Backstory

And then Sadiq is from our, the audience POV. We perceive him to be converted. We see him as manipulated. But a big chunk is missing. I hope they give Siddhant from Lala's POV. Because, that would complete his character sketch. And the actor is fabulous, I am talking about Denzil Smith. He is a theatre actor. And it shows.

Let me list all that is bothering me. I had left POW in December with all the love traingle drama, so please correct if I am wrong.

- Sartaj and Imaan met first. Then they bonded. Then they came to Lala's den. Siddhanth was already there as an alone isolated Indian captive. Siddhanth is shown to be highly capable. He is an ace shooter, a responsible leader and intelligent - it seems he taught the others that sign language. It points that he was stationed at one place for a pretty long period to have picked up the local language. That is some high IQ stuff. He always seems to eavesdrop a lot, it showed a hunger for information. He was very much a soldier, alert, aware and resourceful.

But Lala hasn't met him directly before the whole incident. That is how he was able to start afresh in Sid's story. He entered as a benefactor. That is very unusual. Lala tried the direct approach with Sartaaj and Imaan. Was it that Lala, another highly intelligent and charismatic individual already know that he would be unsuccessful in interacting like this with Sid?

This leads me to the next question - were Sartaaj and Imaan brought in this jail to break him? To make Sid trust them. The bond between Sartaaj and Imaan has always been stronger. They scraped through a wall with just nails to see each other. And then they had a song. Surely this would have been noticed by all. The officers were not imbeciles, they may be cruel, sadistic, but the training any soldiers receive is more than that of any civilian. And together Sartaaj and Imaan also became a force. They refused to be broken. But it was also a kind of symbiotic relationship. Sartaaj was more unstable, more emotional. Imaan was the anchor.

So was this meeting of the captives deliberate? Infact there could have been a break between Sartaaj and Imaan too. Had the guilt overpowered them, had their friendship broken due to differences in ideals of killing of a fellow officer, it would have been score of all 3 down. Ofcourse, it didn't break the two, but made both their friendship and guilt stronger.

So coming back, Sid was on losing side right from the time, this Do or die game began. And it did begun to hurt him. When he confided that he could not take pain any longer and would not be able to see his sister and the tantrum regarding food, It was his emotions taking a toll. Maybe he had suppressed them for 10 years or so as he knew he was a one man army and then when he met fellow Indian captives, he became part of a team, his defences got lowered, and his emotions - grief, helplessness, hurt, pain, anger, loneliness, nostalgia - everything came to the forefront and hit him way harder. The thing with emotional walls is they are either up or down. You can't be selective about it. So when he let Imaan and Sartaaj in, he let that Chaah, that desire in. It's like that in the song

And then he was akin to clay in hands of a sculptor like Lala. It seems to me Sid was noticed, his potential was recognised by Lala way early to stage this drama. In the haveli, he had the status of a guest, a respected one at that right from the start. Even if he was not ill treated, it would have been enough. There was no reason for Afreen to tend to him and Hussein to befriend him. Plus if Hussein noticed the looks of attraction between the two, the adults would have noticed too. And that would not have been tolerated. So why the leniency?

Had he even changed his religion, Kaafir is how he would have been treated by such staunch believers such as jihadis, infact actually is. So then getting Afreen and Sadiq married in a period less than 2 years of him residing in Haveli is baffling, when it has political implications. And now the decision to annoint him as a successor of a movement, something which Lala has devoted his time and wealth to. Lala believes in Jihad inspite of the kind of upbringing/ education which usually makes for open minded individuals with more tolerance and inclusiveness.

My conclusion is - Lala knows something, we don't or he has met his match in Siddhant who has outwitted him and trapped him in his own game. I for one can't wait for more of this gripping tale.