Take 5: An end of an era; update on Friday's episode on page 15 - Page 10

Originally posted by: adianasr

Mishti, the curse matters only to Jodha becoz she actually believes it - it is said that the person who keeps uttering that something does not matter and they dont believe as Jodha has been, it actually means that this does matter to then - and it matters becoz she does believe in curses and becoz she is going to give the waris, sorry but that is the way I see this - it matters to Jalal becoz it shattered his belief in MA as the mother who would not harm the "SON" come what may and not becoz he believes in curses.

Originally posted by: ngayou

Divs, hearing that lori rendition I was reminded of Shivaji Ganesan s movie 'paasa malar s' last scene. Dont know if u recall it , but there was a similar scene between him & Savitri & u know what great performers both are. But unfortunately, today this scene just didn't have the same impact inspite of these two very good actors, possibly bcos the basic premise of the scene was wrong totally 😕 . A very evil woman was given a hero s farewell just bcos of the goodness of heart of Akbar , & not bcos of her repentance or any such thing. And so it didn't strike the right chord at all seeing how less her maternal love for her foster son was, again an imbalance in the love quotient, a son that truly loved his badi Ammi, but her love was never selfless , but just a power hungry obsession or possessiveness as u say.

You ve written about the beautiful journey so far of Jalal with MA & to focus on it. But I really don't know why these CVs can never bring any track to a beautiful conclusion , except for the tortuous Ben track which saw Rajat s very powerful act, his act alone made the whole track almost good. Then the Sujamal track , again RT did a phenomenal act, but u know how farcical the final reunion was 😕. And Atifa track also u know how it ended 😕 . And now this track. Inspite of both these good actors, the death scene was a letdown & never covered the most important points at all of MA realising her sins & her repentance . Instead , we got her excuses & socalled justifications for her deeds & trying to make Jallu the wrong party. How to enjoy the journey & have fond memories of it , tell me, when we r given such a dismal end . Sorry, Divs, there will be no end to my rant with regard to MA s end.

Each of ur well written points citing the journey of MA alone or with Jalal just underlined to me more & more of how badly the end was shown. Could nt find much positive to say, even on the actors' performance , that's how it waa for me. And the baddua, what purpose it served I dunno except for giving that burning takt & a crybaby Jallu running away from his responsibilities 😡 . And the precap, felt like sending Shaguni bai alongwith MA if her reference to curse meant MA s curse 😡 . Moron writers!! 😕

The thing is that Pasamalar climax was purely between brother and sister, no third person. But yesterday's climax was all about Jodha ki Jai ho. There was nothing between the mother son that could touch you. Even if MA was evil, had she wept for the hurt she caused Jalal, truly and from the heart, had they recollected their past with fondness, it would have equalled Pasa Malar. But this Jodha ki Jai is spoiling everything about the show. From the time that the show has begun to give Jodha a larger than life image, and belittling Akbar, it has become pathetic.

I am continuing to watch it only and only for Rajat/Jalal. But if he continues hamming the way he did yesterday, I think, I will stick only to wu and Divi's threads.

Originally posted by: Sandhya.A

Gayatri

The kai veesamma kai veesu in Pasa Malar could bring tears even in the most cynical viewer. But yesterday's lori had most of us rofling, though both were poor renditions.

The thing is that Pasamalar climax was purely between brother and sister, no third person. But yesterday's climax was all about Jodha ki Jai ho. There was nothing between the mother son that could touch you. Even if MA was evil, had she wept for the hurt she caused Jalal, truly and from the heart, had they recollected their past with fondness, it would have equalled Pasa Malar. But this Jodha ki Jai is spoiling everything about the show. From the time that the show has begun to give Jodha a larger than life image, and belittling Akbar, it has become pathetic.😕

I am continuing to watch it only and only for Rajat/Jalal. But if he continues hamming the way he did yesterday, I think, I will stick only to wu and Divi's threads.😕

Originally posted by: sashashyam

Jodha Akbar 334: Mahaam triomphatrix!

Yesternight - I caught the 11 pm repeat telecast and was pleased to see that some of my predictions of the day before (on Khushi's thread) had come right, which was a nice change!

1) Mahaam did NOT repent for anything she had done for which she had been caught and found guilty - neither the Atifa plot nor even the baddua. No question, therefore, of her confessing and seeking forgiveness for her hidden crimes, beginning with her serial killings of Jalal's unborn children. This was no whimpering, apologising weakling.

So there was no question of Jalal giving absolution to a "repenting mother". Sorry, Khushi dear !

It is another matter that Jalal, who is busy first reminiscing about his childhood with his badiammi and then weeping all over her, does not know about 90% of Mahaam's crimes against him and his family. I would have thought the Atifa track would have been bad enough, but apparently all is forgiven provided the criminal is clever enough to be dying. Still, I wonder what he would have done if he had read the whole catalogue of her crimes, beginning with the serial miscarriages.

Jodha of course would not acknowledge these crimes even if they stared her in the face, for she is now fixated on playing the angel of mercy and forgiveness.

2) Mahaam finally deigned to "accept" Jodha, and exactly as I had predicted, Jodha was all gratitude for that and overflowing with respect for the woman who had nearly got her husband assassinated, and had kept Chand Begum in harsh custody for decades out of sheer greed, and managed to drive her out of her mind. Jodha is not bothered now about any of that, for after all Chand Begum was not Mainavati. Or maybe she would have been as full of forgiveness even if it had been Mainavati!

