Take 5: Top 5 Maha countdown for ME on May 31st - Page 6

Originally posted by: munnirony

Divya n mandy , I always give all the credit to jalal. Bcoz giving advice nd lecturing is easy but the implimentation is the most difficult part. For eg by abolishing tirth kar nd later jigia jalal had faced revolt against the ulemas which he had to deal alone jodha didn't played any role in it. In 16th century a woman can stand strong if husband support is there. If jalal was really a cruel nd heartless king he never would have taken these decisions. Yes no doubt jodha nd also salima played an imp role but it was jalal's credit who gave imp to his wife's words. Nd why just them? He also listened to ruku's advice when she told him not to give all the subedari alone to adham khan.

I rather liked the Saturday mahaepisode, once I had managed to forget the Jalal-Jodha scenes.

Yes, yes I know you and Sam, my Lashykanna and thousands of others drool over them. But none of you can deny that of late they consist almost entirely of Jalal repeating, for the nth time, that

1)she has helped him find his dil, and

2)transformed him single handedly from a sipahi (the latest formulation, a milder take on the khoonkhar vaishi darinda) into an insaan, and

3) that she is the most nek dil/bada dil person he has ever seen.

My comments: One, the sipahis in the Mughal army should go on strike about this slur on them; is Jalal saying that no sipahi has any dil? Second, Jodha is a clear candidate for enlarged heart disease. 😉

As for Jodha, all we get is her looking coy and lowering her eyes/ turning her head away as she laps up all these lines, and from time to time allowing Jalal to put his arm around her.

Now, I do not mean that the two of them should indulge in the kind of steamy romance that would drive my age group away, but there has to be a golden mean.

Here, every hug looks like a contortionist's exercise, with their bodies at least 1 foot apart at the midriff. The same when Jodha carefully puts her head on Jalal's shoulder.

Not to speak of the close ups of their faces approaching each other - with her cartwheel of a nose ring filling the screen!😉 - for God knows what! It looks like the cliched shots of roses brushing against each other, and pigeons billing and cooing in the 1970s films.

And that cheek kiss the other day was the ruddy limit, as was Jalal's response to it. If that was a first for him, which was what they sought to convey, what on earth did the two of them to all night on Monday? Talk about the child marriage and slavery abolition? 😉

Oh, yes, I forgot the half-baked Radha Krishna parallel, which has, as of now, been repeated 3 times by Jalal. He clearly does not know that Radha, Krishna's beloved., was married to someone else. Or that he never saw her again after he left Brindavan for Mathura.

My Take 5: Now for what I liked on Saturday.

1) The hidden sketches on that map, appearing and disappearing when warmth is applied or removed. This seems to be one better than the standard invisible ink, which does not disappear once it has been made visible by the application of heat. Maybe it is like the Marauders' Map in Harry Potter, which needs a khul ja sim sim!😉

Anyhow , it was great fun, like a Famous Five or Secret Seven mystery, and I was trying to guess whether the khazana Mahaam was referring to was a real treasure or a secret that could make her powerful once again. And there was no Javeda around to grate on my poor nerves!

2) The Borgia-style poisoning, watched with spine-chilling matter of factness by a superbly dominating Mahaam. It was like a scene from a medieval thriller by Alexandre Dumas. I loved the way in which she did not hesitate even a second before cooking up that perfect story to account for the corpse. Ruqaiya is not a patch on Mahaam for sheer brains and inventiveness.

3) The mysterious Chand Begum, who seems to have given the slip to her bored guards and actually got to the temple just in time to slip her missive (probably the dark cave in which she was held is well stocked with writing materials!😉) into the palki that she somehow found out was Jodha Begum's.

No, I am not going to pick holes in a script which already bears a marked resemblance to Swiss cheese.😉 I am not even dismayed that none of the soldiers noticed that blanket shrouded figure creep up to the palki; that is typical in every day and age!

4) The revelation, to Jodha, of Jalal's inability to read and write. Cleo had once advanced the hypothesis, based on some readings, that Akbar might have been dyslexic, a fascinating idea. I presume this will eventually be tied up with the mystery of the letter that eventually led to the dhakka.

