Friends, after my raving and ranting over the last two days about the relentless and rubbishy filler episodes we were getting, we finally got another filler episode yesterday, ... but this one had some very memorable scenes, so I am ready to forgive the overall bad and take the small good. (In short, I've lost my grumpiness and gone back to my usual cheerful self!)
I have to thank all my friends on my thread who sent me PMs yesterday to cheer me up and asking me to see the lighter side of it all, and all your messages did help. By evening yesterday I was again back to my own comfortable skin, ready to forgive the Creatives for their many sins of track-elongation, track-illogicality and track-boredom.
One of the things that perked me up yesterday was that in the last or penultimate scene, I saw Ben in the shaadi ka jodah, when she was talking to Zakira about the box of zehermohra motis having come back to her room. The minute I saw her wearing the last of her spoiler costumes, my mood lightened no end, and I thought "Here we are at last!" Moreover Sharif had already also told Jodha that Ben plans to do her dirty deed to Jalal BEFORE the nikaah. So all in all, I got the ishara that this track may last only another couple of episodes, and I became all positive and buoyant, and have been smiling ever since!
Before I go onto describing the scenes we saw in the episode, I wonder how many of you have already seen the spoiler picture of Mansingh praying at a dargah? Now what do you all think that is about? Is Mansingh due back any moment immediately after the aborted nikaah? Is he giving thanks for the success in war? Or for the mansabdari bestowed on him by Jalal? Or is he praying for Jodha's life, after hearing that she is fighting for her life? And is there some significance that he is at a dargah and not some temple? Does this symbolise the beginning of the "Mughalisation of Mansingh?"
Abhay (History_Geek) has given so many historical glimpses of what may come next, that the nikaah itself is now not occupying my mind so much, and I'm thinking ahead to what all will come next. We have had four weeks or more of this Ben track, leaving as many as nearly ten or twelve loose loops still to be tied. So could we perhaps have another four or five weeks of everything falling into place one by one - the Jodha paigam, the Shivan-Tejwant return, the Maham treachery unmasking, the Ruq loyalty unmasking, the Mansingh elevation, the capture and killing of Ben, the fleeing of Abul Mali, the release of Sharif, the frustrated Adham going out-of-control, the closeness of Jodha annd Jalal as they begin to really acknowledge the presence of feelings of great intensity for each other ...(phew!) ... lots to happen!?
Okay, okay ... maybe I am jumping too much ahead and we still have the nikah fiasco to go through. Here two theories seems to reign at present: Was that precap/promo of the "poison pyala" a dream ... or was it an edit of the real scene to come? I have tried to write about these two theories below ... and also devoted a good deal of writing to the Jalal-Hamida scene and and the Akbar Ka Makabra scenes, which I thought were exquisite.
All in all, it was a filler episode, but at least it was not filled with rubbish scenes, and it had something here and there for us to cherish! So here goes ...
Eventful mehndi ceremony and the Kaliyamardhana picture!
With Ben's mehndi all messed up by Jodha falling on her, the opening scene of the episode saw Ruq issuing orders for the whole mehndi ceremony to be repeated. Then came the moment when all ladies offered their gifts to Benazir. When it was Jodha's turn, she surprised all by producing a picture as a gift for Ben. It was a highly symbolic picture of the scene in the Mahabharata called Kaliyamardhana ... which as Jodha explained to Ben, was the moment when Lord Krishna climbed the hood of a deadly poisonous snake Kaliya and vanquished him, since he was spewing venom and contaminating the pure waters of the Yamuna River. The parallel to Ben was obvious. Jodha was saying in effect "You will be vanquished in your venomous intentions, by the great God to whom I pray, and who has promised that good wiill always overcome evil". Salima seemed to gloat over this gift from Jodha, while Ruq and Maham looked momentarily speechless. Ben bolstered her puctured defences with some over-confident salf-talks of invincibility.
Then Gulbadan Begum said they could all pass time with some entertainment and summoned a parrot-astrologer to give predictions. She started her predictions in hierarchical order - first she said Ruq would be the wife getting the most time with Jalal, and then Salima would be the wife most loved in the Sultanate. But before Jodha's reading could be taken, Ruq asked about Benazir, thus subtly repositioning Jodha in the wifely hierarchy. But the prophecy was bad - Ben would spend the least time with Jalal ever! Ruq and Maham consoled themselves that this must be a good thing because if Ruq had the most time with Jalal, it was but natural that Ben would get less time with him. Maham then seemed curious to know about Jodha's future, so that was read. The prophecy was distinctive and sharp "Jodha would be a raksha kavach for Jalal". How much more specific can a parrot get!
Moti, Salima and Jodha seemed thrilled to bits to hear this while Ben said "to herself "Oh no, you don't have a clue about the deadly vish I possess", while Jodha said within her own mind "You forget, my dear, I will do anything - but anything - to save him!"
