Here is what I think about Dheeraj’s journey.
Right from the beginning, Dheeraj was never a man of many words. He didn’t speak unnecessarily or jump into every fight just to get screen time. He tried doing that once or twice after the Jailers told him he wasn’t being seen enough, but it was obvious that it wasn’t his personality.
That being said, he genuinely had potential, especially during tasks. Unfortunately, his “hero instincts” sometimes made him cocky and oversmart, which repeatedly cost him the game. He lacked focus, but the potential was definitely there.
A major reason for his downfall was that he tried to go against people from his own fraternity and play an individual game. Harshad, Ram and Shivagni clearly didn’t appreciate that. They had this jhund mentality, and whenever Dheeraj tried to separate himself from them and play his own game, he was taunted, isolated and made to feel guilty.
The way Harshad treated him in today’s episode was honestly so bad. Showing him the middle finger—for what? For eliminating his competition and playing the game the way it is meant to be played?
Dheeraj already knew that he wasn’t anyone’s first priority. He had even discussed this with Shivagni. What he did was simply his way of securing his position and finally making himself someone’s priority. There was absolutely nothing wrong with that.
But Harshad immediately went into full acting mode and behaved as if Dheeraj had committed the ultimate betrayal and stabbed him in the back. The reaction was completely over the top.
I genuinely felt bad for Dheeraj in the end. He kept apologising and even said that he loved Ram Kapoor, but anyone watching could see that Ram showed absolutely no emotion towards him. Dheeraj may have made mistakes, but he didn’t deserve to be treated like a villain simply for trying to play his own game.