Chandra Nandini 29-30: Samhaar! - Page 13

Originally posted by: sashashyam

End game:

Chandragupta has finally, after a very hard fought struggle, managed to get the better of the gigantic Malayaketu.

Earlier, they had seemed more or less evenly matched. Even after he has been unhorsed, Malayaketu manages to trip up Chandra - who descends from his horse for a reason which I at least failed to grasp! - with a circular sweep of his leg. In the next round, each kicks the other flat on his back.

But Chandra comes to his feet with the swift athletic move of a trained gymnast, drums on his chest and roars, exactly like, if I could be permitted a most anachronistic comparison, Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle. It is a scary sight.

Perhaps in tune with that ferocious mood - wanting to wreak bare-handed vengeance on his foe - he discards his sword and rushes at Malayaketu. The impact when they collide is like two mountains crashing into each other. When they then headbutt each other repeatedly, and blood trickles down their foreheads, it is as if this is the preparation for a blood sacrifice. But by whom and of whom?

The answer comes almost immediately, as Chandra, who bares his teeth in a vulpine snarl, is picked up and tossed to the ground by Malayaketu. But before his enemy can move to the kill, Chandra somersaults in a full circle, with a lithe grace that owes nothing to VFX, and kicks Malayaketu backwards. He then grabs his opponent, heaves his huge body up, literally over his own head, roars again like the predator he is at that moment, and dumps it on the ground with a resounding thud. End of Malayaketu.

Successful ruse: Chandra, however, is not even looking at his enemy sprawled helplessly on the ground. He is looking across at Padmanand, safely ensconced behind rows and rows of infantry, at the very centre of the Magadha vyuh. Chanakya's astute advice echoes in his mind as he waits. Waits for what he knows will come.

And come it does. For Padmanand, wild with fear for Malayaketu as Chandra makes as if to spear him with two swords in a double blow, leaves his zone of safety, and rushes out to take Chandra on and save his would be jamaata.

Chandra looks up at the sound of Padmanand's scream Naaa...iii!!, his eyes alight with anticipation.

Up on the hill, Chanakya smiles.

Chandra's eyes begin to crinkle and gleam, his mouth widens in a smile of pure gratification. His head nods from side to side in delight: his guru's ploy has paid off! He tosses his head back, and opens his mouth wide in a savage, leonine roar.

It was a wonderful little sequence of fast changing expressions, of the kind that very few but Rajat can pull off.

Amazing agility: What follows is one instance where VFX is used to create a sequence that might, just might have been physically possible given enough agility on the one hand, and perfect co-ordination on the other.

As his soldiers position themselves, one after the other, at intervals, their shields held horizontally aloft, Chandra, running across the battlefield to gain momentum, leaps on to the first shield, and then leapfrogs from one to the other till he is just above the level of the galloping Padmanand. Who is so bemused and taken aback by this sudden apparition that he does not even think of reacting till he is knocked off his black charger. Lovely stuff.

The timing of vengeance: He beats back a rush by Nand's sons with the same, brutally effective circular sweep of his sword. As Padmanand shouts to his sons to safeguard Nandini, there comes another classic snippet.

Chandra looks across at Nandini, now struggling in the hold of her brothers, and his gaze rests on her for a long, long moment. One can practically see his earlier promise to her flashing across his mind: Tumhara dand hoga ki tum swayam, apni aankhon se, apne pita, apne bhaiyon ka vadh hote dekhogi.. Main unke pran tumhari aankhon ke saamne loonga!

His eyes narrow down to mere slits as he looks in the other direction, at Padmanand who is still nursing his bleeding arm. As they square off once more, Chandra sends the heavy Padmanand reeling with a kick, slashes at him, and twists his sword to the ground. Next his trademark swivelling jump, a twist in mid-air, and he brings Padmanand down with a strong, clockwise swipe of his sword.

As his enemy lies supine on the ground, his eyes for once full of fear, as Nandini screams and struggles with her brothers who hold her fast (and carefully avoid doing anything to help their father!), Chandragupta Maurya raises both his arms high above his head, his sword firm in their grasp. His muscles tense under the strain as he leans back farther and father. His eyes looks almost insane with fury and bloodlust as he lets out a full throated roar: Yaaa... iii... aaa!!!

