Friends, the minute the episode yesterday began with the Kabul scene of Mahchuchak visiting the animal-man, my heart sank. I had the feeling that this was going to be the usual kind of blah Monday episode, and it largely was. But there was a bit of a twist in the tale, and so the episode was tolerable.
At Kabul there was a big fallout between Mahchuchak and Nigar. In the first place Mahchuchak made it known to Nigar that she was put off by the war losses and Nigar should be ready for another war. The old woman almost made the younger one look guilty for the poor war she had fought and lost. But Mahchuchak did not tell Nigar about her simultaneous plans to introduce the animal-man into Agra. What beats me is how her son-in-law, Abul Mali, however did get wind of this animal-man plan. Maybe he has his ears firmly to the ground.
Anyway, in private Abul Mali started telling Mahchuchak that Nigar was the reason for the losses in battle. Mahchuchak at this stage confided in Abul Mali that Nigar was just a pawn being used by her to get at the Delhi takht farman and the khazana left in her name by Humayun. After that, Nigar was dispensable. Mahchuchak also added that it was she who had poisoned Nigar against Jalal although, God knows, Jalal would be the last person to incarcerate Nigar's mother Chand Begum, for Hamida had done a thorough job of raising a "nek" son.
Unknown to Mahchuchak, Nigar was overhearing all this - and the girl soon realised that she had been played by the older woman and tried to make a run of it. Some sipahis were exhorted by Mahchuchak to stop her, but Nigar managed to fell them and bolted with the horse of one of them and rode all the way to Kabul to fall at Jalal's feet and beg pardon.
All this was on one side.
Parallelly, the issue of when Jodha was going to tell Jalal about the pregnancy became something of a suspense. Jodha in her khema betrayed her state almost by vomiting in front of Jalal, but thankfully this incident passed without too much fuss. But later after they had all returned to Agra, Jodha sought Jalal out to ask him for a date at the DEK that evening as she had something to tell him. Again not suspecting anything in particular Jalal agreed, for he too wanted time with her alone.
But suddenly then Nigar arrived at Agra on a horse, tired and remorseful - and everyone's attention got diverted. In the precap, Nigar told Jodha she could not easily forget all that had happened for she knew Jodha was pregnant and had perhaps fought the war in that state! Jodha was shocked to know that Nigar knew ... but how?
Now there are two things that strike me here:
a. If Nigar knows that Jodha is pregnant, what are the odds that it may be Nigar who tells this to Jalal and thus Jalal gets angry with Jodha that he had to hear this news so late and that too from someone else?
b. How far can we trust Nigar? If Nigar is genuinely remorseful and now against Mahchuchak some progress can be made on the Chand Begum discovery front and the logical storyline would then lead to Maham getting caught. On the other hand, Diksha seems to have a doubt that Nigar may still be anti-Jalal for we don't yet know her true motives. What if she gives Jodha's and Jalal's blood to the animal man to sniff and thus helps in the Jodha kidnap?
The whole story takes on added dimensions of confusion if Nigar is as yet untrustworthy and we then start suspecting her of engineering bad blood between Jodha and Jalal by telling Jalal of the pregnancy ... or for siding the animal-man in his kidnap. If on the other hand Nigar is trustworthy and has genuinely switched her allegiances, can we hope that she keeps Jodha's secret of her pregnancy from Jalal, and later also helps Jalal in his rescue of Jodha from the animal man? This Nigar is an unknown quantity and so the immediate storyline will probably be dictated by what she does or does not do.
Overall we seem to have these three parallel tracks to watch out for:
1. Nigar remorse and re-induction into the family
2. Jodha telling Jalal of her pregnancy
3. Arrival of the animal-man into Agra
How these three tracks will intertwine, and how they will all come to a head at the jashn that Jalal will eventually throw for the happy news that Jodha is pregnant will have to be seen. But as with all of Ekta's jashns, we can expect a "high event". We are now due for a mega episode so I won't be surprised if the jashn becomes the story of the mega episode.
Will all this jashn happen by this week, so that we have the kidnap-rescue by next week, and the Chand Begum hunt by the week after the next? I sincerely hope so, because I can't take more delay on the issue of Jodha telling Jalal about her pregnancy and him getting angry ... and I certainly can't take more than two or three days of the animal-man and his kidnap and slaying. If by the end of July this whole kidnap saga is over, I hope we can we get onto closing the other loops such as trapping Maham on the Chand Begum issue by the first week of August.
