Pakhi: A Vamp Like Nobody Else

***DISCLAIMER: THIS POST IS NOT IN DEFENCE OF PAKHI, RATHER JUST AN ATTEMPT TO UNDERSTAND HER. ANY FEELINGS HURT OF SAI FANS AND SAIRAT FANS IS DEEPLY REGRETTED***

Pakhi Didi, Pakhi Didi, Pakhi Didi- kya hi kaha jaaye inke baarein main? Quite like Sai, she's also a slightly different female lead. Not the stereotypical vamp- not yet anyway. I had mad a post a few weeks ago about how Pakhi is annoying but very human in her behaviour and reactions and today's episode just kind of reinforced that for me. It also showed a glimpse of what Pakhi COULD HAVE been if not for the whole Virat-phone-yoga-vaada fiasco.

I like Pakhi's characterisation as the anti-heroine if not the villain. Why? Because most villains/vamps know that they are bad and usually they have no reason or extremely idiotic reasons to trouble the lead pair but that's not the case with Pakhi- she doesn't know she is bad. She's sort of developed this siege mentality, thinking everyone is against her, fate has been cruel, always feeling like the victim. Do I, as a viewer, empathise with her? No, I don't but do I somewhat get where she's coming from? Yes. There have been a couple of occasions when I've felt bad for her and when I've also felt that we are way harsher towards than Pakhi than we are towards Virat- we just laugh off his idiotic antics. But that's exactly why Pakhi is such a brilliant and different anti-heroine. Other shows have very loud villains, where their dialogues and narrative DICTATE what they're thinking and feeling but Pakhi's is more subtle. She plays it extremely smart. She had the "dil main zindagi main" trump card until Virat got married. Even during the phone call when Virat was in Gadchiroli and was talking very appreciatively about Sai, she immediately brought up the vaada as a reminder. Her survival instincts are strong. At that point, SaiRat weren't married but she caught on to how much Virat admired her.

After SaiRat's marriage, she got another trump card- the best friend one. Now, she knows that Virat feels guilty about breaking the vaada to marry Sai and she uses this guilt to manipulate him very smartly. That's why in a few episodes, Virat appears to be making a very forced attempt to include Pakhi even though he's perfectly happy when it's just him and Sai- it's his guilt and Pakhi won't let him let go of that guilt. That's why the whole lipstick hungama- a gentle reminder to Virat how he has always betrayed her. She is diabolical and annoying but what makes her effective is that she uses actual human emotions as a pawn in her game.

Now what I DO like about Pakhi is that she doesn't turn into a bechaari. She knows how to stand up for herself. I'm sure in today's confrontation we were all Team Sai but I was half expecting her to play the abla naari and tears card just to gain Virat's sympathy. But nope, she fought back. Before SaiRat's weddding and before she turned into PP, she was one of the only ones who didn't seem intimidated by Mast Mast as evident in the Haldi episode and also when she wanted to go to her parents' house. "Kya mujhe apne ghar jaane ke liye kisi ki permission ki zaroorat hai?"

Pakhi's encounter with Virat has ruined her. Otherwise she could've been a real force to reckon with. Feisty, independent, no-nonsense. Quite like Sai in fact. In an alternate universe, maybe Sai and Pakhi will be best friends. She showed a lot of promise in the initial few episodes and I hope some day she can get back to that.

Originally posted by: I-Am-SherLOCKED

***DISCLAIMER: THIS POST IS NOT IN DEFENCE OF PAKHI, RATHER JUST AN ATTEMPT TO UNDERSTAND HER. ANY FEELINGS HURT OF SAI FANS AND SAIRAT FANS IS DEEPLY REGRETTED***

Pakhi Didi, Pakhi Didi, Pakhi Didi- kya hi kaha jaaye inke baarein main? Quite like Sai, she's also a slightly different female lead. Not the stereotypical vamp- not yet anyway. I had mad a post a few weeks ago about how Pakhi is annoying but very human in her behaviour and reactions and today's episode just kind of reinforced that for me. It also showed a glimpse of what Pakhi COULD HAVE been if not for the whole Virat-phone-yoga-vaada fiasco.

