Friends, kya kahen, paisal wasool episode! I just sat through the whole 22 minutes with my mouth open and my eyes peeled to the screen so as not to miss even a single cross-court volley! The first segment of the episode yesterday was all about Jodha gathering the women of her gang one by one, thanks to little Rahim showing them all that even he was willing to chance his arm with his small one-foot sword. Shame and guilt then made all the women of the harem decide that they couldn't let it be said that Rahim was ready but they weren't.
Jodha then in full war mode, gave some great naraas and one liners that made all the women chorus in union that they were "hamla ready". Salima showed a moment of utter greatness a la Jhansi Ki Rani, by strapping Rahim to her back and thus giving him a ringside view of the whole war. Hamida became the hot oil specialist, Zakira stirred pots and pots of deadly poison, all the mirchi available was fine ground to flingable powder and every woman was carrying a different brand of weapon.
In the eerie light of the night, Maham's white robes flowing all around her body already gave her the look of a prancing ghost. But when she wielded her sword at the attacking men .. oh boy, was she a picture of "hell's fury". She not only made holes in men with her sword, but with her build and muscularity literally lifted enemies off the ground with just a flick of the sword blade and then landed them a few feet away , whereafter she then sliced into them elegantly like she was cutting her birthday cake. Resham was not to be left behind, as she upheld the repute of the khwaja sera clan.
And what can I say of the strange "Singles versus Doubles Match" of Mali versus the Begum twins Ruq and Jodha. Mali swung his sword like a skipping rope as Jodha and Ruq ducked or jumped alternately, not letting him catch them once. If there was a gold medal for synchronised gymnastics, Ruq and Jodha would have won it and the anthem of the Sultanate would have been played as their national flag was hoisted behind them.
The part I liked best of all ...at the very outset Mali sitting on his high horse gives the call to his troops to move - whereupon his horse decides to do a "wheelie" when Ruq aims an arrow at him, and drops Mali like a sack of potatoes on the ground. After that low-level start, what could Mali have accomplished from his inelegant posture as a commander on all fours? I wasn't therefore surprised when Jodha at one point sneered at him and called him "Neech!" with a curl of her upper lip.
The other part I loved was Jalal in the precap. After seeing Jalal's words to Nigar falling on deaf ears, and his withstanding boiling water being poured on him, in the end our very own Rewa-returned Mansingh is seen having helped Jalal free himself from the chains of captivity. And then Jalal with his hair askew and his mouth twisted and bleeding (and still managing to look as handsome as ever) lands a thwack-kaboom on the face of a sipahi daring to stand in his path as he runs, no doubt, towards his begums. Little does he know that the harem is on fire!
Anyway enough of this preamble, because I am dying to tell you the whole story.
The episode begins where the last one left off ... Jodha is holding aloft Jalal's sword and saying to all the women around her "Whoever wants to join me or not, I am going to make my fate with this talwar of the Shahenshah. Whether I win the battle or die for a cause, at least my husband and my praja will be proud of the way I went. No one will cry on my death, but they will feel proud for sure. Are any of you ready to give me company?" The women who a moment ago kept admiring her words of inspiration suddenly put down their heads in shame and fear because they were not yet ready to make the ultimate sacrifice.
A small voice suddenly barged upon the scene. "I will go with you for war Choti Ammijaan", said little Rahim from behind the folds of Jodha's skirt. Holding a small one-foot talwar, he added "So what if I am a small size, I too will go to war". Jodha looked at the brave little thing behind her and marvelled at the big heart inside the little body. Salima was beaming at her son in that moment and Hamida was bursting with grandmotherly pride. Ruq came forward to Jodha and then said "What? Are we all so crestfallen that even a small child has to be braver than us in this moment? No, I too will die but I will die after I have killed the enemy! I don't know swordfighting, but I have learnt archery. I am with you, Jodha Begum!"
Other women then began to wipe off their tears one by one, and a look of deep determination started seeping into many pairs of eyes. "I won't thank you for your help Ruqaiya Begum, but I sure will congratulate you for your courage," Jodha said. She lifted the sword of Jalal again and said once more "We will win or die!".
