Jodha Akbar 147: Discordant expectations - Page 12

Originally posted by: mandyg

i only talked about quality and jalal's characterization! he himself kept on saying benajeer ka khatam ho jayega even before i asked!

Originally posted by: munnirony

@mandy, as sandhya said we belong to the minority whose wishes doesnt matters. i know u & sum others talked about jalal's characterization, but most of the people who called zee talked only about benz track. & look at the TRPs. if it can get so much TRPS even with these things, PH wont bother about anything else.😭

Originally posted by: mandyg

shyamala, to this day i have not understood how ekta is going to show jodha changing jalal! seriously all she has been doing is being arrogant and standing in front of shahenshah as if she is going to attack him any time..no respect for a husband whatsoever! what all i have heard of rajwanshi wives ekta's jodha does not possess all those qualities..! to change someone for better one has to set forth their own example! and what impression she has given to shahenshah is that she is arrogant and full of anger...! well, that is what we call as the real melodrama ott that brings trps! I do not think she is going to be shown as changing him at all now; that tagline is gone with the wind! I only hope there is something about her changing herself; but any slight indications to that effect are immediately negated, alas! She is still carrying on as if The Shove was the same thing as a pat on the back.

as far as the forum is concerned of not acting much to jodha's behavour and instead bashing jalal left right and center i just fail to understand..for me i do not like bashing the characters left and right because at the end in these daily soaps especially the ones that are stretched like a chewing gum make no sense at all! they all lack logic big time..does not matter how hard we try to be critical or analytical at the end we just make a fool of ourselves by creating so much fret and fury over something that is beyond one's understanding and not close to reality! Agree 100%, whence the advice to the readers at the end of this post.

but hats off to you all beautiful writers who take time to write analysis which is at times more fun to read than to watch the actual episode! Thank you, my dear. At times I feel the same, even about my own posts!

shyamala, this is going to be bit off topic but sort of indirectly connected..did u used to watch pakistani shows of its golden era..i would say around late 80s or even early 90s..now that is what i call quality work..the writers used to write the script in advance, the actors very well knew what to expect and the show used to wrap up in 6 months..they never stretched beyond 6months..and my my those shows were a class apart..no nonsense..close to reality,,full of logic and yet very interesting to watch...i will give u few examples, do watch them if u haven't..dhoop kinare, unkahi, waaris, and so many more...brilliant work of art and actors were extremely talented and very natural, no ott masala...now those are the type of shows worth writing about and respecting..their script was the hero and years were spent on writing the script before starting the show... I too have watched a few Pakistani serials when I was posted in The Hague in the early 2000s, and I really liked most of them. Javed Shaikh was superb at comedy and serious roles alike, and there was a statuesque actress whose name I no longer remember who was also very dignified and very impressive playing a top notch businesswoman. The serials were very well written.Those shows used to be like the old Doordarshan ones, 13 episodes of 52 minutes or more each.

Why only the Pakistani serials? Doordarshan,in the days before commercials decided everything , were superb, and many of their directors went on to become famous in Hindi films.Ramesh Sippy's Buniyaad, Nukkad,Doosra Kewal, Dil Dariya and Fauji with Shahrukh, Kakkaji Kahin with Om Puri, Yeh jo hai Zindagi with Shafi Inamdar and Satish Shah, Mr.Yogi, then the superb Chanakya in the historical genre, Ketan Mehta's Pradhan Mantri and Time Bomb in the thriller genre, the list is endless.

Even as recently as 2010-11, Yashraj TV produced what was arguably the best ever non-historical show on Indian TV, Powder, about the global drug trade. I am a govt insider, and I was blown away by the authenticity of the screenplay. There were 26 episodes of an hour each. Then Kismat, an official adaptation of Kane and Abel, was almost as good, with 64 daily episodes of half an hour each. That was when I discovered the admirable Viraf Patel. There was the frothy, witty and occasionally wicked Rishta.com about a matrimonial agency, and a fantasy called Seven, with superb Sanskrit slokas being chanted. What happened? Powder and Kismat's TRPs never crossed 1.5, and Yashraj shut down their TV outfit after 2011.

Truly is it said that the Indian TV audience gets the products it deserves. The rot really set in with Ekta's 8-10 year long K serials and their non-K successors. How can Jodha Akbar be a major exception to this rule?