Okay, now here's what all happened in this episode:
The episode opens on Mahchuchak at Kabul. Along with Fazal Beg and the long-suffering Haider, she is visiting the cage where the hairy and obnoxious animal-man is kept. En route Haider is so stressed out that he doesn't hold the mashal properly once, and then he drops the mashal once to the floor ... for which he is each time scolded like schoolboy. Eventually they reach the cage where the bodyguard in charge of the animal-man is whipping the animal-man soundly and repeatedly, to get him "prepared" for the Agra trip. It appears the animal-man has to be so ill-treated that he is frothing at the mouth for revenge and then he is unleashed on the hapless enemy of Mahchuchak.
Mahchuchak refers to him as her Khyber Zara, and asks the bodyguard if he has been prepared well. "He is my weapon" she says. The bodyguard then says that he needs to be given the smell of Jalal's blood, for when he smells someone's blood, he goes crazy to kill them. Mahchuchak thereupon informs Fazal Beg that he has to somehow procure Jalal's blood for the animal-man to sniff before he is unleashed on Agra. For good measure, Mahchuchak herself then whiplashes the animal-man at least ten times to make personally sure that he is hell-bent of revenge.
At her khema in the army encampment, it is night ... and Jodha starts singing a lullaby for the baby inside her. Jalal suddenly enters the room and asks why she is singing. Jodha says she was unable to sleep. Jalal too admits that he is also unable to sleep. His problems are with Nigar. Unless they find her mother and somehow catch Nigar and explain everything to her, he will have no peace and this war would have been futile. "I think I should get her here and give off her dues of the inheritance" says Jalal. Jodha says she understands. He own father made the mistake of alienating Sujamal by not giving him his due.
Jalal is about to talk further about Sujamal and his prowess, when suddenly Jodha starts vomiting. Jalal gets immensely concerned and calls for some water to drink. When Jodha is sufficiently recovered, Jalal then makes her sit on the bed, berating her for straining herself. "You need a lot of rest" he says, but she demurs saying "I am OK, Shahenshah!" "No you are not OK" he says before he leaves her to sleep. As Jalal leaves the khema, Jodha talks to herself that soon the time and place will be right to tell him about the pregnancy.
Nigar meanwhile is seen visiting Mahchuchak at Kabul along with Abul Mali. At first Mahchuchak seems annoyed with her for having lost the war. "I seriously doubt if you really have Humayun blood inside you", she scolds. Then in a sudden reversal of behaviour, Mahchuchak goes all coy on Nigar and cups her face. "At this rate, forget Delhi or Agra, we have lost even Punjab" she says in kindlier tones. "So get ready for another war soon now." In her own mind Mahchuchak congratulates herself that Nigar knows nothing of her plans to send the animal-man to Agra meanwhile. She thinks, "It's not enough to just get the animal-man to kill Jalal ... this Jodha too has to become our target for her role in winning the war." However Abul Mali, who has been listening to this exchange seems to have some inkling about this animal-man plan as he later reveals.
At the army khema, Jalal is busy talking to his courtiers, when suddenly Adham Khan walks up to Jalal. He is miffed and unpleasant. "I want to talk to you about my own subehdaari", he says, sounding disgruntled, "now even Mansingh has one and you have even promoted Atga. Everyone seems to be rewarded but me." Jalal looks at him sizing him up and then says "I will think about it when I get to Agra". Adham leaves Jalal, who appears lost in thought.
At Kabul meanwhile a whole lot suddenly starts happening. Abul Mali is talking privately to Mahchuchak which Nigar overhears by hiding behind a large pot. Mali is blaming Nigar for the battle losses to Mahchuchak. Hearing this Mahchuchak tells Mali, "Oh keep quiet, I now have a plan". "I know, it's the animal-man ..." begins Mali, but Mahchuchak silences him. She then says to Mali "We are both only using Nigar. Humayun has left a farman for the Delhi takht and a khazana in her name. Let that fall into our hands, and we can dispose of Nigar. The poor dear thinks Jalal is hiding her mother Chand Begum, but I know Jalal will never do that since he has been brought up to be "nek" by his mother. I have brainwashed this Nigar against Jalal for our own benefit!"