The elderly Hamida then couldn't stop herself from coming forward. "I too am with you Jodha Begum, I have seen enough bloodshed during my life with Badshah Humayun!" Moti then said biting back her fears "I too am with you!" Resham and Maham nodded at each other and Resham came forward on behalf of them both to say "We too! Let the enemies see that we khwaja seras too don't wear bangles!"
Suddenly a voice appeared from a low level as Zakira came forward and said "I too am in. I am small but believe me I can make the deadliest posions you have ever seen. The enemies will find their souls out of their bodies." Soon Salima, JijiAnga and Gulbadan swelled the ranks of the ready and willing. It was just a matter of seconds then before the whole group counted itself in. Ruq, moved by the occasion said poetically "Let the enemies now understand that the same "harem" they coveted will now make their lives "haraam".
Jodha then shouted with sword held high "Jai Bhavani" and was met with responses of "Allaho Akbar" , as they all roused themselves into a fighting frenzy. Jodha was breathing heavily by now filled with the zeal of heading this mission.
In the cavern where Nigar was incarcerating and torturing Jalal, he was seen with his hands tied high, his shoulders creaking with pain and his bleeding face leaning heavily against his hands ... but that animal look in his eyes was unmitigated. He was as feral as ever, despite all the torture. "There are just a few hours left for your death, Jalal, and if you wish you could do a good deed before you go" said a smug looking Nigar, looking at him with pitying eyes. " And if you do as I say, I will do you a good deed by giving you a dignified death." Jalal despite his fatigue had not lost his sharp tongue. "Do you really think I reserve any trust on you regarding good deeds?" he asked sarcastically. "I need to pray to God for your own deliverance."
Nigar, finding him to be no softer than he was before even after this torture then said "OK, then let's make a deal. You show me where my mother is and I will save your favourite Begum from her definitely unsavoury fate and I will give her also a dignified death." Jalal tried to make this dolt of a girl understand through her thick head "The Begums you are talking about are your relatives too. I am unable to believe that someone like you is the daughter of the great Humayun!" Nigar retorted "I too can't believe you are the son of my father Humayun. And you are lecturing me about relatives after incarcerating my mother?" "Oh for God's sake," said Jalal though his clenched teeth, "here I am saying it again, I have not incarcerated your mother." Nigar was unmoved. "Telling lies does not hide the truth. I have myself seen her in captivity." "If I knew that I would have let her free long ago" shouted Jalal, but Nigar returned "Telling stories now doesn't change kismet. You will not give up, you are stubborn. Now watch how I take revenge for my mother's treatment by throwing your Begums to the wolves. It's a fact that after your death the Delhi and Agra takht will be mine and I will find my mother. But by then, thanks to your mulishness, your mother and your Begums will see a black fate!" Nigar goes from there but Jalal remains shouting behind her "Nigar Apa, you are under the wrong impression!" but an unfriendly hand weilds a stick on Jalal's head and renders him woozy again.
In a forested area, Todarmal and his troop of sipahis come upon a clearing where the sipahi says "This is where I saw a lot of enemy bodies here before, where are they now?" Todarmal then shouts to all "We will not return without tracing the Shahehnshah ... onward troops!"
Back at the harem khema all the women are now seen ready and dressed for war, with turbans on their heads and martial clothes on their bodies and with all sorts of "weapons" in hand. "We are all ready now" says Jodha, and Ruq adds "We will kill the enemy or die ourselves in the cause". Hamida, Gulbadan and JijiAnga march forward in their martial attire with a purpose. "Fill these pits in the ground with oil or water and fill them with burning sticks. When the enemies dare to step into our territory, we must be ready to shower them with burning oil, scalding water and the angry embers of the fires here" Hamida says. Gulbadan orders all the chillies from the kitchen to be ground into fine powder ready for welcoming the enemies with.
In another part of the forest, Adham has killed a lot of Abul Mali's sipahis but when his henchman congratulates him, he is rueful. "What's the use", he says, "I am forced to fight for the man I want to kill, Jalal". "Shhh" warns the henchman. Suddenly a sipahi of Adham's comes there with "bad news" that Jalal has gone gaayab and is believed to have been captured. Adham feigns sadness and prays for Jalal's life. But out of hearing of the messenger he says "I am utterly happy today. Kismet is kind to me and this is the chance I was waiting for to stake my claim to the throne." The henchman grins in agreement as they both proceed.