I am not sure what this parrot scene was about or even why it was needed. Since the great Salim Chisti has already given a more powerful-sounding bhavishyavani, it seemed superfulous then to hear a pop-prophecy also from a parrot! But I guess it was all for time pass, so let it pass! The Kaliyamardhana picture gift from Jodha redeemed the scene for me, so I'll not let the parrot bit bother me overmuch!
Mali keeps shut in jail but Sharif becomes talkative!
In the prison, Atga and his men were seen whipping Mali mercilessly, asking him to vomit the name of his agent (i.e. Ben) but a torture-hardened Mali refused to oblige. Finally he asked for water and was shown water poured beside him with not a drop anywhere near his mouth. Eventually the whipping stopped and Atga and his men left in frustration, as Mali brought out a dagger he had hidden in the folds of his clothes. He was too hard a nut to crack, it seemed.
But just after that a sipahi came over to Sharif's cell and said one of the other sipahis in the jail seemed to be Mali's man in disguise. He and Mali were overheard talking of Benazir being the agent and that Benazir's plan was to assassinate Jalal before the nikaah, and then to release Mali and to unite with Mali and become the Begum of Mali - and when he got the throne to then get the status of Mallika -e-Hind!
Sharif was by now frothing at the mouth that Mali was thus progressing in his plans, while he Sharif was going nowhere from this jail. He was unable to encash on the events and tell Jalal all and thus free himself as a "loyalist". So Sharif did the next best thing - he asked for Jodha to come to him again. When Jodha appeared, he told her she has been too slow, she had to act fast because Ben now had a plan to assassinate Jalal BEFORE the nikaah. Jodha was shocked by this piece of news and hastened to act on it.
The more I saw these scenes between Jodha and Sharif the more I am now convinced that Jodha will later procure Sharif's pardon in the same way that Ruq procured Adham's pardon. So the bad egg Sharif will soon be at large in the Palace after all this fracas, ready to play his next hand and trade on the goodwill of Jodha to try and get closer to Jodha. One part of me says it may be a bad thing for Sharif to start getting closer to Jodha, as we would all have to watch his lech-ness! But another part of me says that maybe it would be a good thing if Jalal starts feeling some possessiveness and jealousy over Jodha when Sharif tries to get too close to her! The jury is out on this one, for me!
Beautiful scene between Jalal and Hamida, with the makabra thrown in!
In an absolutely exquisite scene Jalal was standing all by himself in his room, wearing a look of such utter loneliness that we could almost feel it emanating out of the TV set! Hamida walked in and seeing her son so troubled, she asked him why he looked so dejected. He said simply "All my praja love me, my women in the harem fall all over themselves to be with me, and yet I find myself to the loneliest man on this planet!" Hamida replied in a soothing voice "Son, the throne is always a very lonely place. But you are about to be married again tomorrow. Who knows, one of these women in your life could give you just that which you seek ... she could give you love as a husband and not as an Emperor, she could value you the person, and not covet your power and title, she could capture your heart and not just your mind ...". Jalal said "But mother, I have no heart!". Hamida was quick to reply "Up until today you had no heart, because you haven't tried to find it or even found it. But believe me you will find your heart, you will find that woman who unlocks it for you, and that day onwards you won't be alone!". She kissed him on the forehead and walked away.
You know what was the best part of this scene, folks? All the time that Jalal was expressing his loneliness and Hamida was talking to him of the certainty of finding that one woman who could unlock his heart for him, the Amer music began to play, subtly at first and then almost loud enoough to drown the words. It looked like the melody was the one playing inside his heart already - and when he said there was no one who coould give him what he wanted in llife or unlock his "dil" the answer seemed patent by the very music playing inside his heart! I thought that scene was sensational in its direction and its poignancy!
Then it was followed by something even more beautiful - the Akbar Ka makabra sequence (which I have always loved to see). Here Jalal and Jodha talked of how that nikaah day was to radically change them both and their lives. They talked of it as being the day when once and for all both of them lost their loneliness forever!
Dissolving from the makabra scenes we saw intercuts of Jodha on her balcony, praying to God for some way to save Jalal before it was too late, as the nikaah was almost over them all. And on his balcony, Jalal was gazing up at the stars as if expecting his ancestors to give him a helping hand.
The scene then dissolved back to the makabra when they both said that was the longest night of their lives as they both stood on separate balconies and looked up at the same stars for comfort and solace. Both souls at the makabra said We were thinking of each other all through that long night, and it looked like we were surely going to see change!".
What a sensational scene it was, folks. I saw it about three times, and got goosebumps every time. I know I've been grumpy all week at the needless elongation of this track, and with the faltoo filler scenes we have got to pass the air time with. But after seeing this scene, how I wish the Creatives could have given us more such tender scenes between Jodha and Jalal if indeed they had to fill time and extend the suspense of the nikaah. I would have gladly taken more such scenes as I waited for the nikaah scene to happen.
Ruq-Maham-Adham-Ben-Zakira get ready for the wedding!
At the harem gossip seemed to be spreading about Jodha's accusations and how Ben's nikaah with the Shahenshah was still going ahead.
