Posted:
Well said, Jaishree! (I hope I got that right.)
They have portrayed Jalandhar as a master manipulator who changes his behaviour depending on the situation and who he is dealing with. This fits well with his evilness and the deranged nature that the CVs have given him. And it looks as if Vrinda was hoping for Jalandhar's attention, which is understandable - who wouldn't want their husband to pay attention to them rather than being obsessed with replacing Mahadev/taking over the universe/being evil???
So I think having Jalandhar try to justify why he kidnapped Devi Parvati to Vrinda actually does fit in with his deranged nature - he thinks he can do no wrong, and that he can manipulate Vrinda into believing him! I didn't like his attempted justification but I can understand why they would have him do it, as it did fit with his character. I still wish they hadn't done it, though, because it does send out a horrible message!
The bit that came after that is what I have more of a problem with - Vrinda's reaction! I did not like the fact she she seemingly bought his explanation! She was irritated with the kidnapping at first so I expected her to give Jalandhar another one of her lectures about how he had done a very bad thing! But then she didn't! The CVs themselves introduced her as a strong character - someone who would tell it like it is (and they even gave her a career as a doctor!). She used to give Jalandhar such an earful when she felt he was in the wrong, and I liked the way she had told her father that a woman was not a commodity to be handed out at will when Sarpmani and Jalandhar both wanted to marry her. But then the CVs themselves shut Vrinda up and didn't have her oppose Jalandhar's actions much!
I know she said that she doesn't support his actions, but they could have had her show her vocal opposition much more strongly! Jalandhar wouldn't have listened to her anyway, but at least showing her forcefully oppose his actions would have been much better, in keeping with both the actual mythology and the strong Vrinda character that the CVs introduced in DKDM.
And they have also made it look like Vrinda wants her evil husband to become immortal by conducting a special pooja! I think they could have handled this situation much better!
We know from previous episodes that Vrinda was doing special pooja's for Jalandhar's sake anyway, and that she was now ready to conduct the final set of rituals. I guess she was hoping that if his life was safeguarded then he would stop doing evil things - again, understandable, but I think they should have made this intention of hers really clear to us.
Instead of having it look like she bought Jalandhar's I'm-doing-this-bad-stuff-for-us explanation and was now supporting it with her pooja, I think the CVs should have made Vrinda vocally oppose his actions (like she has done before) and have him get angry with her and leave (rather than seemingly leave with her blessings, which is what they made it sort of look like!). Then they could have had Vrinda doing her pooja anyway, but praying for Jalandhar to gain some sense and stop doing evil things rather than seemingly praying for the evil Jalandhar to become immortal! No matter what she was praying for, Lord Vishnu would have to stop her pooja anyway as it would still have been Jalandhar-related!
(What I'm trying to say is that I can sort of understand the reasoning behind SOME of what the CVs showed us with that scene, but I think the execution could have been different to make their meaning MUCH clearer! Having Vrinda seemingly believe his justification for kidnapping Devi Parvati was just plain disturbing!)
In contrast to the Jalandhar-Vrinda scene, the Parvati-Jalandhar scene was cool - her reply to Jalandhar when he tried to mock her was awesome! Even though she still hadn't regained all her memories and her full powers, Devi Parvati still had her sense of what is right and what is wrong, and the courage to speak up!
I guess perhaps the CVs were trying to show us that you don't need to be Adi Shakti to stand up for yourself - that every girl/woman has the right to stand up for herself and should do so courageously! At least that's the way I'm taking it! Thank you for showing this positive message with that scene, at least! 👏 I know Devi Parvati's and Vrinda's situations are completely different but I do wish they had tried to do this a bit more with Vrinda in that episode as well - being a Pativrata wife does not mean that you can't challenge your husband when he is in the wrong, and I think Vrinda should have been more vocal/forceful than she was. Whatever the case, Vrinda's death will be sad!
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PS. As we have seen time and again in DKDM, the writers/CVs seem to love twisting the mythology, mixing up things, and adding fictional elements when it suits them. Sometimes it has worked well and at others it hasn't (understatement of the year, I know!).
So before the Jalandhar track started, I figured that they would give us their own version of the story but I hoped they wouldn't twist it way too much.
This is strictly my POV - I know there will be people who agree and those who disagree with me, and I respect that. I haven't minded the way they showed us the Jalandhar character or this track for the majority of it, but I do think some things could have been done differently. (I do think all the actors involved have enacted whatever they were asked to very well.)
I didn't mind that they gave Jalandhar a mermaid mum, and tried to show us a psychological journey of why he became evil rather than just having him evil right from the outset. I know that is fictional but I actually found that interesting. But I think once he became evil, they should probably have stuck with him being evil and egoistic, and concentrating on his evil plans, rather than bringing out his abandonment issues and making him look insecure again. I would have preferred it if they had him channel his anger at being abandoned by Shukracharya into doing his evil things. And I did not like the way they had Jalandhar try to justify his evil actions to Vrinda (No one was forcing him to replace Mahadev! If he stopped doing evil things then maybe Mahadev and Devi Parvati wouldn't have to kill him!). Of course Jalandhar was evil so he couldn't suddenly become good here, but I think they should have just had him DO things and not talk about them! As I have already said, Jalandhar trying to justify his actions does fit with his deranged and evil nature, but actually showing this does send out some alarming messages! (We know that its is wrong, but not necessarily everyone will!)
And I don't mind that they added some romance for Jalandhar-Vrinda - the little romantic scene in Friday's episode was actually quite nice in isolation but I felt that its timing was strange. I felt that having it associated with Jalandhar trying to seemingly manipulate Vrinda and justify his kidnapping of Devi Parvati/other misdeeds was not a good thing! I would personally have preferred it if they had all the romance stuff earlier (before he kidnapped Devi Parvati) and then had Vrinda oppose Jalandhar's evil deeds now, without making it look like Jalandhar was romancing Vrinda to manipulate her and that she fell for it (especially as he left her and wouldn't even stay for the pooja)! That may not have been the intention but that is what it came across as (to me at least)!
By trying to have SEVERAL things interlinked and happening all at once (Jalandhar-Vrinda's story, Devi Parvati's amnesia and the revelation of Ashtang Yoga, the deaths of Trishira, Rishi Dadhichi and Vritrasur, the Mahakaaleshwar Jyotriling sotry, etc etc), it looks like the CVs got lost in their own tangled plotlines and made a bit of a mess!
I think they could have separated some of these events, especially ones that weren't actually related anyway (like Trishira's death and the birth of Jalandhar!) and stretched them out a bit. The stories that I have heard of the deaths of Trishira, Rishi Dadhichi and Vritrasur included a strong element of Shakti worship, and I would have liked to see that.
Had they kept some things separate, I feel that they would have been able to concentrate more on the messages that they are giving out.
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