At the harem khema, as each woman is engaged in getting ready to ward off the enemy, Maham is seen doing what she does best. She is dictating terms to the sprinkling of male sipahis that form the first line of defence to their harem khema. "All of you have a chance today to show your bravery" she shouts like a Commander of an army of thousands. "It's time for you to repay the salt of the Mughal Sultanate that runs in your blood" she shouts melodramatically. "Hail Jalaluddin Mohammed Akbar" she then chants as the men dutifully raise their swords to match her high pitched screams.
Elsewhere in the harem khema, Zakira is busy mixing all sorts of concoctions together to make a deadly poison. "When this falls on enemy bodies, they will die instantly" she explains calmly as if she has loads of experience killing people. "Wonderful" says a nearby begum amazed by her prowess, "the enemies will never have seen such weapons before."
At the central hall of the harem khema, Jodha and her "soldier women" are all assembled. One of the Begums says plaintively, "But Jodha Begum we are wall women, how will we face the men?" Jodha tersely replies with her voice sounding like steel "If a woman comes into her own, even death cannot conquer her. Till today history has written about the Badshahs, but from today the begums will get their due credit too." One of the begums unsheathes a knife and says "First time I am handling this, but there's no fear in me now". Jodha then cries aloud "Today we will not just fight, we will win. Women have so far either drunk poison or done jauhar, but today we will raise weapons for self-protection. Now there's no going back. Maa Durga is with us. The people's love is with us. Our love for our King is with us. VIJAY HO!" The women respond to this blood curdling cry with "FATEH HO!" and the air is rent with single-minded courage. Jodha touches Jalal's sword to her forehead respectfully and gathers from it the fortitude she needs.
Abul Mali meanwhile, outside the harem khema, is seen getting restive. He tells his Man Friday "Tell them this is their last chance to surrender to me or there will be no mercy." At the same time Jodha is on her side of the divide, just outside her khema, inspecting the vats of hot oil. "Let's be ready now for attack any moment" she tells her women in a low voice.
Meanwhile Hamida notices little Rahim standing away from his mother. "Salima Begum, you should be out of the action and caring for Rahim, for he is too young" she says. But then Salima astounds her and everybody by telling Rahim to climb onto her back, and holding him thus perched and clasping her shoulders, she lashes him to herself with her dupatta, and squares up for war. Jodha feels mighty proud of Salima! Hamida says "What a blessed man Jalal is. Every one of his Begums is a gem!" Jodha's hand goes to her stomach where she too is carrying a baby. "I can't tell anyone that my own child too is with me at this moment" she says to herself.
It is as if this baby she is carrying is still keeping her in touch with Jalal, for at the moment she touches her stomach we see Jalal back at the cavern ... unfortunately enduring even more unbearable torture. Buckets of scalding water are being poured over him almost hot enough to boil him. And that is followed by bone-chilling cold water enough to break his guroor. But he withstands it all as the invincible warrior that he is. As Jodha is still in reverie about Jalal, though, a khwaja sera informs her that Abul Mali's man wants a word with her.
Jodha goes up to this messenger. The man says "Abul Mali says he has reached the end of the tether. He cannot countenance any further delay, so you people better get ready to welcome him. You forget you are no longer Begums of the Sultanate ... you are Mali's property." Jodha lifts her sword in deep anger and holds it to the messenger's neck. "Go and tell Mali that we do not surrender. And if he is man enough let him come here and face out attack. Go now and tell him!" Jodha shouts. The messenger returns to Mali.
Mali kicks the messenger because he presumably doesn't like the message. He and his men then utter war cries as they decide to advance on the harem khema. There they meet with the sipahis guarding the harem as the first line of defence. A very violent fight ensues but unfortunately the sipahis of the Sultanate suffer heavy casualties because of their fewer numbers in comparison with Mali's men. Mali and his men then run towards the entrance of the khema.