I like Pakhi's characterisation as the anti-heroine if not the villain. Why? Because most villains/vamps know that they are bad and usually they have no reason or extremely idiotic reasons to trouble the lead pair but that's not the case with Pakhi- she doesn't know she is bad. She's sort of developed this siege mentality, thinking everyone is against her, fate has been cruel, always feeling like the victim. Do I, as a viewer, empathise with her? No, I don't but do I somewhat get where she's coming from? Yes. There have been a couple of occasions when I've felt bad for her and when I've also felt that we are way harsher towards than Pakhi than we are towards Virat- we just laugh off his idiotic antics. But that's exactly why Pakhi is such a brilliant and different anti-heroine. Other shows have very loud villains, where their dialogues and narrative DICTATE what they're thinking and feeling but Pakhi's is more subtle. She plays it extremely smart. She had the "dil main zindagi main" trump card until Virat got married. Even during the phone call when Virat was in Gadchiroli and was talking very appreciatively about Sai, she immediately brought up the vaada as a reminder. Her survival instincts are strong. At that point, SaiRat weren't married but she caught on to how much Virat admired her.

After SaiRat's marriage, she got another trump card- the best friend one. Now, she knows that Virat feels guilty about breaking the vaada to marry Sai and she uses this guilt to manipulate him very smartly. That's why in a few episodes, Virat appears to be making a very forced attempt to include Pakhi even though he's perfectly happy when it's just him and Sai- it's his guilt and Pakhi won't let him let go of that guilt. That's why the whole lipstick hungama- a gentle reminder to Virat how he has always betrayed her. She is diabolical and annoying but what makes her effective is that she uses actual human emotions as a pawn in her game.

Now what I DO like about Pakhi is that she doesn't turn into a bechaari. She knows how to stand up for herself. I'm sure in today's confrontation we were all Team Sai but I was half expecting her to play the abla naari and tears card just to gain Virat's sympathy. But nope, she fought back. Before SaiRat's weddding and before she turned into PP, she was one of the only ones who didn't seem intimidated by Mast Mast as evident in the Haldi episode and also when she wanted to go to her parents' house. "Kya mujhe apne ghar jaane ke liye kisi ki permission ki zaroorat hai?"

Pakhi's encounter with Virat has ruined her. Otherwise she could've been a real force to reckon with. Feisty, independent, no-nonsense. Quite like Sai in fact. In an alternate universe, maybe Sai and Pakhi will be best friends. She showed a lot of promise in the initial few episodes and I hope some day she can get back to that.

I do feel sorry for her. She is attempting to desperately hang on to Virat although she knows that he is slowly but surely slipping away. In the Hindi version she is a bit subdued and doesn't really talk back too much except to Sai. While, in the Tamil version she gives it back to even Ashwini's character even though she is her actual mother-in-law. No sugar coating at all. In the Hindi version, I thought that although she stands up for herself somewhat, she kind of sugar coats it.

Originally posted by: I-Am-SherLOCKED

***DISCLAIMER: THIS POST IS NOT IN DEFENCE OF PAKHI, RATHER JUST AN ATTEMPT TO UNDERSTAND HER. ANY FEELINGS HURT OF SAI FANS AND SAIRAT FANS IS DEEPLY REGRETTED***

Pakhi Didi, Pakhi Didi, Pakhi Didi- kya hi kaha jaaye inke baarein main? Quite like Sai, she's also a slightly different female lead. Not the stereotypical vamp- not yet anyway. I had mad a post a few weeks ago about how Pakhi is annoying but very human in her behaviour and reactions and today's episode just kind of reinforced that for me. It also showed a glimpse of what Pakhi COULD HAVE been if not for the whole Virat-phone-yoga-vaada fiasco.

