A deceptively simple episode garnished with various elements to make it more complex.
A rinse repeat episode with the overlaying of Joker as new element. Riddhima is determined to get the property secured at any cost but is stonewalling Vihaan who is persistently trying to know her intentions & motive behind her move. Thus leading to a point where Riddhima’s every attempt to secure her family will be defeated by Vansh, who has no intention of giving Riddhima the power over his family for her own sinister purpose. A Catch-22 situation right there !
Focus !! Focus has been Riddhima’s strength and her weakness. Today her strength was exploited as weakness by Vansh when he managed to thwart Riddhima’s attempts to transfer properties in her name. Instantly, Riddhima jumps to the conclusion that Kabir is behind the scheme. A notion that amuses Vansh greatly but her obsession about Kabir & her fanatical desire to get rid of Kabir at any cost must be halted! THAT was the not primary purpose of why Vihaan chose Riddhima? Riddhima must bring Vansh back, for that to happen, her attention & focus must be shifted to another startling truth.. so the clownery begins.. A trap is set for the trapper!
Knowing that the jester is keeping an eye on her, Riddhima sets a simple trap to catch the culprit in the act.Into the net falls the real Jester,Vansh. A symbolic moment, perhaps but a moment I loved all the same. Joker, a symbol for honesty and wit..Joker, a man who is in front of everyone but still manages to keep his real face hidden from everyone. Joker, a master manipulator who plays mind games on his victims without terrifying them but at the same time without putting them at ease either. He is someone real yet unreal, someone you can see but cannot see, someone you can listen to but cannot hear unless he wants you to. A man who is hidden in plain sight!
True to being a joker, he does not hide behind the veil of lies nor does he reveal exact truth. He scatters truth among words, for Riddhima to pick. When Riddhima says, you are spying on me, Vansh responds to her allegation not by denying it virtuously instead he accepts it and adds on saying that he is spying on whole family!! A stunning revelation that goes unnoticed by Riddhima!! For, why should Vihaan spy on the whole family when his business proposition begins & ends with Riddhima! What is he spying on them for? & very importantly, why is he spying on them for? Unless he is Vansh, what’s the need for Vihaan to spy on family.. Just spying on Kabir would have been enough..but why whole family, if you don’t have a personal stake in it? – Questions that Riddhima ought to be asking but does not!!
So Vansh waits for another curve ball to bounce it back to her.. for it is time for her to move up the scale.. for Vansh to come..
But before that…
A moment carefully orchestrated in the bedroom to cause confusion in Riddhima’s mind again. A moment that brings back memories of another instance, one that happened between her and her Vansh. How does a doppelganger know about it? an intimate & private moment between two people happening within closed confines.. How does “Vihaan” know about it? Vansh sows seeds of confusion in Riddhima’s brain but at the same time he will not make it easy for her to reach him!
The degree of betrayal may vary but the initial pain will be the same although the intensity may differ. Riddhima learns that it was Vansh who had burned the NOC’s.. She is stung by a sense of betrayal at Vihaan’s disloyalty. Imagine the wrath & rage of Vansh then who trusted her with his life. Needless to say, the man is struck between loving her & not trusting her. So he leads her on, alternating between helping her and guiding her towards finding the truth & what she does with the truth when she finds out?
It is a path chosen carefully by Vansh Raisinghania, a road that Riddhima must take, a road that will not be made easy.
It is not time for Kabir anymore, it is time for Vansh !!
