We
cut to Mallika having what appears to be a business dinner with some new music
business types. They are being very accommodating and are trying very hard to
get her to agree to do an album of songs they've written. Things seem to be
going smoothly, until Mallika notices that Rahul has sauntered over to their
table. Mallika happily welcomes him, and introduces the others to him. Rahul
ignores them, and instead focuses completely on Mallika. He tells her that he
once heard when a woman rises from her place, she becomes a goddess. When she
falls from it, she becomes the epitome of evil. He never believed that saying,
until he saw it for himself. Mallika stands up and squares off with Rahul,
saying that she's done nothing wrong to him. He interrupts her with the
screenshot on the right.
Rahul leads Mallika through a history lesson. He reminds her that he found
her doing small stage shows for small audiences. She would never have achieved
her stardom had he not intervened and promoted her. He goes into fairly vivid
detail about where he thinks she'd be today if he hadn't helped. Once he's
covered the laundry list of favors he's done for her, he mentions that her one
little comment in an interview has caused Rashmi to abandon him forever. He says
that any ties he had with Mallika are now completely severed, and he never wants
to see her again. He storms out of the restaurant, leaving a rather speechless
crowd staring at an extremely upset Mallika.
We
cut to Mallika's house, where she's replaying some of what Rahul said to her in
her mind. After reaching the part about her moral standards, she starts pounding
the booze. After several glasses, a hand finally comes down and stops her.
Jaidev is looming over her as she sits on the steps, and asks her to stop.
Mallika bristles at his actions, and asks him just who does he think he is to
tell her what she can and cannot do? She tells him and Liza to get out of her
house, but then she staggers around the room and tells them about what happened
tonight. She points out that it is true, Rahul did help her to succeed. However, he
wouldn't have been so successful without her bringing in the cash. She then
repeats at length about how he insulted her, and even goes so far as to pound
her head against one of her portraits. Jaidev stops her from hurting herself,
and holds her as she sobs.
Over
at Rahul's place, Rahul stands alone on his balcony overlooking the pool. He
quietly sheds a few tears until Manmo and Chandan come to see him. Manmo offers
some sage wisdom - "Tears don't look good in a man's eyes. The ones who don't
have the strength and guts to handle this pain, they don't have a right to
love." He tells Rahul that this is a test of love, and he's got to pass it if he
wants to be victorious. Rahul tells him that it isn't that simple. Rashmi thinks
he's scum, and won't let him explain. Chandan tries to comfort him by saying
that he's sure once Rashmi understands the situation, then she will forgive him,
but Rahul just wanders off, lamenting his poor, poor miserable self.
We
cut over to Rashmi's house the next day. She's got some visitors - Manmo and
Chandan. They say that they aren't there to vindicate Rahul, but that's
essentially all they talk about. Manmo says that love must be built upon faith,
and suspicion has a way of eroding that foundation. They tell her that yes,
Rahul has had relationships in the past, but he's totally in love with her now.
They've never seen him in such a state, and they've known him forever. All they
ask of her is one meeting with Rahul, so she can see for herself how he is
taking this separation. That should wipe clean any doubts she has left.
Sanjeev hears the tail end of this plea, and says that sometimes peoples'
perceptions can be wrong, and that he thinks she should go and indulge them this
time. Manmo and Chandan exchange looks of "all right!" The score builds to an
optimistic pitch, then gets cut off prematurely (again).