I like Pakhi's characterisation as the anti-heroine if not the villain. Why? Because most villains/vamps know that they are bad and usually they have no reason or extremely idiotic reasons to trouble the lead pair but that's not the case with Pakhi- she doesn't know she is bad. She's sort of developed this siege mentality, thinking everyone is against her, fate has been cruel, always feeling like the victim. Do I, as a viewer, empathise with her? No, I don't but do I somewhat get where she's coming from? Yes. There have been a couple of occasions when I've felt bad for her and when I've also felt that we are way harsher towards than Pakhi than we are towards Virat- we just laugh off his idiotic antics. But that's exactly why Pakhi is such a brilliant and different anti-heroine. Other shows have very loud villains, where their dialogues and narrative DICTATE what they're thinking and feeling but Pakhi's is more subtle. She plays it extremely smart. She had the "dil main zindagi main" trump card until Virat got married. Even during the phone call when Virat was in Gadchiroli and was talking very appreciatively about Sai, she immediately brought up the vaada as a reminder. Her survival instincts are strong. At that point, SaiRat weren't married but she caught on to how much Virat admired her.

After SaiRat's marriage, she got another trump card- the best friend one. Now, she knows that Virat feels guilty about breaking the vaada to marry Sai and she uses this guilt to manipulate him very smartly. That's why in a few episodes, Virat appears to be making a very forced attempt to include Pakhi even though he's perfectly happy when it's just him and Sai- it's his guilt and Pakhi won't let him let go of that guilt. That's why the whole lipstick hungama- a gentle reminder to Virat how he has always betrayed her. She is diabolical and annoying but what makes her effective is that she uses actual human emotions as a pawn in her game.

Now what I DO like about Pakhi is that she doesn't turn into a bechaari. She knows how to stand up for herself. I'm sure in today's confrontation we were all Team Sai but I was half expecting her to play the abla naari and tears card just to gain Virat's sympathy. But nope, she fought back. Before SaiRat's weddding and before she turned into PP, she was one of the only ones who didn't seem intimidated by Mast Mast as evident in the Haldi episode and also when she wanted to go to her parents' house. "Kya mujhe apne ghar jaane ke liye kisi ki permission ki zaroorat hai?"

Pakhi's encounter with Virat has ruined her. Otherwise she could've been a real force to reckon with. Feisty, independent, no-nonsense. Quite like Sai in fact. In an alternate universe, maybe Sai and Pakhi will be best friends. She showed a lot of promise in the initial few episodes and I hope some day she can get back to that.

@ First and foremost a great post.👍🏼

@ Red Yes. Like discussed in some of the previous post, I liked this grey character than OTT vamp characters. Its a brilliant grey character as we hate her but empathize with her too. Just like subtle romance, subtle manipulations(which appear very human) are more effective than OTT. She is in fact very intelligent at playing with human emotions (guilt tripping, victim card)

@ Orange I have slightly different view on this. Even though Pakhi exhibits similar behaviours as Sai ( Having guts to defy Kaku), the main difference is she is a very selfish person even before Virat came into the picture. She defied kaku to stay away from taunts and Virat being absent (so no perks).

Sai defies out of love, selflesness( she defied virat to save Pari which Virat aknowledged) and values.

Her my way or highway nature (often unknowingly supported by her pampering father) is evident through late night calls to her married friend, wanting a friend reach her at her whim, wanting Virat's response even when his Aai is refraining from it.

Rather I feel she is not victim of situation (meeting Virat). It Virat (not absolving him for his immature vadaa) who became scapegoat of her selfish nature.Meeting Virat or not, her insecurities, selfishness would have made life of any person hell (Even her Aai once said, she talks to me as if I am her bai(maid) and not Aai). Now, compare this with Sai, ' Usha mavashi meri Naukarani (maid) nahi hai, meri Aai jaisi hai'

So until and unless Pakhi works on inner world(becoming selfless), Sai and Pakhi are poles apart.

