My dear Divya,
As usual, I will take the short cut that you always insist on, and instead of commenting in detail on your neat and comprehensive post, will simply reproduce mine,which is more of an impressionistic take on this episode. There is bound to be some overlap, but my choices are different, and I have already started mourning the downward slide in Todar Mal's intelligence, as revealed to us by what was shown last night.
Shyamala Aunty
Jodha Akbar 271: Tangled skeins
The scene I really liked last night was the one of Adham Khan's horror and disgust when he realises what his mother has done to another woman, that too a Begum of the Emperor Humayun's, for his sake. It was as revealing and touching as it was unexpected from Adham. And Chetan played that very well.
I can understand the appeal of these Jalal-Jodha scenes, but the angoori bagh ones are boring and repetitive, what with him always leaning his head on her shoulder or lying in her lap. I prefer it when the lady puts her head on the man's shoulder! š This way, he always looks dependent on her, which is perhaps what they want to show. .
Plus, in this angoori bagh scene, Jodha's facial expressions left a lot to be desired. She looked like a wax doll for the most part.And the range of her expressions was so predictable and dull. Look blank, look sulky, make a mini-bhashan (though what she said about the inestimable value of his life as compared to that of anyone else made sense).
But I liked their scene the day before a lot (despite it being the wrong shoulder! ), especially when she speaks at length about her determination never to leave him alone from now on. It sounded remarkably like what the historical Jodha would have been like.
The downside of love: Also, as I wrote to a young friend yesterday, contradicting her view of the matter, I do not at all think that Jodha was in any way chalu in not going to comfort Hamida on Thursday but going straight to Jalal instead.
The fact is that Jodha is now panic-stricken at the very idea of losing Jalal, which came out very clearly in that scene in the Angoori Bagh, and again at the meal. She should have insisted straightaway on tasting the food herself rather than asking Hamida Banu to do it, and she does that in the end, but her impulse was understandable.
This kind of ever present fear is the downside of loving anyone, a husband, a parent, a child. The spectre of loss haunts you, especially when the danger to the loved one seems omnipresent, as it is for Jodha now.
So, the main emotion in her after she learns about the latest attack, and that too thru her gift, is misery, coupled with panic. So she rushes to him, as he is the only one who can fully understand her fears.
Ruqaiya and Salima can be rational, as they are not so mortally afraid for Jalal. Jodha cannot, and this is why she does not go to her Ammijaan but to her beloved husband.
Ridiculous goings on: What I could not understand is why there was no food taster in any case; that was mandatory in the imperial court.
Why, when the Air India people load food on o the PM's aircraft, someone has to taste the items. In the mid-1970s, when I was a very junior office, a Vice Consul, in Geneva, PM Indira Gandhi's Boeing 707 had to provisioned like this. There was none else in the Vice Consulate at that particular time, so I acted as food taster myself, and I must say I enjoyed myself, for the food was delicious!š
So what they showed last night, with Mahaam and Ruqaiya objecting to the food tasting proposal of Jodha's, was ridiculous.
Plus, why did Hamida invite Mahaam to this meal, when she knows that Jalal does not even acknowledge her presence? Bizarre and inexplicable, don't you agree?
Todar Mal loses his marbles: As for Todar Mal, after that very sensible scene with Zakira, he seems to be going downhill, and fast.
When confronted with the really chalu Shehnaaz, and her burnt hand that is a carbon copy of his own, I cannot understand WHY he did not go to Jalal at once, and inform him about his suspicions. Then it would have been for Jalal to take a call on it.
Instead, he wanders around chasing her for no discernible purpose, and ends up being conned by her, into being seen by Jodha and Moti with Shehnaaz's hands in his. It did look odd. How can such a clever man suddenly act so foolish?
Lady Dracula: As for the Malika-e-Kabul, she is not funny any more,but really scary. How I wish this Dragon Lady - or perhaps Lady Dracula given her kinky taste for human blood - had married that mottathalai thadiyan (Tamil for bald thug)! It would have been a match made in Heaven! š
And that poor, benighted bali ka bakra would have been spared. My heart goes out to the kid, looking at Lady Dracula with a kind of horrified fascination, like a bird staring at an advancing snake, so paralysed by fear that it has forgotten that it can fly.
The Mahaepisode clashes with Dhoom 3!!: Oh, well, I am not looking forward to the mahaepisode. It is clashing with Sony's telecast of Dhoom 3, so the TRPs will plummet. Who will choose Jodha Akbar over Aamir Khan in Dhoom 3? Not me! The channel is as stupid as the JA CVs, it seems. I will watch it on Sunday.
Shyamala/Aunty