5) Jalal (or at least I hope that too is not shown to be Jodha Begum's brainwave!) at last thinking of something on his own and getting Tabassum to make that Chand Begum's portrait.

I am not too excited about his grim pronouncements re: the Raja of Panna. They might well be turned on their head if and when Jodha Begum explains to Jalal how the law of sanctuary is inviolable, and that thus the Raja of Panna, as an honourable Rajvanshi, could not possibly have turned his sharanaarti over to the Mughals (which, by the way, is perfectly correct). Mark my words.

NB: I don't know if you folks noticed it, but Jalal, when he tells Jodha that she should henceforth taste everything that Ruqaiya would eat, ensures 2 things.

- one, that Ruqaiya would from now on have to become a vegetarian😉, and

- most bizarre of all, two, that his Jodha Begum might well pop off while tasting something that might be poisoned!! The latter was unbelievable; how on earth would he let her take the risk?

Now, for these depressed multitudes, there is hope on the horizon. Anurag Kashyap will soon be airing Amitabh Bachchan maiden outing as a TV actor, Yudh, on Sony. Access for the majority of the cable/ DTH audience, who all subscribe to the ZEE, Sony and Star Plus groups even if not to Colours or the HD channels, will thus be guaranteed access to Yudh.

Apart from the terrific pull of Amitabh Bachchan, for the first time ever on TV, and in a tailormade role - judging by the trailer aired last night during the IPL final - and the prestigious director, the series also boasts of a glittering cast in terms of talent - Kay Kay Menon, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Sarika, et al.

The production values are bound to be excellent, and the 35 odd episodes should be gripping viewing for all age groups above 16, and to the thinking sections of the audience as well.

Moreover, Sony, which seems to thrive on CID reruns, will have plenty of slots for endless repeats of Yudh. So, if it is slotted as a prime time daily. ie 4 times a week, like Yashraj's Kismat, Jodha Akbar, along with the other 8 pm shows, will be facing very stiff competition indeed.

And that might, if all works out the way I hope it will, be Jodha Akbar's salvation.

But of course if Ekta's kismat prevails, and Yudh is aired only on weekends in 1 hour slots, Jodha Akbar will be sitting pretty and we can expect more of what has been dumped on us of late. alas!

Originally posted by: sashashyam

Divya my dear,

Here I am, and solely for you.

Thanks so much Aunty! I wanted to make sure I took my time to reply ... Hence, the delay

I have read your rather hesitant collage of the 5 things you liked about the Saturday episode, and I noted the extensive opening disclaimers, almost as long as the Om Puri one!😉 You know, I want to quote Beau Brummell, the unquestioned arbiter of fashion in Regency England, to you. He said: Never apologise and never explain.Nor should you!

Thanks Aunty- I was not hesitant ... But I did want to show how you could find some rays of sunshine even when times are bad on the show ... And looks like you did too 😉

Here is my Take 5 for this episode, preceded by my appraisal of the Jodha-Jalal scenes 😉

Aunty, I am so excited you did a Take 5!

I rather liked the Saturday mahaepisode, once I had managed to forget the Jalal-Jodha scenes.

How ironic!

Yes, yes I know you and Sam, my Lashykanna and thousands of others drool over them. But none of you can deny that of late they consist almost entirely of Jalal repeating, for the nth time, that

1)she has helped him find his dil, and

2)transformed him single handedly from a sipahi (the latest formulation, a milder take on the khoonkhar vaishi darinda) into an insaan, and

3) that she is the most nek dil/bada dil person he has ever seen.

My comments: One, the sipahis in the Mughal army should go on strike about this slur on them; is Jalal saying that no sipahi has any dil? Second, Jodha is a clear candidate for enlarged heart disease. 😉

As for Jodha, all we get is her looking coy and lowering her eyes/ turning her head away as she laps up all these lines, and from time to time allowing Jalal to put his arm around her.

Now, I do not mean that the two of them should indulge in the kind of steamy romance that would drive my age group away, but there has to be a golden mean.

Here, every hug looks like a contortionist's exercise, with their bodies at least 1 foot apart at the midriff. The same when Jodha carefully puts her head on Jalal's shoulder.

It is one of her hunars!