Out of blue, I thought of Duryodhan. He was a great warrier just like Bhim (rather better) but what made them poles apart is usage of those abilities ( Selfish vs selfless)

Originally posted by: I-Am-SherLOCKED

***DISCLAIMER: THIS POST IS NOT IN DEFENCE OF PAKHI, RATHER JUST AN ATTEMPT TO UNDERSTAND HER. ANY FEELINGS HURT OF SAI FANS AND SAIRAT FANS IS DEEPLY REGRETTED***

Pakhi Didi, Pakhi Didi, Pakhi Didi- kya hi kaha jaaye inke baarein main? Quite like Sai, she's also a slightly different female lead. Not the stereotypical vamp- not yet anyway. I had mad a post a few weeks ago about how Pakhi is annoying but very human in her behaviour and reactions and today's episode just kind of reinforced that for me. It also showed a glimpse of what Pakhi COULD HAVE been if not for the whole Virat-phone-yoga-vaada fiasco.

I like Pakhi's characterisation as the anti-heroine if not the villain. Why? Because most villains/vamps know that they are bad and usually they have no reason or extremely idiotic reasons to trouble the lead pair but that's not the case with Pakhi- she doesn't know she is bad. She's sort of developed this siege mentality, thinking everyone is against her, fate has been cruel, always feeling like the victim. Do I, as a viewer, empathise with her? No, I don't but do I somewhat get where she's coming from? Yes. There have been a couple of occasions when I've felt bad for her and when I've also felt that we are way harsher towards than Pakhi than we are towards Virat- we just laugh off his idiotic antics. But that's exactly why Pakhi is such a brilliant and different anti-heroine. Other shows have very loud villains, where their dialogues and narrative DICTATE what they're thinking and feeling but Pakhi's is more subtle. She plays it extremely smart. She had the "dil main zindagi main" trump card until Virat got married. Even during the phone call when Virat was in Gadchiroli and was talking very appreciatively about Sai, she immediately brought up the vaada as a reminder. Her survival instincts are strong. At that point, SaiRat weren't married but she caught on to how much Virat admired her.

After SaiRat's marriage, she got another trump card- the best friend one. Now, she knows that Virat feels guilty about breaking the vaada to marry Sai and she uses this guilt to manipulate him very smartly. That's why in a few episodes, Virat appears to be making a very forced attempt to include Pakhi even though he's perfectly happy when it's just him and Sai- it's his guilt and Pakhi won't let him let go of that guilt. That's why the whole lipstick hungama- a gentle reminder to Virat how he has always betrayed her. She is diabolical and annoying but what makes her effective is that she uses actual human emotions as a pawn in her game.

Now what I DO like about Pakhi is that she doesn't turn into a bechaari. She knows how to stand up for herself. I'm sure in today's confrontation we were all Team Sai but I was half expecting her to play the abla naari and tears card just to gain Virat's sympathy. But nope, she fought back. Before SaiRat's weddding and before she turned into PP, she was one of the only ones who didn't seem intimidated by Mast Mast as evident in the Haldi episode and also when she wanted to go to her parents' house. "Kya mujhe apne ghar jaane ke liye kisi ki permission ki zaroorat hai?"

Pakhi's encounter with Virat has ruined her. Otherwise she could've been a real force to reckon with. Feisty, independent, no-nonsense. Quite like Sai in fact. In an alternate universe, maybe Sai and Pakhi will be best friends. She showed a lot of promise in the initial few episodes and I hope some day she can get back to that.

Yeah...she does it so calmly...instigating everyone against Sai, calculating the consequence/reaction of her each sentence on the other ones while doing that...without being unnecessarily loud or planning or plotting anything against her....she makes us hate her but with her own witty way and the actress too portrays her traits perfectly👏

Hey!! Amazing post… as always!🤗

I agree with every word that you just said here.

Pakhi is definitely not your typical vamp. In fact, if people see my earlier posts, they’d know that I really do not see her as a negative character, nor do I want her turning into one. Right now, she’s just showing shades of grey, and it’s not just her fault. Most of what she is doing is Virat’s fault too. Most people tend to overlook Virat’s faults because of some of the nice things he does for Sai, and we completely put the blame of Pakhi.

I love the fact that Pakhi’s character has many layers and she has a lot of potential. Though Pakhi does not have that complete sense of honesty and straightforwardness that Sai has, she is feisty and independent. She does voice out her opinions, though not often. I do agree that if it were not for Virat, Sai would have probably liked Pakhi and both of them would have genuinely gotten along. I feel that there is a potential for the Sai-Pakhi bond even in the future.

