Friends, yesterday's episode was a sort of boil up of events on two separate tracks slated for completion in the current week. One was the track concerning the unraveling of Ben as the assassin - this seems imminent (on Sivaratri). And the other is the track where Hakim's words have made Jalal question his "mohabbat" ... he seems angry to hear about it, and yet a little unready to face the fact that he already feels "mohabbat in his life for anyone" (i.e. Jodha).
It is now my feeling that both these tracks we saw yesterday will end in a common grand finish this week. On Sivaratri night, Ben will be prevented by attacking Jalal, by Jodha, who may take the bite herself ... and in the fear of losing Jodha to the poisonous bite, Jalal may also come to realise the truth in Hakim's words that he does feel some mohabbat for Jodha!
Okay, having said that, let's look at yesterday's episode in a bit of detail. The very interesting question for me all of yesterday was "How much does Jalal already know about Abul Mali, about Ben and about Ben's planned method of attack upon himself?" I know that with the capture of Abul Mali, Jalal has shown that he has deciphered Ben's paigam and reached it to Abul Mali himself - and he has also tailed Mali since his advent into Agra so that he can strategically capture him at a suitable time.
But yet in the Diwan-e-Khas, Jalal gave the impression that while he knew about Abul Mali and his plottings, he was not yet aware who was Abul Mali's lethal agent in the palace sent to assassinate him. Jalal acted as if he did not suspect Ben, and we are all having to go by the spoilers that it will be Jodha who suspects Ben to the be assassin and saves Jalal in the nick of time.
However, some events yesterday made me feel that Jalal already knows exactly who Ben is (a vishkanya), and what she is up to. Jalal seems to be pretending not to know about Ben in front of Abul Mali (and I think he also pretends not to know what Jodha means when she is trying to warn him against Ben). I get the feeling that Jalal is already systematically neutralising Ben in his own way and is ready for her to attack him to expose her red-handed. Maybe Jodha too will enter his chambers in the nick of time, to apparently save Jalal from the actual bite, but Jalal does look like he knows that a bite is imminent.
Here is what I mean ...
How much does Jalal know about the Ben angle?
First there was this hint by Benazir to Jodha that her paigam was already seen by Jalal ... that he has already questioned her about why it was in poetic Awadhi to her mother and then he himself had also despatched it to her mother for her! In another scene today, Jalal was seen asking Atga in semi-mute about "that other plan" being well into action - which Atga confirmed it was.
Some time later we saw (as did Jodha and Ben's baandhi) that Abul Mali was in chains and being escorted into the palace, a prisoner, by Atga and his men. All this has now clearly given us a sanket that Jalal must have indeed deciphered Ben's paigam to Mali, and had probably followed its trail to the hands of Mali. He must have been aware of and monitoring Mali throughout his stay in Agra and has nabbed Mali at an opportune moment - and Atga was in close tandem with Jalal on all this. This sounds very satisfying to me to know that Jalal was in the know and was being a shrewd tactician in the trailing and capture of his arch rival.
But while Jalal seemed to know the whereabouts of Mali, how come the shrewd emperor is acting as if the missing link in his knowledge is "Who is this agent that Mali has planted in the Agra Palace who can lethally assassinate me?" This part seems overtly confounding as to why Jalal does not even suspect Ben to be a possible agent? Could the answer lie in the sentence he spoke to Jodha at the end of the episode, when Jodha tries to warn him that ben is the assassination agent?
When Jodha tries to tell Jalal that she knows who Mali's agent is and that it is Ben, Jalal pre-empts Jodha by saying "Okay, so I know you are going to say Benazir is from Abul Mali's harem, she is his kaniez, and she is a danger to my life.' Let me tell you I know all that. And along with her nineteen other bandhis came from Kabul and I am already keeping an eye on Benazir and all of them. And as for Benazir I know her better than you for I have spent more time with her than you".
Could it be that Jalal knows that one of the nineteen baandhis is the designated agent from Abul Mali, but he is not sure which baandhi exactly will try to kill him and how, and is therefore waiting to see which one it is? I don't believe that possibility, because of some other circumstances ...
I, in fact, personally got the impression that Jalal already knows that Benazir is the assassin and she is a vishkanya. I still remember that scene where he washed his hands after she touched him. Ben is already seen panting for breath and unable to withstand much longer without another fix of snake venom to keep her body poison levels up. She is now in a situation clearly where she has to bite Jalal imminently (especially now that Abul Mali is caught) and she alone remains the available agent for Jalal's assassination.