Mali alone is on a horse while his band of men are on foot. "Come on out!" he shouts at the women hidden inside. "I haven't got all the time in the world to await your audience. If you value your lives grab this last chance and surrender." The bravado however is not matched by the behaviour of Mali's horse. It unelegantly unseats him (when Ruq aims an arrow at the horse) and Mali finds himself on the ground in an ungainly heap. He is looking squarely at Ruq with bow and arrow in hand saying "Shahehshah Jalauddin's Begums don't bend their heads to men who have fallen at their feet."
"What are you all waiting for?" Mali from ground level shouts in desperation at his recalcitrant troops, "Go and attack". As Mali's men start moving forward, a battalion of haremites emerge from the khema, wooden batons in hand. Mali barely gets to his feet when a tray full of mirchi powder is sprayed all over the advancing men. Meanwhile Jodha is making merry with her sword slashing every male body in sight. More trays of mirchi follow relentlessly filling the air like clouds of lethal dust. A sight for sore eyes indeed! Mali is left stunned looking at even Salima, with Rahim on her back, cutting up his men with her sword. Jodha meanwhile is lunging and swaying with hysterical frenzy maiming the enemies to the front and back of her. There is not an ounce of mercy on her belligerent face. More chilli powder followed by a rain of Zakira's poison covers the attacking men as they drop their weapons and start holding their faces in pain. Hamida meanwhile is regulating the flow of hot oil and boiling water and embers that get sprayed liberally over the flailing men. Mali's troops start falling like ninepins!
Jodha then slashes her sword so hard at one particular attacker that she probably cuts him up into two. She can't believe what she's done but one look at Salima confirms her successful move. Meanwhile the relentless Salima is raining blow upon blow on another hapless enemy. "What the hell is happening?" Mali mutters to himself. One of his fleeing men, with his face burnt by chilli powder shouts to Mali "Oh heavens, these are not women, they are deadly sipahis. They are using weapons we've never seen before." And with that he bolts.
Mali is looking at the writhing and limp bodies of his men slowly dying before his eyes as his troops dwindle in number. Jodha and Moti at one point find themselves back to back fighting enemies in front of them as they exchange fleeting smiles. But then comes into the foreground the woman of ultimate action - Mahamanga! Dressed in her white flowing robes, she looks ghoulish and like a messenger from hell. She slashes wildly and lets her sword blade mow down any and every male body in its path. Mahamanga looks like she is the body builder of the female pack. With a heave and a shove she gets most attackers off herself and then swipes her sword into them like cutting birthday cakes. "Eeeoowww" she shouts as she sinks her sword into body after body. Maham is spectacular!
The fight starts escalating till all we see is ferocious arms and swinging weapons, and women with deathly intent, and men with draining adrenalin. When there is a small bit of reprieve, Mali runs forward to snatch Ruq and unfortunately in the momentum she loses her bow. "You'll be the first one I break, Begum-e-Khas. What will you do now? " asks Mali with dripping sarcasm, but the fight in Ruq doesn't let her give up. She pulls out an arrow from the quiver on her back and points it straight at Mali ready to gouge out his only eye. But Mali turns her around and starts holding her in a stranglehold. Ruq feels the breath leaving her body but suddenly a friendly sword slashes into Mali and he is forced to leave Ruq. It is Jodha!
"Neech" Jodha calls Mali, "how did you even assume Ruqaiaya Begum has no friends? Come and discover how wrong you were to put your "burri drishti" on the harem." Mali then gets viperish. He slashes hard at both Ruq and Jodha, both of whom duck or jump whenever the sword blade passes them and thus evade all attempts by Mali to touch them. The Mali versus the Doubles Partners of Ruq and Jodha is sensational. It goes on and on with both sides unyielding till suddenly Jodha brings Mali down to his knees, and holds her sword against his neck. "Women are no one's property to win by attack, Abul Mali," says Jodha circling him "If women give themselves to men they do so only for love. And anyone daring to put a "kudrishti" on women will end up facing a Chandi! What did you say? That we have to surrender to you? We will surrender only to our thirst for self-respect" ... and with that said in an escalating voice Jodha slashes at the fallen Abul Mali's arm viciously, almost removing it from his body. "I won't be surprised if the women from your harem start joining our side now for I can just guess how you treat them with your "kudrishti" ",says Jodha. "You are Jalal's brother-in-law and that has saved you so far, but today we simply have to punish you." So saying, she then lands a huge last blow of her sword across Mali's back.