Here, Ruq and Maham were daydreaming of the big day too. Ruq said she will be getting a sycophant for life in Ben, while Maham again launched into a diatribe about Begum Jodha - but Ruq stopped her short and said "Let's not think of her today and spoil our mood. But let's be alert. The boatride attacker of Jalal is still at large!"
Adham in the mean time had lined up his men and was giving them final orders, under knife point. "Be ready to pounce the minute Jalal is finished off by Ben. Immediately after, we finish off Atga, and then I'll complete the work with Abul Mali killed in jail. We'll finally do the dirty on Ben. As for Sharif ... we'll, let him languish in jail!"
Meanwhile Ben and Zakira were pleasantly surprised that the missing box of motis - the zehermohras - were back mysteriously! Ben was now convinced the thief was Jodha who had returned the box after finding nothing of value in it. She told Zakira again of her ultimate plan "After I kill Jalal I will let Mali out of prison and then we can be united."
By now folks, what I was watching with most satisfaction in this Ben-Zakira scene ws that Ben was already in shaadi ka joda! Yippee! I also suspect all these scenes were to show us the different people and their various states of anticipation of the wedding the next day, and towards the close of all these scenes I did get a feeling that all of these five protagonists were going to be in for a THUNDERING SHOCK! The more they said today, the more they looked like sitting ducks for the rattling events of the nikaah!
The precap seems to echo the promo ... so is t a dream or real?
I had a long phone chat with Ela on whether the promo looked like a dream or was for real. Yesterday the same promo (with the addition of Jalal in a sera and Ben in shaadi clothes) reappeared as a precap. The precap yesterday was also a little more elaborate on the dialogues than the promo was. But still the question of whether it is a dream or for real seems to persist. So I'd love to know everybody's view on this!
The arguments that Ela put forth to me on why it could be a dream are that:
1. It looks too silly for Ben to be trying to finish off Jalal in the nikaah ka hall with a pyala of sevaiyan! Would she try to do her great assassination act in this way? How would she then flee from a hall thronged with people? What if Jalal had refused the sevaiyan? What if the maulvi had not introduced that pyala ka rasam at all?
2. After all the insults and ill-treatment of Jodha, would this pyala act of saving by Jodha be so heroic as to make all the "Rajputs proud" (as Zee is supposed to have said)? All of us having been waiting foor that mega-save by Jodha so somehow this pyala route seems too tame by comparison to, say, an attemppted biite by Ben that Jodha takes on behalf of Jalal?
3. Another point that Ela stressed to me is that while Jalal should see the greatness of Jodha, he should also simultaneously see the hollowness of Ruq and Maham (which again Zee implied he would). So in that case, if Ben were shaping for a feral bite, and Ruq and Maham fled in haste from the scene, leaving Jodha to save Jalal by taking the bite ... in one stroke, Jodha would look like his true loyalist while the colours of both Ruq and Maham would run in the wash.
When Ela told me all these points I felt convinced that the "pyala" route to saving Jalal did sound inferior to the "bite" route we were all hoping to see! But again there was one reason why Jodha could opt for the pyala route:
1. She even told Ben that she admired that other Rajvanshi Meerabai who consumed that "halaahal ka pyala" and set the benchmark for demonstration of utter and unshakeable love and loytalty. So maybe by that yardstick, Jodha would still believe herself utterly heroic if she too did the pyala act? Thus it would not be a scene that we viewers thought of as the most dramatic save of Jalal, but in Jodha's mind it may be the most dramatic "Meera-bai-ish" kind of heroism that inspires her (and makes the Rajputs proud!)?
Okay, after seeing yesterday's precap there are two personal reasons why it looks to me like the precap was not a dream.
1. Jalal is in his sera, and Ben in her shaadi ka joda, so there is more of a feel of a nikaah in progress here. The precap thus looks more real than the promo did.
2. Jodha gives a parting dialogue whhich she didn't in the promo. She says "Okay if I must do this to save you I will. And if I never open my eyes after this, let me take leave of all of you." And then she drinks the poison and falls unconscious! Jalal is shocked, but unlike the promo he doesn't actually hold her.
So here we are again: the promo looked more symbolic of events, while the precap looked like an edit of the real events. I know many of you will have many different thoughts on this and I'd love to hear all the pros and cons on whether its was a dream or real ... do go on and record your points of view!
What immediately next ... I think Monday will be this shaadi and it may stop at the point where Jodha drinks the posion. Tuesday may see the grand remorse by Jalal, and the desperate attempts to save Jodha with antidote , while Ben tries to flee on a horse, and Mali tries to escape prison. Wednesday may see the spilling of all truth by Zakira (who has been captured), the awakening of Jodha and the TLC for her from Jalal, the capture and killing of Ben but the fleeing of Abul Mali. Thursday and Friday may see the return of Hakim and Mansingh, the capurure of Shivani and Tejwant, the unmasking of Maham via the Rahim paigam reading etc etc.
By the end of next week I expect (hope?) in some fashion that Jalal would see the purity and unspoken love of Jodha for himself, even as he begins to see the shallowness of Ruq and the treachery of Maham.
This is my prediction - and my wishlist!
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