(I am choosing to view this episode as a standalone, and I am not taking tomorrow's precap into consideration when writing this, because it just makes my eyes roll.)
I hadn't been watching the show that regularly for a while (as I found a lot of comfort in Shaadi Mubarak after witnessing this show being ruined). But I did watch today's episode after catching a glimpse of its precap on instagram. And while the episode itself was so heartbreaking to watch, I couldn't help but feel that it was a great moment of catharsis that I was waiting for ever since Kunal returned post-lockdown. It is unfortunate though, that this is the level it had to get to for Kuhu to realize that Kunal is not the same person she married and fell in love with.
Kuhu and Varsha's dialogues are the best they've ever been in a very long time. For once I felt so validated by their reactions and the reactions of the other characters as well, and how quickly everyone came to support Kuhu and her stance. One thing that really struck me while watching Varsha speak to Abir is that Varsha knows exactly what it feels like to go through what Kuhu is going through. She knows what it is to feel like your emotions and wellbeing have very little value to your life partner. And when she went through the sacrifice of forgetting everything and raising Kuhu as her own, it was with the expectation that Kuhu should never have to be made to feel as worthless as she did when she was betrayed by her own husband. And now that she is witnessing her daughter's clearly unhealthy marriage unfold in front of her eyes, I cannot imagine what that feels like to her as a mother. And what I also noticed is that this same pain drove her to take control of the situation, something that she normally does not do while BM and BP are in the room. Although BM and BP agreed to let Abir go and talk to Kuhu, Varsha challenged this by stopping him and telling him very firmly that it was Kunal's mess to sort out, and Abir talking to Kuhu would be of little to no use.
Although I cringed every time Kunal spoke, I have to appreciate Avinash! He seems to have really grown into the role, slowly but steadily. He has made this new version of Kunal his own, and it is quite remarkable to watch. We're witnessing a man troubled by his need to return every "ehsaan" his adoptive mother has performed for him (an idea extremely problematic on its own; but that's a separate conversation), while attempting to keep his brother happy; the same brother that literally raised him like a stand-in father figure (like Kunal told Mishti), and the same brother that Parul insisted he support every step of the way, no matter what. However, in this conundrum, he has completely failed at catering to the relationship that he (very recently!) claimed to be his top priority. I very clearly remember him even asking Varsha and Shaurya for a second chance at keeping their daughter happy, and after this, I don't see how he can be redeemed. He ignored Kuhu's every right to her bodily autonomy, and instead shamed her as selfish and bratty. Agreed, one must make sacrifices to maintain relationships, but at the expense of what? Your basic sense of integrity and right to your own body? And even if Kuhu didn't have a problem with actually being Mishti and Abir's surrogate, by doing so, she'd be reinforcing the idea that blood is indeed thicker than water, and I just don't see her feeling comfortable doing that at all. It would go against the very concept behind her own birth.
Agreed that Kunal 1.0 may have been a bit aloof and maybe even slightly insensitive when it comes to Kuhu, but he was never callous like Kunal 2.0 is being. I saw some comparisons being made between the current Kunal and the Kunal pre-marriage (in which he was fooling Kuhu), but in that track, although Kunal had a liking for Kuhu, he still viewed her as just a girl that was collateral damage. He was not at all emotionally committed to her. I have to believe that the Kunal Kuhu fell for would take his marriage, his commitment very seriously (considering that he made the commitment TWICE!). It is not as if Kunal needs to fight a war with Meenakshi just as Abir does to still be protective of Kuhu and her interests. He could've just point blank refused, and not even brought the matter up. But he didn't, and that is the major difference.
The one thing that BM told Mishti rang true: How far will all of you go to meet Meenakshi's demands in the name of keeping the peace in the house? And what use is that peace, when everyone is forced to live in a way that suppresses them and keeps them from living fully and freely, haq se?
Anyway, to sum it all up: Kunal, #NoUterusNoOpinion. I don't make the rules.
Edited by journalgirl321 - 4 years ago
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