Ekta's Emperor Jalaluddin Mohammed: an assessment - Page 19

Beautifully written...thanks for this lovely post ! it was a pleasure to read...👏

Originally posted by: sashashyam

Now what was that about, you mischiefmakers?

Shyamala Aunty

awesome post 👏 👏 👏

Originally posted by: ASRaddictKKG

Loved you post! Maybe you could tell your thoughts about Jodha too!

Thank you so very much, my dear.

Yes, Tamy, that was a case of perfect casting. I wonder if she would have made it if he had not been there. Some producers and directors do not go ahead unless they have the perfect cast, whereas some are ready to make do with what is available. For Gulzar's superb (but commercially unsuccessful, I never could make out why!) Meera, he actually thought of Amitabh Bachchan for her husband the Rana before settling for Vinod Khanna, Now Amitabh has tremendous screen presence, acting abilities, and a deep baritone, but he would not have looked a Rajput king anything like as convincingly as Vinod Khanna did eventually.

As for Paridhi, I too think now that she is the perfect choice for Jodha.But I have very serious reservations about Jodha as a character,especially as a 16th century Rajput princess, yes, but also otherwise., I do not like rude, self-righteous, self-centred, moralistic women. Nor do I Iike men who put up with any amount of public impertinence from such women and still moon after them.

In this respect, the Jalal-Jodha relationship till recently was much like that Arjun and Purvi in Pavitra Rishta. the only other Ekta serial I have watched. One dominates, lectures, exploits and is always right. The other runs after her with inexplicable gratitude for the lectures!

And I do not have much hope, even after Jodha "realises" her feelings, such as they are, for Jalal, that this is going to become an intelligent love story between 2 equals of the kind I had wanted. There is too much glorification of the female lead here, and the CVs' idea of passion seems to be confined to hamaam scenes!

Shyamala Aunty

Originally posted by: tamy267

Beautifully written...thanks for this lovely post ! it was a pleasure to read...👏

I always say no one can play Jalal as perfect as Rajat..it is my point of view...he not only is playing the character but literally living it...breathing the life into it...same goes to Paridhi.❤️

Kudos to Ekta and team for such top notch casting...and yes Jalal is only 20 in this show..how could u show a elder actor playing the role convincingly ? doesn't make sense...like Ekta said once she wanted a young actor who is mature in his acting...she got it in Rajat.

Thank you, my dear. I am astonished at the punarjanam of this old piece, and even more so at the fresh round of applause it is garnering!

Shyamala B.Cowsik

Originally posted by: sreev12

awesome post 👏 👏 👏

My dears,

Thank you so much, and I could, and I would do it just for the two of you!

But the problem, as I wrote to Tamy above (please take a look at that response) is that while I have come round to feeling that Paridhi is perfectly cast as Jodha, I have very serious reservations about Jodha as a character, and I would feel the same even if she was a contemporary character.

She is exactly like an standard issue Ekta heroine, who is built up and praised and hyped to excess by the script, and her glaring failings are religiously glossed over. If only the script would acknowledge her flaws, that would be so much better, and I would welcome her as a complex, interesting, grey character. But no, she HAS to be flawless, and coated with Apex Ultima, like the house in the Asian Paints ad!

It is not that I am a Rajat/Jalal fan, I am too old to be anyone's fan, but I like both Jalal as a character, with all his flaws, and Rajat as an actor very much. I cannot say the same for Jodha. I try very hard to be fair to her; for example, in my Heartbreak ++ post, I wrote that her pushing Jalal was natural and should not be criticised. But overall, I do not like her character.

So if I wrote an honest assessment of her as a character and of Paridhi playing her, I would have to say that the poor girl was struggling (wo)manfully with a poorly written character. And then even you, my dears, would not like It. So what is the point of my wasting my time and yours? Would you not agree?

Shyamala Aunty

Originally posted by: vkalu

Exactly what I was thinking

Oh, I had gone far into your posts but it seems I missed this one!!

He will, my dear, he will take the big screen by storm. Let us possess our souls in patience!

Shyamala Aunty

Originally posted by: Mallika-E-Bhais

Oh, I had gone far into your posts but it seems I missed this one!!

BRILLIANT stuff, aunty. And every word, gold truth.

Rajat as Jalal is BEYOND PERFECT. The best I can say is- He IS Jalal. And breathes Life into every line, gesture, expression and micro-gesture of his.

Just as you have with this post. 😳One of my favourites of yours.

P.S. I suspect Rajat has taken a lot of shine to playing ( and as I see it) BEING Jalal!

It seems to come from him. The highest compliment in my opinion, for any actor. 👏

He is an actor far, far, far beyond his chronological age & a finely matured one too. I cannot WAIT to see him take the movie screen as a TSUNAMI! ⭐️

Preferably, in a sensitive love story by Vikramaditya Motwane or a Sanjay Leela Bansali! ❤️

Aunty, how strange that you should mention Vinod Khanna . He was more than perfect in that role .Whenever I think of Meerabai , I simultaneously think of Vinod Khanna as the Rana .
.As for Jalal n Jodha , Have you read Alex Rutherford's "Emperor of the World ". ?Their take on this relationship is diametrically opposite to the traditional JA love story . And needless to say ,loved your analysis .