Even in the US, the best shows are on the non-commercial PBS which, unfortunately, has to scrounge around for funds from viewers, unlike Doordarshan and its European counterparts, all of which get govt. subsidies.The Sherlock Holmes teleseries with Jeremy Brett run for 52 minutes in an hour long episode in the UK and on American PBS, as do the episodes of a show like Yes Minister. On the commercial US channels like A&E., each episode is cut down to 46 minutes or less.

now if we look at JA..compare the quality of initial episodes and the once that were made after 90 people walked out..the quality has degraded..just because enough research and work was done for the initial episodes and the actors knew what was coming..unlike now when the script is written on the spot and the actors also look lost at times..that is the reason we see discontinuity..closures left undone..half baked scenes at times and major inconsistency in the characters!

and dear this will keep going on as long as the show is stretched..i still miss that era of pakistani shows when u could see quality, good screenplay, adequate pace, logic, and relevant story..only one show that made sense and was close to classic pakistani plays was kismat produced by the yash raj banner..and they did not stretch it..the story was well scripted and finished on time. See, I mentioned that one even before I read this part; it is telepathy!

i guess enough of my ranting for today..i hope i made some sense because i do not have great command over the words and literature like u have..take care dear..looking forward to ur reply😊 I should have done this earlier, but anyhow here I am!

Originally posted by: Sandhya.A

Aunty

This is from your post on epi:31 - my favourite among the episodes and your posts.

Well, folks, if there is one thing any of you would say about me, without any hesitation, it would be that I am never at a loss for words, right? Wrong. Today, after watching Rajat's Shahenshah Jalaluddin Mohammed in full flow, not once, not twice, but four times back to back, I find myself searching for words adequate to describe, judge and appreciate him as he should be appreciated, and praise him as he should be praised .

It was an infinitely subtle, layered, and controlled performance, not only by the actor, but by the character himself. One would say a superbly choreographed and directed drama, except that it was a solo triumph. For the lead actor was all in one: writer, director and performer. The kind of bravura act that deserved any number of curtain calls. It was like a tennis match : serve, volley, retrieval, smash, set point, match point, game and match to the Emperor.

Let us take it from the beginning. It is a given that Jalal wants Jodha, come what may. Why he wants her is not relevant for the moment, merely that he does, and what Jalal wants, Jalal gets. But for that, he has to force her bull-headed, obstinate, and impractical father to agree to their marriage, for Jalal never visualizes anything else, for reasons both his own and those of state. Not being a fool like Bharmal, and having spent his early years with the Rajputs, he knows their psyche, and realizes how tough the going will be, given that this idea will be seen as a grave transgression of the Rajput code of honour, of their aan, baan and shaan.

So what is the way out?The first thing is obviously to give not the slightest inkling that this is what he wants. He does not give any. Next, to box Bharmal into a situation from which there would be only one vikalp (alternative) : the one that leads to this alliance. Jalal does this as well, and it is how he accomplishes this that makes this a true humdinger of an episode, perhaps the best so far.

As a young diplomat, I was taught the art of negotiating, and one of the first lessons was that with a hostile interlocutor, it is vital to keep him off balance and, secondly, that one should never lose one's cool. These rules apply in any age. So Jalal, Bairam Khan's star pupil, plays the game of siyasat by these very rules.

After having brushed aside Bharmal's gauche reference to him as the Sultan of Agra with a throwaway comment about his being the Hindustan ke Shahenshah, he proceeds to disconcert Bharmal by interrupting his litany of complaints and offering him refreshments. He is in fact checking whether Bharmal would be ready to accept food and drink on enemy territory, and when Bharmal dodges the offer, the secret smile on Jalal's face shows that he has got his answer.

It is now time to turn the screws on Bharmal, who is going on and on about yuddh ki sandhi and the need for Sharifuddin to observe those rules and return the Amer princes and other hostages. So Jalal points out, with smooth sarcasm, that as the Mughals have conquered Amer, nothing in it belongs to Bharmal any longer. And he turns to smile at Chugtai Khan.

Bharmal being Bharmal, he walks straight into the trap set for him. A small battle lost, he harrumphs, does not mean that Amer is no longer independent. That does it. Jalal turns to face Bharmal, his eyes, as hard as agates and openly hostile now, widening in disbelief at such ill-timed arrogance. He is on his feet in an instant, as agile as a panther, offering to settle the matter by waging outright war and annexing Amer, and though he never raises his voice, the overt aggression in his manner is like a whiplash.

Bharmal is thus forced to reveal his Achilles heel - that he cannot afford to go to war, for that would mean the total destruction of Amer. He is not afraid of war or of death, he huffs, but he does not want the blood of the brave to flow needlessly.

