Originally posted by: sashashyam
Raksha, your take on tonight's episode is a scream, and I can barely see the monitor for tears of laughter. But folks and my dear Divya, here is my impressionistic take on the whole.
Shyamala Aunty
Jodha Akbar 278: The Shahenshah is back!
That was just it, folks, WHAT a relief it was!!
And Ruqaiya had a truly grand scene (how come the CVs let it thru intact, with all those splendid lines?😉) which was the clincher in bringing Jalal around. She was not just forceful, she drew on her lifelong acquaintance with Jalal to press all the right buttons. In no particular order:
The naam of the Jannat Aashiyani Shahenshah Humayun, the shaan of the Mughal sultanate, the awaam.
She demanded that the old Jalal rise again. The Jalal who had picked up the shamsheer at 9 and become Shahenshah at 13. The Jalal who had never forgiven an enemy of the Mughal sultanate. He now had to decide whether to write history with his shamsheer, or let the sultanate become history.
That the Shahenshah first and primary bond was with the takht, and all his loved ones came only after that.
She very neatly wove in his dil and his mohabbat and then swept them off the board by asserting that the sultanate and the awaam did not now need an dildaar aashiq or an affectionate brother, but a sangdil sipahi who could destroy his enemies and protect his awaam.
The terrible fate that would await his begums if he did not fight, and the degradation that the conquerors would inflict on his mother: that was truly a master stroke.
Even while dismissing Nigar's claims on him as his sister by citing what all she had done to him, she gave Jalal a way out by pointing out that he need not raise his shamsheer against his sister, but raise it he must, to fulfil his vow and his duties as the Shahenshah.
It was like the best drill sergeant's rallying speech I have ever heard, and no wonder, with her exhortations and Jodha's more ponderous lines ringing in his head, Jalal finally comes around.
The thing is that both she and Jodha essentially said the same things, about the Shahenshah's duty to his subjects, about the need to set personal relationships aside to fulfil this duty, and so on. The difference was in the way Ruqaiya put it.
She was far less staid and preachy, and she couched her arguments in a way that was far more accessible to Jalal than the very strong Krishna-Kamsa example (one presumes that Jodha did not mean this to be taken literally re: Nigar!).
Plus, Ruqaiya drew on her intimate knowledge of Jalal and her years of experience in handling him. She also appealed to his pride in his heritage, his love for his father, and his deep sense of responsibility for all those under his care - his begums, his mother, or the awaam - far more tellingly and effectively than Jodha.
Who was, for the first time ever and to my great astonishment, given a sharp rebuff by Jalal and summarily dismissed. It was noteworthy that he did not say anything dismissive to Ruqaiya, for all that her bhashan was far longer and far more assertive than Jodha's . Plus he turned up in the human chess room when he got her message, even at such a time. Clearly, the habits of a lifetime were asserting themselves; he has long been used to listening to Ruqaiya, plus they share a fierce commitment to the aan, baan aur shaan of the Mughal sultanate, which is visceral and instinctive, not a recently acquired loyalty like Jodha's.
It would never have occurred to Jodha to summon the Shahenshah to the chess room!But one has to hand it to Jodha. She has no ego, especially when it comes to gathering support for any cause she holds dear, and she is objective enough to realise the advantages that a childhood friend would have over her in such a situation. I only wonder whether she ever found out that Ruqaiya had gone to Jalal after turning down her request to her to do so. I hope she did.
Now I suppose Jodha and Ruqaiya will go to war against just Nigar, while Jalal & Co. take care of Mahachuchak's army, plus Abul Mali's henchmen. One is thankful for small mercies; I had fully expected that Jalal would sit weeping in his hoojra while his begumath took to the battlefield.
Mirza Hakim is apparently still in the role of Lakshman. Wonder what Mahachuchak would do to him when she gets her hands on him!
Shyamala/Aunty
Hindi TV Shows
702