Naamkaran 4th July 2017 Written Episode Update

aww… nice to see new faces here 🙂 hello guys!
and about the episode, this was too emotional for me! zain and aditi totally hit it out of the park with this one. poor neil, it seems as if all the troubles keep finding their way to him. first avni, then amol, then maddy bua, then this ali’s problem! i like ali too, but just not as much as i love neil. ali is more obsessed with his one-sided love and avni is clearly his priority, but his character doesn’t allow him to think beyond that one little detail, about avni’s thoughts and her feelings. for example when she was sitting quietly at the cafe, ali spent the time in baking a cake and thinking something along the lines of ‘how cool is it that she’s here today! after all those years that i cut the cake on her behalf and wished for her happiness, she’s here with me and i have to make the most of this moment.’ regardless of her mental state and feelings after having such a rough day! and then he proceeded to give his opinion on what he thought she felt about her relationship! at least he was respectful enough to back off when avni strongly put her foot down. and this isn’t the first time he has done something like this or tried to be manipulative with avni. but i loved it when she explained that notwithstanding her marriage to neil, he’s also her friend and she cares about him too.
this brings me to neil, who is by far the best character on indian tv right now and probably ever! the guy literally personifies love and respect! i can totally understand why he can’t figure out his love for avni. it’s solely because it’s in his nature to be loving and trusting towards everyone, and always believes in the small, good part in every person in a very realistic way. of course, his family comes first for him, and the process of him accepting avni as family was so gradual that he cannot understand whether it is seriously romantic love or just mutual platonic care. he has been hurt in love before, and i suspect it must have been very emotionally trying for him, but he still emerged from that low point in his life and came back to normal life for his parents, just because he didn’t want them to suffer with him. but now when he’s being thrown into that whirlpool of emotions again, his previous sad memories might be the ones putting up the resistance to accepting all his feelings, and failing terribly at not falling for his wife! another thing i love about him is although he may not be willing to fall in love, he believes in it. and that is what drives him to be forever respectful of everyone’s wishes and actions. even when he realized avni had broken her promise, he understood her state of mind and never questioned her, instead he stood by her and stopped her from taking the road to jail. in contrast to ali who left avni alone at home because he was angry when he was clearly told to stay with her, neil is the epitome of dependable and understanding. this is also what neela saw in neil to make him perfect for avni. the two of them somehow complement and complete each other.
on that note, i also loved how both of them were trying to convince themselves- neil, on the basis of what he heard ali say, thought she deserved a choice and selflessly let her make that choice, no matter how much it hurt for him to even think of her going away. on the other hand, avni was true to their friendship and accepted that they can never be complete strangers and will always remain as friends, no matter where they are. she was ready to help him out in any need and was sure of his helping hand whenever she might need it too. obviously i, too, am waiting for the cute love story finally that her hate story is completed, but kudos to the show for taking time and exploring this muddy waters area which so many shows are afraid of portraying. i have noticed this in other shows that they introduce a third character only to cause the obvious jealousy track, they introduce the tashan/tadi only to portray it as a form of love later on in the show, or they make the usually loving mother into the evil witch of a mother in law just for plot fodder. but all of these tropes are flipped in this show, which is the best thing about it. ali and avni’s friendship will actually be a real dilemma for her later because she already knows what friendship is and has an example to compare with her relationship and feelings for neil. neil and avni’s tashan/fights have gradually turned into friendly banter, understanding and compromises and finally into willingness to sacrifice for the other. this arc is one of my favorite ones in this show. the final one, shweta has always been a layered character. she doesn’t like avni and even does hateful things to make her run away from her house! but she’s always aware of that thin line between scary mother in law and evil mother in law. i think her little part in consoling bebe was reflective of the not-too-distant future of avni and shweta! shweta’s plus point is that she knows her son all too well but is confident that no matter their differences, neil will never leave her. she may try to do all kinds of things to avni, even though she knows neil will not stand for injustice of any kind, she has a unique bond with neil. she will go to the world’s end and back if he asked her to, and i think her irritation with avni is a mixture of prejudice and hurt that her tillu’s marriage was based on a lie, right off the bat. there is also her need for validation from bebe and that itself goes a long way to explain her character. in essence, this show totally leaves the choice to be together or not on neil and avni themselves. they don’t need to feel pressured because of a sword hanging over their head and neither do they have any excuses to accuse for their choices or for anything bad that comes their way. many people have expressed their dislike at ali being the next villain, but i guess there is a reason why rhea is still not in jail. i don’t think ali can ever hurt avni directly or indirectly, and if avni decides to stay with neil, i’m sure he’ll be hurt and depressed for some time, but that will pass and he’ll be the noble friend who gave up his love for his friend’s happiness. as of now, it’s not realistic to assume anything of the kind because obviously the show could take any route, but based on it’s history of flouting dramaland tropes, i have faith in the cvs at least this once. i just hope the expected ali-rhea or ali-mitali arc doesn’t take away from neil-avni moments and we get to watch their love blossoming clearly.
so i’m bracing myself for the angst and hoping that the show doesn’t disappoint or become draggy, please please cvs! at least for the new naamkaran fandom/group here 😀