If, as the spoilers say, Jalal now declares that he is going to marry Ben and thus delays her "night with him" that is not going to suit Ben one bit as it is a big doubt if she herself can last out that delay. So in a way if Jalal declares marriage with Ben (ostensibly to make Jodha jealous) it will actually be a clever checkmate of Ben herself, as it will deplete her poison levels even further if Jalal delays her opportunity to bite him.
The other question to ask here is how the snakes fell into shortage in the Agra palace? Could Jalal himself have ensured via his men that Ben's sources of poison were being slowly eliminated so that she would become less and less lethal while he needed to time and opportunity to nail Abul Mali? I strongly suspect Jalal's hand in the snake shortage situation.
My own prediction now is that Jalal will try to catch Benazir red-handed (knowing already that her poison level is low) by saying he wants to marry Benazir on a certain future date. Seeing the date too far away, Benazir may try to act faster and bite Jalal that very night of Sivratri. Jalal will probably know this and be in waiting readiness for Ben to come to him. Meanwhile Jodha on a protective hunch will tail Ben and enter Jalal's chambers, try to move away Benazir from him and get bitten herself. But because Benazir's poison level is already low, Jodha may not die from the bite but may fall unconscious and be in life danger ... thus making Jalal more aware of the fear of losing Jodha! So while Ben will get exposed, Jalal's latent and hidden "mohabbat" for Jodha may also get exposed!
Three signs that Jalal is beginning to see that Jodha means more to him
While all this is likely to be shaping up on the Ben front, the words of Hakim just before going to war are also seen simultaeously working on Jalal. When Jalal asked Hakim to forget his love troubles over Shivani and let the focus of the war wipe away his emotional distress, Hakim reverted by saying "War victories are great, yes, but they cannot wipe away emotional feelings. I know I will not be able to wipe away my feelings just by winning at war. I suspect you cannot either. All this week you too have been acting like one emotionally affected, and you cannot continue pretending you have no mohabbat in your heart and that you have no heart. You have no option but to get the one for whom you feel mohabbat - and make that one yours - or there is no escape from mohabbbat. Who do you feel mohabbat for, my brother?".
Jalal looked taken aback as he heard all this, as if his eyes had been opend to the whole mohabbat notion and he could no longer hide from it. But in his usual style, he let out his pent-up feelings as anger. He derided "mohabbat" as a concept and was seen walking away furiously till he reached ... well, exactly where Jodha was! She was doing her daily puja, and for a moment her baandhi asked Jalal if he wanted to speak with Jodha. Brusquely he replied "Tell Ruq I want to spend tonight with her". Who was he kidding? His thoughts on mohabbat had brought him right to Jodha's doorstep, and he was trying to brush off her influence by deliberately making time and priority for Ruq just to act as if Jodha was not the one occupying his mind?
Later when Jodha was trying to tell him about Ben, he could have stopped after saying he knew about Ben and the other bandhis that had come from Kabul and that they were a form of khatra to him. But did he have to add that vicious sentence about "I know Ben better than you for I have spent a lot more time with her than you have?". Again who was he kidding? How much "time" and what kind of "time" has he spent with Ben in all of these weeks when she has irritated hus with her presence? The fact that Jalal is trying hard to convince Jodha that has given khas status to Ben itself shows how much he is fighting his own mind!
In the precap again, Jodha is seen telling Jalal that she plans to do a Sivratri vrath for him, for his safety. He says "I don't believe in it, I do not need it ... and anyway you don't even consider me your husband!" Awww ... did I hear the poor boy hurting from the depths of his soul that Jodha was not giving him husband status in her heart?
All these hints from Jalal that Hakim's words are working upon him, will come to a head, I feel, on Sivaratri - when Jodha takes the bite to save him. By then, as I have already written, Ben's posion may not be lethal enough to kill, but it could sure put Jodha's life in grave danger. Maybe that would do the romance of Jodha and Jalal a world of good, because there's nothing like a spot of life danger to make two people realise how much they mean to each other!
Hope I don't have to wait for Friday to see this grand Sivaratri of the nullification of evil and the birth of love. If all this happens by Wednesday, I'll ask all those who are regularly telephoning Zee to give them a flying kiss from me over the phone!
Pati Patni Aur Panga
Jaane Anjaane Hum Mile
Tum Se Tum Tak
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
Mannat Har Khushi Paane Ki
Vasudha