Not to speak of the close ups of their faces approaching each other - with her cartwheel of a nose ring filling the screen!😉 - for God knows what! It looks like the cliched shots of roses brushing against each other, and pigeons billing and cooing in the 1970s films.

And that cheek kiss the other day was the ruddy limit, as was Jalal's response to it. If that was a first for him, which was what they sought to convey, what on earth did the two of them to all night on Monday? Talk about the child marriage and slavery abolition? 😉

No, they talked about slavery abolition in the morning after ... So it must have been child marriage 😆

Oh, yes, I forgot the half-baked Radha Krishna parallel, which has, as of now, been repeated 3 times by Jalal. He clearly does not know that Radha, Krishna's beloved., was married to someone else. Or that he never saw her again after he left Brindavan for Mathura.

I think the Radha-Krishna point has nothing to do with marriage ... I think he means that the Radha-Krishna story is the most famous ... Just like his story with Jodha will be the most famous or well-known. Now, if he said, you are my Rukmini- that wouldn't sound right, right? 😉Actually, in idol form, you never see Rukmini-Krishna right, I have only seen Radha-Krishna at times.

But if you are all determined to revel in this stuff, who am I to complain? 😉 Go to it, by all means!

Aunty, I agree with you that I did not like the parts you mentioned above in the Jodha-Jalal scene but here is what I liked:

- Jalal shouting "makode" to get Jodha closer (still the foot apart, but still closer)

- Jodha finally praising Jalal for things she cannot take credit for , e.g., his knowledge- at least the hunars is now a two-way street

- Loved the way Jalal talked about being a father

My Take 5: Now for what I liked on Saturday.

1) The hidden sketches on that map, appearing and disappearing when warmth is applied or removed. This seems to be one better than the standard invisible ink, which does not disappear once it has been made visible by the application of heat. Maybe it is like the Marauders' Map in Harry Potter, which needs a khul ja sim sim!😉

Anyhow , it was great fun, like a Famous Five or Secret Seven mystery, and I was trying to guess whether the khazana Mahaam was referring to was a real treasure or a secret that could make her powerful once again. And there was no Javeda around to grate on my poor nerves!

Yes, Maham still continues to be a delight

2) The Borgia-style poisoning, watched with spine-chilling matter of factness by a superbly dominating Mahaam. It was like a scene from a medieval thriller by Alexandre Dumas. I loved the way in which she did not hesitate even a second before cooking up that perfect story to account for the corpse. Ruqaiya is not a patch on Mahaam for sheer brains and inventiveness.

Yes, and she had about two minutes to think of it!

3) The mysterious Chand Begum, who seems to have given the slip to her bored guards and actually got to the temple just in time to slip her missive (probably the dark cave in which she was held is well stocked with writing materials!😉) into the palki that she somehow found out was Jodha Begum's.

No, I am not going to pick holes in a script which already bears a marked resemblance to Swiss cheese.😉 I am not even dismayed that none of the soldiers noticed that blanket shrouded figure creep up to the palki; that is typical in every day and age!

I think she convinced one of the guards to take pity on her ... But Jalal and his begums need a new security team!

4) The revelation, to Jodha, of Jalal's inability to read and write. Cleo had once advanced the hypothesis, based on some readings, that Akbar might have been dyslexic, a fascinating idea. I presume this will eventually be tied up with the mystery of the letter that eventually led to the dhakka.

You were right! The letter mystery is solved on Jodha's end.

5) Jalal (or at least I hope that too is not shown to be Jodha Begum's brainwave!) at last thinking of something on his own and getting Tabassum to make that Chand Begum's portrait.

Yea, there was a re-emergence of Jalal the detective

I am not too excited about his grim pronouncements re: the Raja of Panna. They might well be turned on their head if and when Jodha Begum explains to Jalal how the law of sanctuary is inviolable, and that thus the Raja of Panna, as an honourable Rajvanshi, could not possibly have turned his sharanaarti over to the Mughals (which, by the way, is perfectly correct). Mark my words.

At least his first reaction was still angry! 😆

NB: I don't know if you folks noticed it, but Jalal, when he tells Jodha that she should henceforth taste everything that Ruqaiya would eat, ensures 2 things.