Nigar hearing this is so shocked that she immediately becomes utterly remorseful. "Oh my God, she moans to herself, "what have I gone and done to Jalal by becoming a puppet of this woman?" Nigar is just about to rise and run when her dupatta gets caught in the pot handle and she is forced to run without it. But that small fracas with the pot has alerted Mahchuchak who realises Nigar has been listening. "Follow her", she orders her soldiers. Some six or seven men then circle Nigar, but with some deft swordplay, using one of their own snatched swords, she manages to fell all the sipahis on her trail. She is just about to run when another sipahi on a horse charges at her. She fells him too, and then grabs the horse and rides away in flight. Mahchuchak curses her luck, for now her golden goose has flown.
Jalal and his entire entourage meanwhile return to Agra in style. The public are chanting his praises, and among the returnees are also Bharmal and his sons. Jalal thanks the public for their warm reception. Jodha is extremely happy that the hour is nearing for her to tell Jalal about the baby.
Meanwhile, just a little later, Jalal is conferring with Todarmal and Atga on some political matters when Jodha walks up to him and politely Atga and Todarmal withdraw. "You look very happy today?" Jalal comments on seeing Jodha. "Yes I am" she replies, "and I wanted to meet you privately at the DEK this evening". Jalal is intrigued but readily agrees, for he has been wanting to spend time alone with Jodha himself. But just as they are both talking, a sipahi runs up to tell them that Nigar has turned up at the palace gates - and both Jodha and Jalal and a host of others run to the gates to see this spectacle.
It is indeed Nigar, dead tired bodily, on a horse that she seems to have ridden all the way from Kabul. On the point of collapsing, she falls at Jalal's feet, and begs pardon and says she was completely misled to believe badly of him. The whole of the palace inmates are aghast at this U-turn of Nigar's.
"I am sorry, Jalal" she says "but if I must die let me die at your hands for the gunah I have committed." She almost flops down in a faint when Jalal suddenly puts a restraining arm around her and for a moment brother and sister seem to have been brought together by fate.
In the precap of the episode, Jodha is heard telling Nigar, "Forget the past, let's all start afresh, there is no other way." But Nigar only replies "But how can I forget, Jodha, that you are pregnant!" Jodha is utterly shocked to know that Nigar knows of her pregnancy.
My comments on this episode:
I have three comments to make after seeing this episode and the few episodes prior to this one:
Why did the Creatives need to bring this animal-man track at all?
I have been seriously thinking about this one, because bringing on this animal-man track does not seems to fit history (I have never so far heard of any historical fact that Akbar slayed an animal-man in the same way as we did hear he had slayed a tiger!). So if it is part of a"naatakiya roopanthar" then why this animal-man and this kidnap of Jodha and rescue by Jalal, and not some other storyline?
It then occurred to me that perhaps because of two reasons this particular animal-man character must have been thought of by the Creatives:
One, there is now a serial fast-growing in popularity which has a fictional body-builder character living in an other-wordly palace and doing some great beefy acts of prowess using his muscled body. We are not allowed to name other serials here but for those who like to guess, the character's name is five-lettered and starts and ends with H___M. If you see this character and his outlandish castles and the general landscape around his life it seems as if this whole Kabul palace has been modelled on one of H___M's abodes in his never-never-land. The hairy, muscled animal-man also looks like he's been inspired by H___M. The only difference is that H___M is a character who is by nature positive, whereas the same ambience of his home and his personal build etc. have formed the basis of a negative portrayal of Kabul and the animal-man in Jodha Akbar. This is one of the reasons, I think, why we seem to have such over-the-top acting, characterisation and sets and everything for the Kabul side of our story.
In addition to drawing inspiration from this other serial for the Kabul characters, I know for a fact that the Production House and the Channel have both been severely besieged by letters and petitions and phone calls that people did not like the war track at all where Jodha was shown to be actually the "fighting force" while Jalal was placed in the "captivity state". I have a strong feeling that with this kidnap of Jodha story, the Creatives are attempting a reversal of the war track situation. Here the hapless Jodha will be in captivity and Jalal will be the slayer-rescuer and thus the balance between the two will have been restored in audience eyes by the Creatives. I think this must be one of the reasons why this animal-man track was introduced so suddenly halfway through the war track, because it looks like a very recent and knee-jerk addition to the story and there were not many articles or spoilers or hints early enough that such a track was afoot ... till about two weeks ago when there was a sudden and rare SBS sneak-preview allowed of this animal-man. That smelt like something being dangled before the irate audiences to show that Jalal's opportunity for herogiri and the rescue of a captive Jodha would come soon!
