Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Soteli - Episode 11 Review


For those who haven't been watching, Soteli tells a compelling story of remarriage and what can happen when children from another marriage are involved.  As I can't remember the character names, I'll just use their real names.  Haha.  Sabreen Hisbani and Deepak Perwani are a married couple who finally conceived a son later in life, after trying for a while.  Sabreen treats her son as her greatest blessing and, in turn, ends up babying him a lot.  Milkoo is definitely over-protected by his mother, but receives a lot of love from both his mother AND father.  They are a happy, loving family...until one day, Sabreen is diagnosed with final stage cancer and passes away, leaving Deepak to take care of Milkoo alone.  While he does his best to care and love for his son, he finally gives in to his sister and friend's wishes to remarry for the sake of his son.  Enter Ayesha Khan, his new wife and Milkoo's "Soteli" mother.

Ayesha makes Milkoo's life a living hell from day one.  Milkoo goes from being the pampered son to being treated like a servant boy, ignored and unloved.  Of course, all of this happens under the unknowing eyes of his father, as Ayesha has warned Milkoo that if he says anything, she will get back to him.  Milkoo lives in fear and becomes distant from his own father as well, fearing that he has become like his soteli mother as well.  To cope, Milkoo takes to writing letters to his dead mother, hoping one day she'll relay all this information to his father and save him.

For as long as we can remember, there have always been stories of "the wicked stepmother."  Soteli takes a page out of that book and not only brings the evil stepmother to life, but also shows the psyche of this woman and the emotional trauma she inflicts on her stepson.

What was really exciting about episode 11 was that the story took a huge turning point.  The show was starting to drag a bit and I was finding it difficult to watch, as each episode consisted of me crying for Milkoo and feeling incredibly depressed.

In this episode, Deepak and Ayesha found out that they are expecting their own child.  Deepak was incredibly happy.  One evening, Ayesha got stuck at her mother's house due to a downpour in the city.  Deepak took this time to reminisce about the time spent with Sabreen and Milkoo, fondly looking at Milkoo's things and missing his son.  It's then that he discovers Milkoo's box of letters, exposing each and every detail of Ayesha's misdeeds.  In shock and fury, Deepak goes over to Ayesha's mother's house and confronts her.  She, of course, denies all the allegations and accuses Milkoo of lying.  Deepak however has figured her out and tells her to wait for divorce papers.

On the drive home, Deepak laments and grieves over his actions, ignoring his son and allowing things to get to this point.

While this was an eye-opening episode, I do fear for what may happen in the next episode.  Deepak is driving and crying in a huge storm - does he pass to leave Milkoo alone once again, never knowing how sorry he was?  This would be a TERRIBLE twist in the tale.

Despite what's to come, I'm back to enjoying this show again.  It strikes a chord on an emotional level and the performances are really good from all involved!

Happy watching!

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