Prologue
As I have mentioned earlier also, I started watching this show since the suicide track. The first character to make a huge impression on me was Jalal. I didn't know the story that had transpired earlier and was, therefore, not aware of the mental, emotional and psychological framework of Jodha. My introduction to the show was through my mother-in-law, who was and still is a huge Jalal fan and she filled me in about the previous story through Jalal's eyes. And for a long time, I would be upset with Jodha for being so "obnoxious" with Jalal, while he seemed to be making so many reconciliatory efforts. Even my introduction to the forum was through posts that presented Jalal's POV and I couldn't bear to read posts where he was "being pulled down".
However, being a woman, I soon found myself empathizing with Jodha and identifying myself with the situations she found herself in and her reactions. Now I knew her as my own "image" or "soul sister" and she could do nothing wrong.
There would be moments, especially in the Ben track, when I would be extremely put off by Jalal. I couldn't bear to look at Benazir - she would make my skin crawl and I couldn't understand why a person who had such a beautiful, intelligent, talented and kind-hearted wife would even look at another woman, leave alone a kaneez.
My feelings have oscillated between the two many times till finally they found the balance between the two extremes. Now I could watch the show without getting upset with either of my two favourite characters.
Jalal is around 22 odd years in the show. He has had a tumultuous and checkered past and, in his heart of hearts, always sought unconditional and selfless love for himself as a person and not as the emperor. Yet the irony was that he didn't know what love was or even that he was in quest of this elusive miracle.
He had been brainwashed into believing that possessing a heart/soul and experiencing finer feelings/emotions would weaken him as a king and lead to the downfall of his sultanat. He had been caged and trained as a heartless king whose sole aim in life was to consolidate and expand his kingdom. Since his childhood, he was emotionally blackmailed into believing that only Bairam Khan and Mahamanga were his well-wishers; that they had saved his life and taught him everything he knew till date about fighting wars, politics, administration and devising tactics/strategies for running an empire.
It took him around 5 years to emerge from Bairam Khan's shadow and it's only recently that he has started coming into his own, freeing himself from the clutches of the petticoat government of Mahamanga.
He is still finding his foothold in the murky world of kingship and learning about his vast empire. He is learning about the real people who comprise his riyaya and their problems. He is learning about age-old customs that are making life difficult for the common man. He is learning about corruption in his administration that not only prevents war spoils from reaching his treasury but also adversely affects the lives of the masses in unseen ways.
Most importantly, he is learning to make his own decisions, relying on his own good judgment and conscience to guide him down the right path.
He may have been born as Akbar but the epithet of "The Great" is still far from him. He has started down the path and is making slow progress. Sometimes, he goes two steps forward and one step back. Sometimes, he falters and falls. But, he is not giving up. His vision is clear. Every time, he falls, he gets up, dusts himself and moves on, learning something from the experience in the process.
To expect him to have the wisdom of age and experience when he is still at the threshold of youth and just learning the ropes is doing him a grave injustice.
It is natural to have certain expectations from a legendary emperor still revered and celebrated in folklore for his wisdom, compassion and tolerance. Even I fall prey to these expectations from time to time. But, at such times, it is necessary to shift our perspective and ask ourselves if the seemingly negative situation we see on the screen can be looked at from any other angle.
The Todarmal Case
The Todarmal case is an intriguing one. We have wondered why Jalal did not do more to establish the innocence of a man who had saved his life twice and had pledged his undying loyalty to Jalal.
When I first saw the promo in which Shehnaz blames Todarmal of assaulting her, I was horrified. In fact, to tell the truth, I didn't watch the ME because I couldn't bear to see an upright man being tried on ignominious charges. But, I have thought about Jalal's behavior many times since.
Yes, he could have taken more time to decide upon the case, investigated the case himself, or at least sentenced Todarmal to prison, instead of handing him the death penalty. Did the CVs give Jalal a raw deal only to establish Nari Shakti? Perhaps not.
Jalal has always been emotional and taken decisions influenced by his feelings, even if unknown to him. This has been so right from the beginning and not just after his discovery of his dil. The emotions may have varied but they have always guided him. In the beginning, these emotions were mostly negative and later they turned more positive and noble. These very emotions have determined all his relations too, including his mother, Jodha, Mahamanga, Ruqaiyya, Abul Mali, SD, Adham Khan, Mirza Hakim, Bakshi Bano and Todarmal.