The samhaar, the total destruction of evil that is the recurrent motif in our puranas, which do not believe in namby pamby half measures, is but a millisecond away.

Folks,

For those wondering why I have split off the last part of the nirnaayak yudh for Magadha , and also why I have gone into the action in such detail, there are two reasons for it.

One, after rewatching the episode long battle, I realised that my first, hasty conclusion, that the first battle was better than this one, was wrong.

Aerial views: This one was larger in scale, and has been shot more imaginatively with overhead shots used for the first time. Not just for individual encounters, but most effectively while showing the first wave of Chandra's army rushing, in spearhead formation, at the massed ranks of the enemy. The shot of them surging in from the right, hitting the wall of the enemy formation and plunging into it, was the most striking battlefield shot I have seen so far in Indian TV.

Unique catalyst: The other plus point was the unmistakable fusion, in Chandra's psyche and in the mind of the viewer, of the maa element and the maathrubhoomi element. A merging that is mirrored in the two tilaks he gets - the maathi ka tilak that he applies himself, and the rakta tilak that his mother applies to his name.

The two elements combine to form the potent catalyst that drives Chandragupta to unprecedented heights of courage, daring, and derring do on the battlefield. He has always been a superb fighter, but here he is like a man possessed, thirsting to wreak a vengeance that is both patriotic and personal, and thus far more ferocious and reckless than ever before. A matchless, unbeatable warrior, against whom no one and nothing can stand.

Gone now is any hint of self-doubt, of the fear about proving himself. The only mantra that echoes thru his psyche is: Is baar main yudh ladoonga aur jeetoonga, kyonki is baar yudh ladega CHANDRAGUPTA MAURYA!!

He is like a one man army, here, there and everywhere, scything his way thru the enemy ranks like the Grim Reaper. No wonder that Chanakya's assistant exclaims in awe: Acharya, Chandragupta ki is yuddh mein ek adbhut shaili hai, ek adbhut oorja!

Rajat brings this juggernaut of a warrior on to the screen with such skill, such conviction, and so sure a touch that after the first two minutes, one forgets that there is any Rajat Tokas. There is only Chandragupta Maurya. To watch him for these 20 odd minutes is a treat of the highest order. 👏👏👏

Chandra: Show stealer: In all of that marvellous scene, it is Chandra - with his initial dismay at this strange new creature that his old friend seems to have become, his recovering from that and finding a way back to their old, easy relationship, and finally with his affection and protectiveness towards Durdhara - who steals the show.

The indulgent affection with which he watches her open laughter as she plays the cowrie shell game with him.

The wide smile on his face after he has finished reliving their childhood skipping game with her.

The at times wide eyed, at times mock serious, but always amused look on this face as she tells him about her fear of Helena, and then declares that unlike the common run of queens, she will not fight over him with Helena.

The suppressed mischief with which he threatens her that if she does not behave, main use bhej doonga ! (Strongly, if anachronistically reminiscent of Doodh pee lo, nahin to Gabbar Singh aa jaayega!, from Sholay).

Finally, the gentleness with which he pats her head in parting, adding So jao, so jao. And once outside her tent, stands there for a moment with a reminiscent half smile on his face, before Chanakya and the task that awaits him take over once more.

Later, he listens to what she tells Helen about her being har kshetra main mujhse sarva shreshta with calm approval, for he is probably of the same mind, and is also relieved at the absence of catfights between his wives😉. But the special gentleness and affection he has for Durdhura are evident when he takes leave of her, taking pains to reassure her of his early and victorious return, and caressing her cheek in an additional comforting gesture.

Emotional sanctuary:Durdhara, it is clear, will be his oasis, his refuge from the storms that he might face in life. The only one with whom he can be relaxed and, even if only briefly, be free of care. A refuge that he is, tragically, to lose all too soon.

But even in her passing, she will, by awakening in Chandra the need for such an emotional sanctuary, open up a place for her successor in his hriday.

OK, folks, this is it for today. Please do not forget to hit the Like button if you think that is warranted.

See you in two or three days, depending on the developments in the tale.

Shyamala/Aunty/Akka/Di