The action ends there for this episode. But in the precap there is good news twice over. It looks like Jalal has freed himself from the chains of Nigar, and he is speaking actually to Mansingh(!) who seems to have helped him get free. "A wounded tiger is even more dangerous" Jalal says spitting even more blood from his twisted mouth. He is dishevelled by certainly not down. He then pushes Mansingh aside as he lands a huge blow on one of Nigar's sipahis running towards him.
Folks, Jalal is back ... and how!
My comments on this episode:
Of all the episodes of Jodha Akbar that I've seen so far, this one yesterday must be the most satisfyingly action- packed one. Every available sound effect was audible as the battalion of ladies of the harem of Jalaluddin Mohammed Akbar launched into the hapless troops of Abul Mali that outnumbered them ... but alas, had not been trained to close their eyes against mirchi powder .
I thought the action scenes were superbly executed. There was more action here than we have seen in the war scenes we have seen so far. There was a lot of simultaneous action - and even as some substantial action was going on in the background to create the ambience of chaos and bitter fighting, we were treated to a medley of individual action cameos in the foreground of different women holding their own and landing blows on the men they were taking on. Quite surprisingly the women did not at all look like they were playing Dandiya. Their moves were very professional-looking, and I won't be surprised if Jalal came to see all this and decided henceforth to make this women's battalion act as the vanguard of his great army!
The direction of the episode too was superb, and the lighting, sound effects and mood were spectacular. The shots of the mirchi powder flying up in the air as clouds of angry dust - and then painting the soldiers faces red - were awesome. When have we seen so much action in just one segment of an episode and yet felt as if we have seen everything there is to see in a huge war? The theatre of action was small and congested but all that added to the fully-absorbing quality of this sequence.
Sentimental stuff was beautifully mingled into the fight for life, as were moments of comedy. Jodha and Ruq battling for each other, Salima stringing Rahim onto her back, and Maham flicking sipahis away from her like she was swatting flies ... everything was well planned, well-acted, well executed by the Director and well-scripted down to the last detail, no doubt. It is difficult to make a war look natural, because on a TV screen it has to flow like a choreographed dance of bodily movements and yet retain that feel of danger, destruction and deadly fervour. Actors have to know exactly where they have to be at every moment, what they have to do, where they must turn and how far they can fling their arms for it all to get captured correctly on camera. The Director has to know exactly when to cut and show another corner of the same war from another angle. People's faces have to retain intensity even as they get focused on getting the cutting and thrusting right.
I want to take a moment her to cheer for and roundly applaud the Creative Team, the Director and the actors for giving us not just a lifelike experience of the "harem war", but actually letting us enjoy its many meaningful moments which were aplenty.
I want here to pick my favourite twelve parts of the whole episode, because these will always stay in my memory:
1. Loved the way Rahim came with his baby sword and his childish diction and said he too will join the war even if he is very small. Made the older ones mightily ashamed to be staying back when the small child could show them the way. This kid is already a Navaratna to me!
2. Loved the way Zakira came forward to say openly "I am the master of poisons. I can give you the kind of poisons that separate men from their atmas." Superlative stuff, that!
3. Loved the alliteration that Ruq could not help but utter in totally filmi style dialogue when she said "Abul Mali, you thought you could attack the "harem" but we will now make your lives "haraam". Seeti maar dialogue!
4. Loved the way Salima strapped Rahim to her own back and did a terrific imitation of the greatness of Jhansi Ki Rani. And loved the way she then wrapped Rahim hands over her shoulders and held his hands together for him so he wouldn't slip off. Rahim was looking like a little monkey but an utterly cute one.
5. Loved the way Jodha touched her own tummy and said to herself "I too am carrying my own baby for this war" and the minute she sensed the baby in her, scenes of Jalal were shown parallelly to hint that the baby was the connector between his parents.