Anyway, in my mind, the above two reasons for the introduction of the outlandish visual quality of the Kabul scenes and characters, and the sudden introduction of the animal-man sequence seem to make sense.
How did it help to create this "pregnancy news tension" between Jodha and Jalal?
The other question that's been working on my mind lately was why this "delay and tension" regarding Jodha's telling Jalal of her pregnancy has been created. One of the simpler explanations of course could be that in the midst of too much syrupy lovey-dovey-ness between Jodha and Jalal, a bit of the "fire-and-sparks" of tension could add some spice to their love life. What is love after all without some tension, some ire and then some kiss-and-make-up? Many people have PMed me that Friday's precap of Jalal and Jodha with some angry push-and-pull between them was reminiscent of the old "hot" days.
The simplest explanation of the Jodha pregnancy news going to Jalal therefore may be that Jodha herself tells him, but it comes so late that he gets miffed and angry that he wasn't told earlier. Whereupon she has to explain that she wanted to find the right time and place and he buys that eventually.
But this explanation aside, I am now wondering if there's also a possibility that other mischief-makers could be involved in telling Jalal.
Nigar is one of the suspects in my mind. If Nigar is back with mischief in mind, she needs acute watching. I have a suspicion thatshe could be the one who tells Jalal of Jodha's pregnancy and creates a small rift, and I also feel that she is capable of aiding the Jodha kidnap in some way, by supplying the animal-man the blood of Jodha and Jalal to sniff etc. How far Nigar has broken ranks with Mahchuchak is something we have to guess. At the moment it looks like she has fallen out with Mahchuchak, but we all know that flashbacks can always be shown on how they got into cahoots again before Nigar left Kabul for Agra?
Aside from Nigar being the "pregnancy sneak", I also have my attention caught by Sharif and Bakshi who seemed less than friendly as the whole entourage returned from the encampment back to Agra yesterday. Sharif and Bakshi also look like candidates to me who may get satisfaction by sneaking to Jalal of Jodha's "secret", and that is if they have somehow got wind of the fact that she is pregnant. Bakshi in particular looks suspicious to me for she is the one who will be most benefited by "outing" the pregnancy news. Bakshi will be subtly putting Sharif in his place with respect to lusting after Jodha if she is the one who makes Jodha's pregnancy known. And Bakshi may well have an inside track with the hakima community on account of her own pregnancy.
Whatever the reason for Jodha and Jalal's tiff, I am however sure it will be short-lived as we know Jodha then happily wears the Mughal livaaz and participates in the jashn thrown for her by Jalal. During the jashn I expect two big things: one, the kidnap scene itself, and two, some sudden change in Ruq's behaviour after knowing that Jodha is pregnant and in line for the MUZ title. I wouldn't be surprised if Ruq makes a 360-degree turn in behaviour.
Is another track being readied for the fall of Adham and Maham?
The very small scene yesterday between Adham and Jalal seemed to show us an Adham very miffed now that Mansingh has been elevated and given his own subehdaari. This scene coupled with the fact that Mahchuchak was telling Abul Mali all about the Humayun farman and khazana for Nigar, and about Chand Begum not being incarcerated by Jalal ... all these bits and pieces of dialogues sounded like a return to the story of Chand Begum and Maham's part in it, and the future track of Adham being caught for financial fraud.
Somehow, now that the war track is over and the kidnap track will be over in about a week or ten days, it looks like some foundation being set for the Adham/Maham downfall track.
The thing that I would watch closely is how Maham is taking this return of Nigar to Agra. As long as Nigar had fled the war , Maham was on safe ground. But if Nigar has returned with remorse, and Jalal sets out on an earnest khoj for Chand Begum, Maham is in trouble.
Further Chand Begum is no longer in that old surang, she is now in the surang adjoining Maham's room. So things should be interesting especially if Chand Begum on her own decides to bolt from captivity.
Adham's disgruntled state along with Maham's fear of getting exposed should set them both up to overplay their hands, so let's wait and watch!
CID
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
