Friends, yesterday's episode has left me wondering what is going on in four areas. I wonder if you all feel the same annd what your thoughts are. Do please share your thoughts with me on these four issues:
1. Jodha's plan and then its execution
Big words were said by Jodha to Moti on her smart plan to handle this Mahamanga issue. I was as usual perplexed that this Jodha constantly needs this Moti as her sounding board, but nevertheless, I was for a moment taken by surprise at the sudden smartness of Jodha in explaining her plan. She decided she would not immmediately rush to Jalal with the information that Rahim had given because:
a. Jalal would anyway give maximum credence only to Maham (on account of his unquestioning loyalties)
b. The word of a child is shaky ground and should not be used as final proof of someone's culpability
c. Maham is too shrewd an operator and therefore one must proceed cautiously in nailing her with as much concrete evidence to hand as possible.
a. Jodha "summons" Maham to the kitchen via Moti (which already perks up Maham's ears that something is afoot and different, that needs watching).
b. In the kitchen she deliberately (and rather amateurishly) let's slip the words "kesar" and "dature ka ark" albeit with some humming and hawing (but Maham has by now sensed the direction of Jodha's progress!)
c. She then suddenly turns round and says "You are the mixing expert - and you were behind the miscarriage-kesar-mixing saga, were you not?" (how awfully clever of Jodha is that?)
a. She started by taking blame on herself for the miscarriage saga (before Jodha could even marshal her opening arguments)
b. She cleverly took moral responsibility for not being careful in her supervision and checking of materials reaching the palace (she did not take responsibility for the mixing of the ark!)
c. She suggested to Jalal that everything she ever did was always at the behest of her superiors (the Shahenshah and Begums) of the palace, and thus even her admission of guilt was at the behest of Jodha (whose as yet unvoiced accusation of her was shown up as another instance requiring display of her loyalties as a dutiful baandhi).
2. Jalal dependency on Ruq
Okay, now let's go to the other continuing instance of character-butchery. Jalal too initially surprised me yesterday by his oh-so-dignified response to Bharmal's fatherly advice. He started out with such a sober, in-control and "thinking" expression on his face, that I was almost beginning to believe that finally his character is changing for the better. I started belieiving that finally the Creatives were making him rely on his own brains for the next steps, and I thought I could almost hear his brain beginning to go tick-tock ... but, alas, his thoughtful expression had me totally fooled. He was merely, it seems, pensive, but certainly not yet a thinking man! For what does he do in the precap? After hugging the hiccupping-and-sobbing Mahamanga and falling for her crocodile tears, and after giving Jodha a baleful but mute stare, the precap shows him back to conferring with his by-far-brainier adviser Ruqaiya and telling her in a plaintiveand childish whining voice "Jodha is blaming Mahamanga without proof!", to which he then needs Ruqaiya to tell him "But Jodha is no bewakoof and must be having some solid reasons for doing so!" (Oh, for God's sake!)
(Here I think I have to allow for the precap and the segment shown in SBS to take place today in a particular sequence. Yesterday's episode ended with Jalal staring at Jodha and hugging Mahamanga, but perhaps today's episode will open with Jodha pressing her case against Mahamanga using Rahim's testimony as further emphasis, only to find Rahim unable to open his mouth in fright as Jalal looks on at him with his eagle eyes! The SBS segment further shows Jalal shouting at Jodha and almost advancing menacingly towards her, at which Maham then calms Jalal down. I expect after this altercation ends, the precap scene will happen when Jalal tells Ruqaiya about his frustrations regarding Jodha accusing Maham, and Ruqaiya asks him to start thinking why Jodha may be doing what she is doing.)
Okay, in all this I have one major irritation already after just seeing the precap: When is this "prince among princes" ever going to use his independent brains, and why does he run to Ruqaiya every time for clarity? When, oh when, are the creatives going to make Jalal someone I can respect? Nothwithstanding Bharmal and Shahabuddin's advice, there he goes again assuming Jodha to be in the wrong when he has not even given all of the issue a good hard think-through using all of his intellect, his heart and any principles of judgement.
I am tired of this Jalal. I desperately want to see a hero who can think on his own, take initiative on his own, make sure and smart judgements and decisions, and handle events with the aplomb of a man who has the future Akbar in him. The precap looks like he is nowhere there yet, and even through this one miscarriage saga I have seen such slow evolution in him that I am close to despair. Why does Ekta make her heroes and heroines look like fools strung around by the villains like puppets. And why do these heroes and heroines need these secondary characters (like Moti, Ruq etc) to even make them aware of what to do next? Why do they need to shown as weak and dependent? Why, why, why?
I thought it was a good scene between Bharmal and Jalal, especially the part where Bharmal tells Jalal that the blunder he has made may go down in history as a black mark against him (and Jodha) unless he can now do some "big nyaya act" that erases his blunder from public memory and the history books. My simple and nave question is this:
Will Jalal aim to bring this "big nyaya act" into play in this miscarriage saga itself, or is it just general advice he may carry in his pocket for the future? If Jalal can end this miscarriage issue with one big and historic example of sagaciousness, it would redeem his character a good deal for me. If however (as we all expect) this miscarriage issue ends with a tame whimper and Maham goes scot-free and Jalal looks inconclusive, I know I have to wait for the day when the "big nyaya act" may come. Maybe 450 epsiodes later? Wow, by then I will have grandchildren!
Okay, the million-dollar question again: Will Maham get exposed? If not, will she at least get tamed by this close skirmish with getting caught? Or will she emerge smarter than before determined to cover her tracks better next time? In other words, will Ekta continue to make the villains look like bigger and bigger heroes and the heros look like bigger and bigger idiots? No, don't tell me ... I think I know the answer to that!
As for when this story of the miscarriage will end, it looks like it may end by this week, and everyone expects the tiger/cheetah is for next week. But so far not a single spoiler pic of the tiger episode shooting has come to light. So I am not sure what to think? Next week is it tiger or no tiger (err... cheetah?!).
Yesterday Shyamala was saying it looks stupid to show that Jodha would go for shikar with Jalal (something she is already shown as hating!) whereupon the tiger would go for Jodha, Jalal would go for the tiger, and Jodha would go for Jalal's wounds with TLC! But the original spoiler on this Forum said Jalal, Jodha and Hamida would venture on a dargah visit via a jungle where the tiger story would unfold. The latter option looks more likely, but till now we have no promos, spoilers or pics that such dargah visit/jungle trek/tiger shooting is happening, so what is our fate for next week?
Ghum Hai Kisikey Pyaar Meiin
