Friends, I am at a loss to give a name to today's episode ... the best I can come up with is that was a total MEDLEY! Little bits of disparate actions took place taking the story forward on four counts (which I have detailed below).
Out of all that happened though, I found the very first scene, the Jodha-Jalal encounter when he was looking at the picture of Prithviraj Chauhan, the most interesting. And I'll explain why when I get to my description of that scene and its "new angle in the Jodha-Jalal relationship", as I saw it. That scene at first looked like simple banter between husband and wife ... and it looked in parts homely and at time also a bit sharpish. But that was not the real difference, there was somethinng more!
So here goes ... this is entirely my eye view of what happened, and if anyone has a different point of view, I'd love it if you can share it with me.
Jalal changed into a "man of sincere compliments" as Jodha made her first "direct apology"
This scene's big point for me was the way Jalal was paying Jodha and the Rajvanshis compliments almost every two or three seconds. Some were small compliments, some bigger ones, some were direct compliments and some were a bit back-handed. Sometimes he complimented using words, and sometimes he complimented by paying deep attention, hearing not just her words but also her feelings. But nevertheless, they were all a series of compliments!
Here's how the scene went (the parts in red to me were the compliments ... look how many there were in all!)
In between we also had the first ever Jodha apology! It was momentous in its own way (marked in blue)!
The scene started with Jalal looking up in awe at the portrait of Prithviraj Chauhan (what delicious irony must have been for Rajat!). He is lost in admiration for it when Jodha enters the room with prasad. He says (albeit with a bit of sarcasm) "This Amer trip seems to have worked miracles on you. You bring lep for my wounds and now food ...". And she corrects him saying: "This is prasad which I also used to get for you in Agra. We are suppposed to share this ...". But still preocuupied with the portrait on the wall, he drinks it all up without registering her words and then justifies it by saying "It tasted good, so I drank it up ..."
She changes tack and says "You've broken a rule today ... the person offering you food has to taste it first. Have yoou got so much trust in me now that you directly take what I offer?" He replies: "This much I know, you will never kill me. Had you wanted to, you had an opportunity when you had those three arrows in your hand at archery. Given your talents you could have pierced my heart and made it look like an accident."
He then adds: "Jodha you Rajvanshi's have three great qualities. First, your military training is excellent. Second, whether jung or rishta you uphold both with integrity. And third, you never do "peet ke peeche war"! And one more thing, you people make beautiful pictures which have so much realism and powerful impact. See this one here ..." And then he launches into a direct and detailed praise of the portrait of Prithviraj Chauhan that gladdens Jodha's ears no end.
She then launches into her own heaped praise on the soldier and king that Prithviraj Chauhan was and how he merits a place in history unrivalled by other kings of the same and even later periods. He compliments her by listening to the whole description in complete detail.
At the end of the story, Jodha overshoots her brief by adding the only sentence today that sounded uncomfortable: "If only there were more such Rajvanshis today we could be safe from the Mughals!" (Notice how even in this sentence, she has tempered down her level of attack... it was less of an attack on the Mughals and more a sentence about Rajvanshi defence.)
But even so, hardly had she said it than she retracted in an instant and said to Jalal "I am sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you. I guess I lost my self in praise of him."
Jalal did not act angry at her words or overplay the acceptance of her apology. In fact, he covered the delicacy of the moment with some famliar tana-maroing that took all the sharp edges off and said: "Even without a bow and arrow, your words hit home every time!" to which she replied "And your words are as crooked as your thoughts". The scene ended with about ten to twelve compliments, one apology and without a trace of ill-will!
The gift exchange ceremony ...
I won't labour this point. The three big things here for me were:
a. Ruq and Salima had thoughtfully sent gifts and good wishes via Mahamanga
b. Mahamanga got her standard white dress from Dadisa which she then burnt in front of Jodha in a tit-for-tat. But even though this scene looked like Maham had evened the score against Jodha triumphantly, the truth of the matter is that Jodha had a genuine angst against marriage to Jalal when she did the joda burning. Whereas Maham seems to have an angst that Jodha had an angst! What other reason did Maham have for burning the clothes but to prove that she too could repay Jodha in kind? This is where Maham seems to win small battles and lose the ultimate war! She had a chance to be a more magnanimous person, and play for the long haul, but she belittled herself to short-term games!
c. Jalal sent that green dress to Jodha. Why he so loves the green dress on Jodha beats me. He seems fixated by it. And it doesn't seem like its just peevishness because Jodha hates green. Or it doesn't sound like he is trying to impose his will on her either as a form of domination. He really seems to love green as a colour and especially on her! Maybe it's the Creatives way of showing how small things that can make one person happy need to factored in by the other person, to make the relationship one of mutual sensitivity. I wonder if a time will come when he will dress to her taste?
Sukanya's sasurji and the dulha seem already at odds
When the sasurji started talking to Sharif and asking for confirmation that an important fort would be given to him in exchange for agreeing with this wedding (which otherwise he would not have agreed to) there was a feeble whimper from his son, the bridegroom, saying "Pitashree!". On that feeble expectation of the bridegroom having some slightly better values than his father, I am hoping Sukanya will have a reasonably happy marriage. The sasurji looks like an ambitious crook, his son looks like he's not yet a crook, while Sharif looks like an out and out crook. He has promised the fort to the sasurji, on the pretext that Jalal is amenable to the idea ... and he and Adham are waiting for the fireworks to fly during the shaadi when Jalal will be hit by the need to offer a fort to this sasurji just to buy peace! Just how low can Adham and Sharif get if their Plan B for Jalal hinges on the avarice of the sasurji? I wouldn't be surprised also if this fort was in fact a piece of dilapidated property that Sharif has again painted to the sasurji in glorious colours! Adham and Sharif are capable of anything!
The Jalal-Pratap gameboard and its highlights
On this scene I have four points to make:
a. I thought this was a game usually played only by the ladies! Lo and behold, the men were at it! I wonder if, when Jalal is playing, Jodha will drop by to add her two bits seeing as she is now a mahir at everything she touches! Or will Pratap & Co deride Jalal for taking the help of a woman?
b. When Jalal entered the room, everyone stood up including Bharmal, but Pratap continued sitting. Seems like a defiant gesture (or else he had cramps!).
c. In typical male behaviour both Pratap and Jalal showed loads of "attitude". What a typically male thing to do! I have never understood why men do it at all, why just staring at the white's of another man's eyes is supposed to be the shorthand for "antagonism". But anyway it was good fun to watch!
d. I am putting my money on Jalal winning tomorrow, since Pratap has been shown as having exhausted a great deal of his "winning streak" already and is ready for the downslide tomorrow in his fortunes ... that is the law of averages! Unless of course we have a referree (Bharmal) who calls a draw to save Sukanya's shaadi from ugly scenes!
Let's hope tomorrow's episode brings us the drunken elephant, the endless eloquence of Pratap, the baiting of jalal by Jodha and the scene where Jalal jumps on the elephant's back by defying gravity! After today's relatively insipid episode, we badly need a paisa-vasool episode!
Udne Ki Aasha
Anupamaa
Cricket
