Posted:
WEDDING
Loved how Jalal remembered his promise to his Begum!
I also loved how affectionately he looked at the tearful Sukanya through the drapes of her palanquin
'You're wedded now Sukanya...' he tells her after the storm he'd just raised with the Dawalgarhs 'After the wedding, the bride and groom are gifted with presentations' he turns to Wajinder 'Wajinder Sahib, I grant you your father's life as your wedding gift!'
He turns back to the princess 'Sukanya, I gift you Ratanpur's fortress as a gift with the promise that Ratanpur and Dawalgarh shall both be safe'
In less than a second, Jodha wipes a tear of happiness - she can't believe her ears!
'I only wanted to remind them who they were talking to...' Jalal continues explaining to Sukanya 'Gifts are never demanded or extracted...they're something that's given with a true mind...so, I give you this fort with my earnest intentions'
Handing over the official document, he then looks away in subtle pride - aware that his Begum was watching him!
[Neither did he bow to Jodha's emotions...
Nor did he bow to the Dawalgarh King's threats...
Neither did he walk away from the wedding when they asked him for the fort...
Nor did he cheat them out of it!
He taught the King a lesson and YET made assurances for Sukanya's safety and well-being by gifting the fortress back to her!
I don't know if the CVs could have handled it any better than this!👏]
JA-JO
When the angelically looking pink Jodha comes forth to question him in his chamber - on this sudden U-turn behaviour of his - Jalal smiles away. Firstly, because her list of questions never ended and secondly, because he knew what she was going to ask!
He then explains 'Firstly, if I had given in to their demands and handed over the fort, it would have signified a political defeat for me...and I can't tolerate defeat'
'Secondly, I will not give to anyone anything that they don't deserve or haven't worked for... whether its land, forts, wealth or even love!'
Jodha was puzzled 'If you've worked so hard for it, why did you give it away to Sukanya...I didn't think it mattered to you what people thought!'
'I gave it away for the sake of relationships...the relationship I have with this family...with you...I don't want people to think that I can't return respect with respect!'
Jodha couldn't help but break out into the slightest slightest hint of a smile here!
[If you blink, you'd miss it though!😛]
The memories he enjoyed in that fort were definitely sweet 'The horizon you see from here, one day you'd own all of it' his father had told him as father and son had stood on that fort.
However, now he owned far beyond those horizons and that's why that fort didn't really hold the same importance to him.
'Besides, I gifted it not to an Ameri princess, but to the sister of my Sultanat's Begum' he clarifies.
Embarassed, Jodha falters in her spot for a few minutes and then walks off
'However, I still don't understand why anything you say or do makes any difference to me' he tells himself watching her walk off
TENT - STORMY NIGHT
She looked lovely glossing her lips and then removing her jewellery as she was about to rest in that tent during that stormy weather.
Wrapped in an oversized fur coat (like King Richard) Jalal walks in and gets lost in her beauty - something that she is aware of too! While a slightly awkward Jodha and a mesmerized Jalal gaze at each other for a few seconds, he slowly walks towards her and sits beside her on the bed. He inches closer and closer to her as her shawls and veils batter against her body in response to the tempestuous winds. His bronze locks flying away - he looks nothing less than divine as his face comes close to hers - only for her to realize that he was doing so to pull down the drapes between them
'You'd forgotten to lower the drapes Jodha Begum' he reminds her [Signifies greater sense of comfort, Jo?😛]
Soon after, she swiftly slips down on her pillow and dozes off
[For all those who were complaining about the lack of sleeping arrangements, we get to see one today and even greater we get flashbacks of Ganghaur yayyy!!!😃]
While she's trying to sleep, he stands back and watches her - a smile on his lips that had not a single tone of mischief in it. Instead, his expressions were tender and gentle. He observes her placid sleeping form and that reminded him of his first sighting of her- the first time he'd seen her at Ganghaur.
Thereafter walking by to sit on his side of the bed - beside her, he notices how her long tresses kept flying over her face and troubling her. Unable to help himself, Jalal breaks out into a smile. She was adorable indeed. Watching the rebellious locks wreak havoc on his Begum's sleep, Jalal then wonders if he should help her out. Though initially hesitant, he tries moving across a lock of her hair and in tell-tale TV serial fashion, his palm gets trapped under her cheek just as she turns around.
What followed was a bit of a disappointment in three areas -
Jodha was in the tent only because she wanted to keep HB's maan. Strutting out of the tent without listening to Jalal and that too in the cold only made matters worse for her, for HB and for her Maan!
The editing following Jalal walking off from angry Jodha and returning to her left a lot to be desired! I didn't know whether he was walking off or returning😆
MA laughing about Jodha-Jalal-Ruq and then hinting about all of it to Ak made little sense! I am aware that Harem ladies were very very concerned about their Shehenshah's nightly activities, but MA's scene wasn't well executed😕.
I realize there were only purdahs then, but Mothi and Resham randomly walking in and out of Shehenshah's tent was funny too!
BODY-WARMTH😆 as the forum has nicknamed it
A DDLJ scene parallel, is it? Proper filmy stuff this...😛 I'm quietly confident Jalal hasn't done anything and is only teasing her. Rajat's expressions in the precap were to die for! 😆
Though I don't know what to say of this strange only-husband-can-treat-wife solution which I've seen nowhere apart from our Indian cinema/TV😆, I must say that the tenderness he depicted on his face when caressing her forehead was swoon-worthy!😳
I shall reserve my comments about this special method of 'body-warming' till I watch the episode tomorrow...till then, I am very very impressed about the first half of the episode - right up to the Ghanghaur flash backs!😃
Udne Ki Aasha
40