Originally posted by: sashashyam
Folks,
So here we go again! First of all, a very warm welcome 🤗 to all my old-young friends from the good old days of 2013-2014 in the Jodha Akbar forum. I have been missing so many of you for so long that it feels wonderful to have the prospect of our regrouping after well over 2 years. I do hope that you feel the same too!
I also hope that many new friends will join us as we go down this new road, smooth stretches, bumps and all, and that together, we will have a lot of good, harmless fun. To ensure which, please join me, all of you, in observing just Two Commandments.
One. Thou shalt not complain about the historical accuracy of the script of Chandra Nandini.
This is purely in the interests of our collective health. Once we go down the road of checking and comparing notes with the works of real historians, not to speak of our very own Abhay (history_geek) who will surely make an appearance here even before Chandragupta does, the effects on our BP are bound to be anything but good!😉 Even I, with chronically low BP, would prefer to take protective measures and turn my back on history for the present.
To be avoided even more firmly would be any comparisons with the classic 1990 TV serial Chanakya of Chandraprakash Dwivedi, a dense treatise on the politico-strategic techniques of empire-building which is literally the last word on the origins of the Mauryan empire as depicted onscreen.
Two. Thou shalt not hark back to the days of Jodha Akbar.
To wit, no cracks about Chandraprakat, young Sandhya, and none about Mother India's sage pronouncements, Alakh you imp!😉 Stuff cotton wool in your ears, kids, like Ulysses did with his sailors to block out the song of the Sirens. Abhi se aap aise shuru ho jaaogi, to phir to chal chuki Chandra Nandini!😉
OK, having got all that out of the way, let me explain the title for this post. The episode was an eye-opener in more ways than one. I shall try and list them, and do see if I have missed out on any.
- Chandragupta is now firmly and unquestionably royal by birth. I have no idea where this Peeplivan is supposed to be, but clearly this Chandragupta's dynasty is not named after his mother Mura but, in the most boring and standard manner possible, after his father.
Which is a big let down for feminists like me, who were till now rejoicing in the conviction that the greatest empire that India has ever known was named after a woman. 😭
I also had a distinct hankering for the common man, or boy, becoming an emperor saga, and now that too is gone with the wind, alas!
-After trying hard to take in the absolute riot of colours in the sets, whether of Peeplivan or of Magadha, hamari to aankhein phati ki phati hi reh gayin! If the art director of Chandra Nandini is a bhakt of Sanjay Leela Bhansali, it is of the SLB of the 2002 Devdas, not of the 2016 version😉, who created the elegantly muted hues of Bajirao Mastani.
- The CVs also have a penchant, it would seem, for French farces. Whence a queen of Magadha who has a very open (literally, as anyone seems to be able to walk into her private apartments at night, as Suryagupta does😉) affair with a naavik* named Nand for over a decade (a matter of simple arithmetic, seeing that she has produced nine boys with him and foisted them off on that incredibly dense spouse of hers). It reminded me of Guy de Maupassant's more ribald stories.
And the bit where that Nand was playing at Peeping Tom reminded me of a bit from Girish Karnad's Utsav, with Amjad Khan's Vatsyayana engaged in a similar pursuit, but for strictly academic reasons connected with the compilation of the work for which he is famous. No prizes for guessing which one!
One question, however, how on earth does that menial, which is what he clearly is, catch a glimpse of Queen Mura, who is coming to Pataliputra for the first time, and become besotted with her?
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* I could not make that word out at all, and would appreciate a clarification. A naavik would be a boatman, but there was no boat to be seen anywhere, so that seems dubious. What a determinedly thuggish looking character he is, reminding one of nothing so much as a butcher!
And in such an attenuated costume as well, which nonetheless does no suffer any wardrobe malfunction, even after all that rolling about on the royal bed. Organisers of contemporary fashion shows could get a tip or two from him.😉😉
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- Since Avantika's boyfriend will now presumably dispose of both Suryagupta and the benighted Shishunaag, take over Magadha and found the Nand dynasty, the famous Nine Nandas are thus all a priori illegitimate. It remains to be seen if Dhananand is one of these Nine Nandas or is the boyfriend himself. I would think the former is more likely.
- Since Avantika makes no mention of a daughter, Nandini is very likely a post-takeover product, and thus firmly legit. Good for her!
- Oh, yes, I almost forgot. We had weather control weapons against the first 4th century BC invaders, it seems. An icy storm is whipped up the moment the first horsemen of the invading army are forced by their leader to set foot in Bharatvarsha.
But this leader chap is no Alexander. In fact he seems to be like modern American tourists, who cannot move a foot in strange places without a tourist guide.😉 So he turns back the minute his patriotic guide refuses to allow the soil of his native land to be soiled by the impious footsteps of a foreign invader. Alas, the likes of Ambhi of Takshashila are waiting in the wings!
OK, folks, this is it for today. Now my usual request. I do not know how many of you will read this, and if you do, will like it. If you do both, please do not forget to hit the Like button. I need to know who my regular readers are going to be.
As demanded by some young friends, I plan to try and do episode analyses as regularly as I can manage, my rheumatoid arthritis permitting, but it will be tougher for me, physically, that it used to be in three years ago. So, I need to have a sufficiently strong base of readers to ginger me up to make the effort. So do remember the Like button, won't you?
Kal phir milte hain. Till then, take care.
Shyamala/Aunty/Akka/Di
Veer Hanuman
Anupamaa
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