Jalal's expression, as he mocks Bharmal's dilemma, is a throwback to his terrifying mirthless smiles of old, but it is not quite the same, for he is not quite the same Jalal of old. He motions Bharmal back to his seat and resumes the discussion. Bharmal, by now, has been softened up, and his voice is hesitant and pleading as he seeks a third path, a way out of his dilemma.

When Jalal rules this out, Bharmal, by now desperate, looks at Chughtai Khan for support, and the Khan gets the opening that he, and probably his Shahenshah as well, have been looking for. If one was unsure that this was a carefully choreographed exercise, Jalal's wide smile when the word rishta is pronounced would seem to offer some corroboration, even if not cliching evidence.

What follows is pure, kneejerk stupidity from Bharmal, which is par for the course, and silken, sledgehammer brutality from Jalal. His voice breaking and his throat constricted by helplessness, Bharmal rages that no alliance is possible between him and the Mughals, as Chughtai Khan watches in an agony of apprehension and Jalal sits unmoving, his chin in his hand and his dark eyes veiled and unfathomable.

It is when Bharmal has run out of steam that Jalal finally moves, and how! There is no need for any alliance, he declares as he moves to stand face to face with Bharmal. Hope flickers in Bharmal's eyes, for he has no idea what is to come next.

When it does, the level monotone contrasting with the harshness of the words, one's breath is caught in one's throat in sheer shock. Jab Amer hamara hai, to Amer ki har cheez hamari hai, phir woh chahe uski shehzadi ho ya uski baandi. Aur hum jise chahein apni harem ki shaan bana sakte hain. The lips are drawn back in a smile that is almost a snarl. As the full import of Jalal's words dawns on him, Bharmal's face crumples in helpless dismay.

Chughtai Khan, predictably, moves to fill the breach, seeking permission for a private heart to heart with Bharmal. It is then that Jalal, unconsciously following the dictum of Chanakya, delivers the coup de grace. They had better deal with his representatives, he says, for an emperor can talk only to another emperor, and Bharmal must be now have realized that he is no longer even a king. Nothing more crushing could have been imagined, and as Bharmal looks into his mocking eyes , his heart must have plummeted into his mojvis.

The discussion that follows is a triumph for Chughtai Khan's powers of persuasion; he would have made an excellent diplomat. He uses every argument in the book to convince the by now almost tearful Bharmal that his duty as a king should take precedence over the fears of a father, and that Jodha's marriage to Jalal is the sole way out of total and inevitable disaster for Amer and its citizens.

When the pair trek back into the audience room, Jalal, who has in the interval been listening impassively to his Ministers who oppose this marriage, has changed tack dramatically, for he knows that what he wants is in the bag, and he can now afford to be generous. So he even pulls Bharmal's leg a bit, stopping at Hum ne tay kiya ki Jodha se rishte se inkaar.. and it is proof of how drastically things have changed that Bharmal's face falls visibly at this point. He only recovers when Jalal concludes, grinning like a mischievous schoolboy,' nahin kar sakte. Hum is rishte se razaamand hain.

When Bharmal tries to retrieve some face by asserting that he did this not out of fear but to save Amer and its populace, Jalal shows how subtle and effective a tactician he has become by praising him for being a good king. He goes on to reduce Bharmal almost to tears by restoring Amer to him and assuring him of the freedom of the princes, now to become his relatives.

For us, Jalal's bravura act does not end with Bharmal's departure. Jalal the strategist still has some surprises up his sleeve. The smoothness and plausibility of the (entirely correct) reasons he gives for agreeing to this marriage are such that his disapproving Ministers are not just convinced, but turned into his cheerleaders.

As their praises fill the air, his face is still and inscrutable, but his eyes gleam with some secret triumph. We , the viewers, know, even better than he himself does right now, the reason for that, for we know why he wants what he wants and he does not.

Aunty,

What a fantastic post. How well you have noted and admired every little nuance of the episode and Jalal and deservedly so.

What a character this Jalal was! How clever, smooth, adroit and smart.

And look at the bunch of expletives I used for him today! Feel so bad!

How much the character has been made to fall. CVs...

Miss the old Jalal so much.

Want the old Jalal back...want him back...want him back...(Asking for the moon...am I?😭)

Originally posted by: sunshine_sun

nice post Aunty 👏
i want to say none of the historical shows has been debased so much as this show...😭
m a loyal fan of this show n i will be happy if this show shut off asap!!
Rt n PS r god actors n thy shud look for good production n not thecheapstake like EKTA's😡😡😡

Originally posted by: sashashyam

Anusha, what a neat term for my PM, a paigham! Thanks, I really like it.

