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Shivani's letter to Jodha *surprise* *surprise* again falls in MA's hands!!!
Just for a change of vista, I'd prefer if someone else managed to get their hands on such things!
Resham's dancing and MA's letter finding are becoming a daily affair. Thankfully, we were spared Benazir's heavy breathing today!😆
THE SOMBRE WEDDING HALL
Obviously becomes more sombre once the 'We have no news of the bride' is announced.
Jalal's initial handling of the issue - the manner in which he questions Bharmal gently and then doles out instructions to ensure the queen/princess is safe is a treat to watch!👏
JODHA'S TURMOIL
This situation is a woeful one for any girl to be in - to be thus betrayed by one's own and then having to face and explain the situation to remaining relatives is very aggrieving in more ways than one. She was mistaken in not seeking out Shivani's opinions in the matter initially, however; at this point Shivani has taken matters just too far!
'With what face will I approach Bapusa...the Shehenshah' she sobs
'Hopefully Shivani wasn't kidnapped...hopefully she wasn't brainwashed by someone'
I'm glad that one of her prime worries were for the Mughal Sultanat's pride and status!😊
THE WEDDING WILL NOT HAPPEN..
At the point where the guests learn that the marriage is not going to happen - both Bharmal and Hakim Mirza's expresions left a lot to be desired!😕
MA
Gawd! This MA is such a brainy vamp - she's successfully mastered the art of playing dirty politics to such an extent that none other can sniff her ploys at this juncture OR match up to her skewed cognitive abilities - at least in the near future!
A side note - Hmmm, we've been rebuking all the leads in the show of being shown incapable in front of MA. However; think of it this way - none other in that family is capable of being so dastardly or thinking as viciously as her! Thus, she succeeds. Even Lord Krishna was unable to completely stop Shakuni mama's plans from taking effect - these characters are humans, after all! All evil will reach its fitting end one day and so will hers.
RUQAIYYA-JALAL
Initially - i.e. during the first two sentences - with Ruqaiyya's statements, I had presumed she was turning more and more one-dimensional and was about to mentally switch off! However, today her following monologue made a whole load of sense -
'She has reduced you from the status of an Emperor to that of a hunter...a hunter who runs behind the deer thinking he's trying to trap her..but, only the deer knows that SHE's making the hunter dance to her tunes! What has made you so weak lately? Where is that daring fearless warrior I knew of...stop thinking like a hunter and start thinking like an Emperor again!'
Why I agree with these statements of Ruqaiyya's is not because I want Jalal to go back to being the cruel man he was at the start of the show - but, because he's become someone rather quite at the opposite end of the scale in the episodes that have been running for the past 1.5 months.
I have no qualms with Jalal softening up in Jodha's love - since that's what the essence of the show is - a man who claims to have no heart starts falling in love and thus realizes that grey does not need to be a shade closer to black, grey can be a shade closer to white too!
However, his state of stupor lately has really made him appear weak and in a very unjustified way! Whenever he does bring up THAT night's issue, it tugs at one's heart strings. However, the route that he has utilized to get back at Jodha is one that all of us do not prefer viewing. In the course of this so-called revenge he is only making a fool of himself. Hence, I wholeheartedly support what Ruqaiyya said against the Shehenshah today.
THAT and the fact that we got to see glimpses of a rebelling man today, albeit fainter than what it would have been before. (Beggars can't be choosers, I tell myself😆)
This scene also did leave me a bit confused in certain places - Jodha's dignified rebuttal, Jalal's unexpected trust in her, his composed replies against Ruqaiyya, his angry stance against Bharmal - I have a feeling that the CVs are trying to squash in too many dimensions into Jalal and Jodha at once (while keeping callers suggestions in mind). Seeing their character-graph for the past month or so this recuperated behaviour of the leads - especially Jalal must have left most feeling 🥳
So then, we have this man - who is capable of weighing the situation carefully when the need arises. Then, why isn't he thinking straight in the Benazir fiasco - or are the CVs trying to convey that the Shehenshah places his personality/brains in hibernation once in a while - especially when it comes to the humiliation of THAT night!
JALAL-JODHA-RUQAIYYA
Jodha's sorry expressions as soon as she stepped out of the palanquin - her fear, her anger have all been depicted very well. Pari was adorable in this scene.👏
In the room, Jodha's rebuttal to Ruqaiyya was noteworthy 'Just because the dhathure ka arkh dibbi was found in Salima's chamber doesn't mean she was guilty of orchestrating the miscarriage'👏
Just like Jodha's quick-thinking self-justification was a pleasant change, Jalal's ensuing proclamation was a very welcome one too -
'She is NOT lying' he said to Ruqaiyya. Jalal's stance shook me - as I am sure must have the rest of the audience😆
'There was no need for Sukanya to have sent Jodha a letter, had she known about it all from the very beginning!'👏
However, I am still surprised (and not-too-pleasantly) that he suspects Bharmal of having known of the affair. Having said that, the points he brings up against the father do make sense too. I do hope he is not too harsh with the father and lets him have his say like he did Jodha today.
A side note - We do chide the Emperor's administration for being unable to solve crimes etc. However, we possibly also need to bear in mind that in a society of yesteryears - with ever-changing laws, prejudices, only circumstantial witnesses, no technology and only grey-calls/advice to go upon - more crimes would have remain unsolved (or wrongly solved) than the other way around - and this is not the case only in a single empire or era!
PRECAP
My guesses are that Jalal is angrily referring to Shivani and Tej - and that Jodha is pleading for their cause!
AS OF TODAY'S EPISODE
Thankfully, this humongous ploy that MA set out to entrap Jodha (with all that tiptoeing and teleporting😆) has fallen nearly flat on her face with Jalal trusting Jodha - now, this is something for which he definitely deserves a pat on the back.
Obviously, in future we know not how the Benazir kaand is going to unfold...but as of today, neither did Jalal disappoint me in any way nor did Jodha - especially, seeing how I had set out quite low expectations from the story and its leads!
Today's episode was a good one - will have to wait for tomorrow to see how it plays out.😊
Kabhi Neem Neem Kabhi Shahad Shahad
Anupamaa
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