- one, that Ruqaiya would from now on have to become a vegetarian😉, and

- most bizarre of all, two, that his Jodha Begum might well pop off while tasting something that might be poisoned!! The latter was unbelievable; how on earth would he let her take the risk?

Half the forum is livid on that! I think he just meant that Jodha was in charge of it or oversaw it 😆

Shyamala Aunty

Originally posted by: rpeez

Divi,

I quite liked the Maha-episode. Of course I liked the marathon of the episodes of the entire week right before it. By the end of it I guess my face was like ☺️. It helped that my parents had gone out, and I was glued to the TV, after which I had to practice some deep breathing exercises to get my face to its natural colour. 😆

Are you making fun of me for doing deep breathing exercises before I write my takes?

And yes, after an entire week of Ja Jo and Ruqaiyya, a few faces made their way back, most notably, MA, TM and SB's brains. 😆

The brains are back!

Maham - I know she was ecstatic after having two plum landed on her lap, but, i seriously don't know, how a treasure could bring her son to the throne? MA if it was money you wanted, you could've asked your son. He's got plenty stashed away thanks to his extra-curricular activities.

I think it is a document that will help her get power

Ruqaiyya - Her ham acting is getting on my nerves big time. If I were you Ruqqu, I would have asked a bandhi to get some tomato ketchup from the kitchen poured it all over myself,and screamed "MC!", MA is desperate and very very dangerous. Did you see the way she killed that bandhi? Cold blooded.

Did they have ketchup back in the day!

Meri billi mujhi ko meon? Jallu asked Jodha "Aap yahan?" when she came to his hojra. Classic!

I loved it!

I loved the glow in both their eyes when Jalaal said he would like to treat Jo the way she treats Ruq when Jo gets pregnant. Awww! (Although for a moment I imagined him teaching pre-natal yoga to Jo)

😆

Awww ya ... I was singing he song from Abhimaan for them

Ruqqaiyya's condition is like that of a person stuck in a quicksand. She's getting deeper into the trouble. What fun!

Really fun!

Awesome post!

Thanks!

Originally posted by: sashashyam

My dear Divya and all her readers,

This is not about the mahaepisode at all, but about something that seems very likely to happen to Jodha Akbar and its TRPs.

So many here have been faithfully charting the ups and downs of the TRPs for Jodha Akbar, some in the (apparently vain) hope that if they fall, Ekta and her crew might be impelled, indeed forced, to improve their currently slapdash and substandard product.

Now, for these depressed multitudes, there is hope on the horizon. Anurag Kashyap will soon be airing Amitabh Bachchan maiden outing as a TV actor, Yudh, on Sony. Access for the majority of the cable/ DTH audience, who all subscribe to the ZEE, Sony and Star Plus groups even if not to Colours or the HD channels, will thus be guaranteed access to Yudh.

Apart from the terrific pull of Amitabh Bachchan, for the first time ever on TV, and in a tailormade role - judging by the trailer aired last night during the IPL final - and the prestigious director, the series also boasts of a glittering cast in terms of talent - Kay Kay Menon, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Sarika, et al.

The production values are bound to be excellent, and the 35 odd episodes should be gripping viewing for all age groups above 16, and to the thinking sections of the audience as well.

Moreover, Sony, which seems to thrive on CID reruns, will have plenty of slots for endless repeats of Yudh. So, if it is slotted as a prime time daily. ie 4 times a week, like Yashraj's Kismat, Jodha Akbar, along with the other 8 pm shows, will be facing very stiff competition indeed.

And that might, if all works out the way I hope it will, be Jodha Akbar's salvation.

But of course if Ekta's kismat prevails, and Yudh is aired only on weekends in 1 hour slots, Jodha Akbar will be sitting pretty and we can expect more of what has been dumped on us of late. alas!

Shyamala Aunty

Originally posted by: divyavm

let's hope for the best ... Competition is the best for us as they will improve the show ... I think EHT has also taken a few viewers from the forum. Let's hope Amitabh Can revolutionize Indian TV after KBC! Or at least, revolutionize our show!

Originally posted by: mandyg

divi, i too think this will at least open ekta's eyes as to what needs to be improved and if it happens trps will suffer big time!