When Todarmal was accused of such a crime, Jalal was shaken to the core. He has only recently started trusting some people and filling his inner circle with them. And when the initial evidence all pointed to Todarmal and Todarmal himself kept quiet, without furnishing any proof or argument, Jalal felt as if his trust had been abused yet again. And he took the harsh step of sending Todarmal to the gallows the very next day.
When anyone Jalal trusts intensely seems to fail his test of loyalty, Jalal gets sucked into a whirlpool of overwhelming emotions of betrayal and a feeling of having been used for selfish reasons. At that point, Jalal has an uncontrolled desire to lash out at that person and hurt him/her as much as they have apparently hurt him. We have seen this with Bakshi Bano, Jodha (so many times, esp the Sujamal track) and Mahamanga. And this we saw again with Todarmal. Just as Jalal wanted to throw out Bakshi, Jodha, Mahamanga from his life instantly, he threw out Todarmal too.
I am not defending his actions. It is ethically not the right thing to do. But based on his past behavior, this is the conclusion I have reached.
Now, why Todarmal? Why not SD or AK? I had also pondered on this question. Then the answer was given by, who else, Abhay in this link:
https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/post/108776723
It was (and still is) quite common for people to level allegations of a gross nature against those in positions of power and influence.
Abhay later told me of another incident in a PM. He said Birbal was once accused of an 'indecent act", as per Badayuni. Akbar was ready to punish Birbal for that. Luckily, the charge was proven to be false. Akbar was happy not to commit the "mistake" of punishing Birbal.
War Track
Similarly, in the recent war track, I was pretty upset watching Jalal shedding tears in solitude. His fears and insecurities, his worries and woes didn't bother me. It is quite common for a king with an insufficient army to worry when a larger army suddenly attacks his kingdom. The one thing I couldn't swallow were his tears till I was reminded of an old PM from Abhay.
When Jalal had cried at the mazar after Jodha's vishpan, I had discussed with Abhay whether Jalal was really so emotional. Abhay told me that in reality also, Akbar (note Akbar, not Jalal) was known to show his emotions sometimes. For instance, he cried openly in the DEK at the death of Abul Fazl.
Coming back to our show, Jalal was captured almost as soon as the war began, and that too, in an incredulous manner. Mansi pointed out in a wonderfully positive post that it was essential for Jalal to be out of the way so that the rest could prove their loyalty and courage. Couldn't Jalal have been just sent somewhere else to fight the war while the ladies defended themselves from Abul Mali?
May be he could have been sent somewhere else. But then there would have been a unit of the army ready to defend the harem. Secondly the ladies would not have been so emotionally wrought as to have turned on to the enemy as a tsunami and simply wash it away. The emotional maelstrom was an essential ingredient and it was what galvanized them into a cohesive unit under the aegis of Jodha. Otherwise, would Ruqaiyya or Mahamanga have agreed so readily to Jodha as the commander? Doubtful. Third, the begums would rather have hidden in the network of surangs dug for their safety than fought the enemy.
In other words, the whole situation was created by the CVs to showcase Nari Shakti and what women can do when pushed to a corner by overconfident and chauvinist/feudal men.
By the way, for those who despaired why Jalal trusted his sister Nigar and walked dumbly into her trap, Jaya (deejagi) gave this answer:
It was, no doubt, unfair to poor Jalal. But, the TRPs dictate story lines and this track too went that way.
Gorilla Man Track
Possibly, many people might have complained to Zee and so they have launched the gorilla man track to showcase the strength and smartness of Jalal exclusively. And to balance the scales between Jodha and Jalal, this time, Jodha will be the tortured captive, while Jalal will be the courageous David who slays the Goliath.
This track is certainly cringe-worthy and not really the kind of track we would like to see in order to witness Jalal's warrior skills and smart brain. But, it serves the purpose of the CVs, who want to refurbish Jalal's image. And it really doesn't exaggerate Jalal's abilities because he was known to have fought with his bare hands with a tiger.
Last Note
We are also witnessing the sequence of Jodha waiting for a chance to inform Jalal of her pregnancy in the DEK. This is reminiscent of how Jalal was informed in court of Jodha's pregnancy (when she was expecting Salim) and it was decided to move her to Fatehpur Sikri.
https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/jodha-akbar/4031171/akbar-muz-kids-part-6-ja-is-not-fiction
All in all, the tracks might be a bit OTT or swinging in the direction of one lead or the other from time to time, but most of them are inspired by history, if not actually based on real events. So let's give our long-suffering Jalal a long rope and stop cursing the show as Ekta's FF. 😊
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