grateful for that. 😆

I am not on twitter or insta.. so don’t know whatever’s happening out there, though I understand how unreasonable, may I say some fans can be.. I have been a big fan of Naksh and keerti or rimorav in yrkkh for the longest time.. so I get it 😀 completely no issues regarding that

Regarding sympathy thing.. well whatever brings in money 💰

And I majorly watch this show, apart from good storyline for time being, for rhea and Shaheer and now a days Kuhu and kunal as well.. these are some amazing actors.. so it helps with my patience levels 😆 and I don’t get much attached to the characters 😝

Also the only char I love is jugnu 🥰 for being the cuteness he is, also caring, supporting mishbir without any reason, teasing Abir, mishti and just being him... I would hate for him to be the villain any day..🤣

Originally posted by: Isolophiliac00

I am not on twitter or insta.. so don’t know whatever’s happening out there, though I understand how unreasonable, may I say some fans can be.. I have been a big fan of Naksh and keerti or rimorav in yrkkh for the longest time.. so I get it 😀 completely no issues regarding that

Regarding sympathy thing.. well whatever brings in money 💰

And I majorly watch this show, apart from good storyline for time being, for rhea and Shaheer and now a days Kuhu and kunal as well.. these are some amazing actors.. so it helps with my patience levels 😆 and I don’t get much attached to the characters 😝

Also the only char I love is jugnu 🥰 for being the cuteness he is, also caring, supporting mishbir without any reason, teasing Abir, mishti and just being him... I would hate for him to be the villain any day..🤣

Also jugnu dances amazingly😆🥳, as per yesterday’s episode and is always happy shappy... 💕

Originally posted by: EtTuBrutus

Its interesting that you compare Abir's micromanagement with Kunal. But there is a fundamental difference here. Kunal broke up with Shwet and hated her. Abir merely tried to protect him from that damage. He did not manipulate and try to create situations where Kunal breaks up with Shwet and starts hating her. Kunal on the other hand jumped in to plot with his mother the moment he got to know his bhai loves Mishti and has done everything possible to manipulate the situation and create circumstances where Mishti is humiliated/Abir starts hating her. How can both their actions be equated?

I completely agree that Abir and Mishti have flaws. Abir is completely wrong in assuming that marriage is the solution to Kunal's problems and he is also wrong in jumping onto the Kunal-Kuhu bandwagon the moment he got the opportunity to do so. Ditto with Mishti. As I mentioned before, a lot of her actions can be questioned. What I disagree with is that they are somehow responsible for Kunal and Kuhu's current state. They are entirely responsible for the mess they are currently in IMO.

P.S. I think this is the most I have written in this forum 😆

Ha, welcome to my world! I am famous for writing essays 😆

Look, I am not trying to absolve Kunal and Kuhu of responsibility. My point is that while the writing holds them responsible for their actions (and then some), Mishti and Abir never face consequences for their bad decisions or shortcomings (a lot of which you have mentioned above) and on the rare occasion they do, it's treated like some great crime is being done against them. Kuhu and Kunal have made all the mistakes you point out and rightfully, they find themselves in a terrible position right now as a result, paying for them. This makes sense to me, and makes for good storytelling.

What doesn't make sense, for example, is how Mishti (and everyone on this forum, apparently) is surprised that people like Varsha, Jasmeet, and Kuhu are still mad at her for what she did at the haldi when she hasn't even explained why she did it. I mean, forget Kuhu, she probably dredged up Varsha's worst memories with that stunt and then not only did she show up for the bidai, she made herself the center of attention with the joote, and then *nobody* addressed it. Also undaddressed is her penchant for riding off in the middle of the night -- how many times have we seen Kuhu cover for her so the family doesn't find out? Granted, Kuhu did this for selfish motives but the message I'm getting here is that Mishti is less accountable because she is better at lying/image management, which is totally fine by me if the character owns it. But Mishti is sold as this paragon of truth, and that creates an inconsistency between what I see and what I'm told I should see.

As for Abir, he has shown his manipulative side several times, right from the beginning when he tried to make Mishti and the Maheshwaris believe that Kunal had saved her. If he cared about girls' feelings that much, he wouldn't have catfished one or blackmailed a runaway groom into marrying a girl he had doubts about without giving the bride all the information. With Abir, I feel like they took his awarapan and bindass attitude really far without giving it enough emotional weight (it was balanced way better in the beginning with his grief and confusion over his papa, but that just disappeared). Now he just feels like a guy who's happy to do his own thing while he leaves the burden of the household squarely on his brothers' shoulders. He loves Kunal, but doesn't respect him or his experiences, which is why he never let him get his own closure with Shweta.