6. Loved the way Abul Mali came on a horse in full splendour and then his horse kicked up its legs (in response to Ruq's arrow) leaving him splat on the floor, on all fours. Good entry for a war attack!
7. Loved the way Jalal was looking even in captivity ... his hair tousled, his face dabbed with ketchup here and there and his face grimy. But what can I say of his bedroom eyes, looking drowsy and slitted!Ufff, uff, uff!
8. Loved the way Maham was exhorting the troops to fight for the salt of the Sultanate running in their veins! Giving her full-throated Commander-in-Chief type pre-war speech to her entire battalion of ... ulp, ten sipahis?
9. Loved the "eeooowww" cry Maham gave after carving an enemy sipahi with elegant restraint. She was enjoying her own finesse, wasn't she?
10. Loved the way Ruq lost her bow when faced by Mali and then pulled out a single slim arrow aimed at him as her "weapon of mass destruction". She reminded me of Sita telling an ill-intentioned Ravana that even a single straw of hay is enough to protect her chastity.
11. Loved the way Jodha came to Ruq's rescue when Mali strangleheld Ruq, and then had enough time and more with Mali on the ground to give him a full speech on being a "neech" and having "kudrishti" ... and how women must offer themselves to men with love and not be commandeered to give themselves to men. Loved the way the normally voluble Ruq was also silenced by this Jodha speech and was showing signs of being impressed. (I don't think Mali understood the concept of "kudrishti" though!)
12. Loved the way Jalal rose like a roaring lion after Mansingh released him from his chains (Mansingh I can kiss you, cutie pie!). Loved especially the feral look in Jalal's eyes as he said "A wounded tiger is even more dangerous" and then went for the sipahi closest to him with a godawful thwack! (Jalal you are back, my boy!)
Accha, now I have to reply a special request I received by PM from Rima. She wrote to me like this:
"Hello Mansi, i am a regular reader of your daily analysis thread. I have 1 request. I will be grateful if u can fulfill it. I have made a post too but till now did not get any replies. My confusion is regarding Maham ... why was MA fighting, she is not a well wisher of Jalal now, she wants Jalal to lose and Nigar to win, she had even made plans to unite with Nigar,so why was she fighting today? Was that all just for a show ? My request is if u can just mention this in your analysis, if u can just mention what do u feel about it, why did MA fight so valiantly, what are your explanations and deductions? Sorry to bother u dear."
Rima, Maham had no choice I think, because if she had not fought along with the women there may have been suspicion over her loyalty - and on the other hand by agreeing to fight she showed that she too has loyalty, and that's the impression she wants to give all. The other reason could be that when her life too is in danger via an attack on the harem she too needs to defend herself.
Even Adham, I feel was shown as if he was fighting reluctantly on the side of Jalal and he walks from that spot thinking Jalal is now captured and he can go and get his takht. But I suspect that when he finds his mother fighting Abul Mali's men, he will again have to come to the rescue of the harem ladies and thus continue to be on Jalal's side.
Maham and Adham want to be against Jalal, no doubt, but circumstances are such that they are forced to fight on Jalal's side despite hating Jalal. One more point that strikes me is that Maham is on Nigar's side for sure, just so that she can hurt Jalal ... but I don't know how Maham feels about Abul Mali. We haven't had a chance to see yet how Maham vibes with Mali, so we don't know if Maham feels good or bad about Mali's attack on the harem.
I've tried to answer your question Rima, but I am sure others on this thread will also add their arguments to this topic.
Folks, I think this war is by far not over yet. We still haven't seen the back story of how exactly Mansingh came to the cavern to free Jalal, when Todarmal had no luck himself in finding Jalal. Also, when Jalal runs to the harem now, Nigar is sure to follow, and then Jalal will refuse to fight Nigar (as a sister and a lady) and so I think Jodha will have to have a one-to-one fight with Nigar. Nigar may get captured. Now I am dying to see how Chand Begum is introduced into this whole fracas and how she puts Nigar straight on her captor being Maham and not Jalal ... and then what action does Jalal take on Maham. And finally when exactly is the war declared over and does Jalal send the Mahchuchak armies fleeing? I think, if I am not mistaken, Thursday and Friday will also be pretty action-packed.
Members Lounge
CID