As for handholds, and what I call the RK Films logo scene, with the girl bent backwards over the man's arm, as far down as possible without actually dropping her, they are the staples of TV romance, and they set me off in a fit of giggles.

No, I do not quite think that Jalal is lost beyond redemption, but what I am afraid of is that his dignity will be restored in a most unconvincing manner, as if by a fiat. And what does one do with his serial follies for a long time now, attribute them to a doppelganger? The character will become even more like a yoyo.

I do not think Jalal knows where he is headed any longer- there was real anger in his eyes at the end of the darbar scene, but then where was the need to praise Jodha's role as his wife so lavishly? Both of them know that his praise is a farce, and why this need on his part to make it appear to the Ameris - whether it is Shivani during the tel maalish (I am daily expecting Dabur Amla Hair Oil to start sponsoring Jodha Akbar😉) or Bharmal & Co. now, that his marriage with Jodha is flourishing?

I simply no longer get Jalal at all; he is drifting, pushed here and there and ending up moving in circles, like flotsam in an eddy.

And The Shove now seems to be public knowledge, as much as if they had put up a poster about it in the harem😉. How did Ruqaiya come to know about that, unless he told her every single detail the next morning (the conversation was in silent mode, you would remember) ? Anyway, what she says in the precap is absolutely justified, and I am waiting to see how Jalal responds to her.

As I wrote in this post, the Shivani-Mirza marriage makes NO political sense at all for the Mughal empire. The only explanation possible is that Jalal is now in a masochistic state of mind, and cannot escape his unacknowledged enslavement to his wife of his.

On the one side, he is constantly scraping the skin off that psychological wound made by The Shove, instead of letting it dry out by total neglect of the woman who did that to him. On the other, he is letting her lead him by the nose like a compliant sheep.

Anusha, which husband would let his wife - that too this sort of nominal wife - settle his brother's marriage to her sister without his prior permission? Even today? Try that on your husband, if you are married, and see what happens. It is beyond belief.

And what is it with his yo yo attitude to Benazir? At one moment he is smiling like a cat looking at a bowlful of cream as she undulates within inches of him, and the next morning he dismisses her as of old. It is as if different writers were doing alternate episodes without having seen the previous one.

I cannot tolerate this aimless, uncertain, confused, helplessly compliant Jalal at all. I never cared for Jodha anyway, and I can stick her even less now. Rajat is superlative when they let him be - the way he rolls his head when Jodha is praising Mirza in his chambers was so fresh and so funny - but even he will not be able to keep this show afloat if this stasis and the deterioration in his character continues apace.

Right now, I cannot imagine this relationship between them ever being transmuted into one of desperate caring for each other, of the one being incomplete without the other. Just look at Jodha moaning to Kanha about her being upset only when Benazir is with Jalal. The only conclusion one can draw from that is that it is a class thing. Jodha cannot bear the idea of being supplanted by a "mere daasi". Ruqaiya or the other begums and Jalal - no sweat - they are highborn, so it is ok. What kind of beinteha ishq does this foreshadow? None.

One fine day, that "epic love" will descend on us, out of the blue, with neither logic nor continuity. We will be TOLD that it is so, Jodha will drape herself all over Jalal, Rajat will pull out all the stops, and we can imagine a placard in the backround, like the ones in the silent films "Ab shuru huyi hai in donon ki amar prem kahani!" Bingo!!

It is likely to the same with Jalal's dignity. It is enough to make one weep in frustration at this waste of resources.

Shyamala

Originally posted by: Ritu99

👏 👏 👏 what a post Aunty!!! Made it worthwhile to come back to the forum .As if we were lacking in inconsistent tracks and occasions to reduce our Dabbang Jalal ( now a long lost dream) to the present day Majnu that the Shivani marriage is unceremoniously thrown upon us. They do not even give us time these days to recover from the incongruities of the previous night's episode . Aunty, you have so completely covered the absurdities , impracticalities and illogical conversations that there is nothing to add .

But one point I was really taken aback was Jalal saying "ya khuda, yeh Jodha begum hamaare dil ki baat Kaise jaan Leti hain ". This coming from a Jalal who has gone through so much pain and heartbreak just because Jodha has no inkling of his heart !! When will the CVs get it right ? Or should we just wait for our original Hero, the one who who had a heart of gold, an intellect and insight unparalleled , an anger justifiable , an energy so infectious and a speech that could make you fall in love with Mughal glory to rest in peace .