Also, Pakhi is not that kind of a person who would continue to be an interference in someone’s life just like that. We have had moments when we felt that she too is trying to accept the fact that she has to move on and that Virat is out of her grasp, like the scene between Sai and Pakhi before the reception, where she says that "yeh dealwali shaadi dilwaali shaadi mein badalne mein zyaada waqt nahi lagega.", or after the Karmasamapthi (name changing) ritual at night, when she’s thinking about what her parents said about Virat moving on. But, as soon as she gets thoughts, Virat undoes all of it by saying or doing something that gives her hope.

Also, since it was Virat who gave her the vaada, only he can relieve her of it, and he has to do it by being honest with her and telling her that it was mistake and was done in an emotional moment, which he doesn’t have the guts to do.

I still have a lot of hope for Pakhi’s character, and her potential love story with Samrat. I really hope that they don’t turn her character completely negative, but give her the happy ending she deserves.

Originally posted by: LadyWhistledown

Hey!! Amazing post… as always!🤗

I agree with every word that you just said here.

Pakhi is definitely not your typical vamp. In fact, if people see my earlier posts, they’d know that I really do not see her as a negative character, nor do I want her turning into one. Right now, she’s just showing shades of grey, and it’s not just her fault. Most of what she is doing is Virat’s fault too. Most people tend to overlook Virat’s faults because of some of the nice things he does for Sai, and we completely put the blame of Pakhi.

I love the fact that Pakhi’s character has many layers and she has a lot of potential. Though Pakhi does not have that complete sense of honesty and straightforwardness that Sai has, she is feisty and independent. She does voice out her opinions, though not often. I do agree that if it were not for Virat, Sai would have probably liked Pakhi and both of them would have genuinely gotten along. I feel that there is a potential for the Sai-Pakhi bond even in the future.

Also, Pakhi is not that kind of a person who would continue to be an interference in someone’s life just like that. We have had moments when we felt that she too is trying to accept the fact that she has to move on and that Virat is out of her grasp, like the scene between Sai and Pakhi before the reception, where she says that "yeh dealwali shaadi dilwaali shaadi mein badalne mein zyaada waqt nahi lagega.", or after the Karmasamapthi (name changing) ritual at night, when she’s thinking about what her parents said about Virat moving on. But, as soon as she gets thoughts, Virat undoes all of it by saying or doing something that gives her hope.

I am not going to absolve Virat for his Vadaa ( I don't doubt his intention though) but Pakhi reads into them what she wants to. Virat from day 1(GC call) is pushing Pakhi towards Samrat many a times. But she acts as if she did not hear it and clings on that one act or word which will keep her hope alive.

Also, since it was Virat who gave her the vaada, only he can relieve her of it, and he has to do it by being honest with her and telling her that it was mistake and was done in an emotional moment, which he doesn’t have the guts to do.

I still have a lot of hope for Pakhi’s character, and her potential love story with Samrat. I really hope that they don’t turn her character completely negative, but give her the happy ending she deserves.

Can't say about other things but one thing I like about her is that she is playing smartly...... 😎

Mujhe ye dekha kar aacha laga...

Agree with all your views. What an engaging discussion...

I love the 'real' feel to her character so far. Like the posts point out, she has some genuine reason albeit arising from her own misplaced ideas about love. I would love to see her coming to realise that she's after the wrong man.

She's trying hard to be calm in instigating Virat but her composure is so fragile that she does end up exhibiting her angst the moment she realises that it hasn't worked. Also, although she's playing it right, I don't think she has sat down and decided to do so. At least that's not what we have seen as a monologue or her alone time where she vows to go after Sai, unlike other shows where scheming is so in your face.

For PP, it is latching on to the hope that she's been looking for. The only ONE moment in this entire time since she first heard the name Sai from Virat's mouth when he did not show his pride and care for her -- it was enough for her to build her castle of hope and almost join the imaginary war that she's fighting with Sai and thinks that she has Virat on her side, finally

I think her going from the house will give her the time to reflect hopefully and we will also see her evolving in grey shades.