3) Mahaam condescended to lift the baddua ( which seems to be like a purchase in a US department store, returnable at will ) not because she had changed her mind, but as a quid pro quo for Jodha having given her the great happiness of getting her Jalal to see her at long last. Now that too was interesting, and in character. I liked the fact that Mahaam kept her end up till the last.

It is another matter that the baddua, like a shraap in the Hindu tradition, apparently cannot be taken back, at least as per Shaguni Bai, and so Hasan and Hussein will have only very short lives, and Ruqaiya's hard own gains will be as dust and ashes.

4) Jalal wept enough to flood Agra, again as I had known he would. As for the rest of the grieving multitude, they seemed to be operating on the principle that all is forgiven to one who is dying.

The triad of principals - Jalal, who looked throughout like an undertaker's assistant (who is duty bound to look even more mournful than his boss the undertaker😉 ) and wept like a tap in full flow, a wailing Mahaam who pulled out all the stops and drowned Jalal in an ocean of treacle (it was noteworthy that she had now completely stopped coughing, and was able to deliver all those long lines without being short of breath! ) , and Jodha, properly tearful and secretly rejoicing that her "reverse psychology" had worked at last - all hammed away to glory.

The final lesson to be drawn from this display of unbridled emotionalism was that one need not spend one's whole life being loyal to the emperor, ending up by saving him even with your dying breath, as Atgah Khan did, to merit such a grief-filled farewell. Mahaam, by trumping Atgah effortlessly in this regard despite her endless crimes, proved that it is possible to fool at least some people all the time. Especially those like Jalal who, as I wrote yesterday, seems to be an emotional haemophiliac, bleeding all the time for the assurance that he was truly loved.

I don't know about you folks, but I was hard put to save myself from being drowned as well in this sea of facile sentimentality. Oof...!

Shyamala Aunty

Originally posted by: adianasr

Mishti, the curse matters only to Jodha becoz she actually believes it - it is said that the person who keeps uttering that something does not matter and they dont believe as Jodha has been, it actually means that this does matter to then - and it matters becoz she does believe in curses and becoz she is going to give the waris, sorry but that is the way I see this - it matters to Jalal becoz it shattered his belief in MA as the mother who would not harm the "SON" come what may and not becoz he believes in curses.

Originally posted by: Sandhya.A

Aunty

Yesterday's was one of the worst episodes ever. To even imagine I had expected it to be good enough to inspire you into another post in Dhwani!

I thought that a befitting farewell was due ONLY if Maham repents for the hurt she caused Jalal. She need not have confessed her serial killings or her other plottings. She could have just cried and sought apology like King Lear asking him to let go of the bitterness caused by her actions and think of her as in the past. This is what a person desperate to see her son whom she has wronged would do in her final moments.

But no. Everything in JA begins and ends with Jodha Begum ki Mahaanta.😡

Originally posted by: sashashyam

Jodha Akbar 334: Mahaam triomphatrix!

Yesternight - I caught the 11 pm repeat telecast and was pleased to see that some of my predictions of the day before (on Khushi's thread) had come right, which was a nice change!

1) Mahaam did NOT repent for anything she had done for which she had been caught and found guilty - neither the Atifa plot nor even the baddua. No question, therefore, of her confessing and seeking forgiveness for her hidden crimes, beginning with her serial killings of Jalal's unborn children. This was no whimpering, apologising weakling.

So there was no question of Jalal giving absolution to a "repenting mother". Sorry, Khushi dear !

It is another matter that Jalal, who is busy first reminiscing about his childhood with his badiammi and then weeping all over her, does not know about 90% of Mahaam's crimes against him and his family. I would have thought the Atifa track would have been bad enough, but apparently all is forgiven provided the criminal is clever enough to be dying. Still, I wonder what he would have done if he had read the whole catalogue of her crimes, beginning with the serial miscarriages.

Jodha of course would not acknowledge these crimes even if they stared her in the face, for she is now fixated on playing the angel of mercy and forgiveness.

2) Mahaam finally deigned to "accept" Jodha, and exactly as I had predicted, Jodha was all gratitude for that and overflowing with respect for the woman who had nearly got her husband assassinated, and had kept Chand Begum in harsh custody for decades out of sheer greed, and managed to drive her out of her mind. Jodha is not bothered now about any of that, for after all Chand Begum was not Mainavati. Or maybe she would have been as full of forgiveness even if it had been Mainavati!

3) Mahaam condescended to lift the baddua ( which seems to be like a purchase in a US department store, returnable at will ) not because she had changed her mind, but as a quid pro quo for Jodha having given her the great happiness of getting her Jalal to see her at long last. Now that too was interesting, and in character. I liked the fact that Mahaam kept her end up till the last.

It is another matter that the baddua, like a shraap in the Hindu tradition, apparently cannot be taken back, at least as per Shaguni Bai, and so Hasan and Hussein will have only very short lives, and Ruqaiya's hard own gains will be as dust and ashes.

4) Jalal wept enough to flood Agra, again as I had known he would. As for the rest of the grieving multitude, they seemed to be operating on the principle that all is forgiven to one who is dying.

The triad of principals - Jalal, who looked throughout like an undertaker's assistant (who is duty bound to look even more mournful than his boss the undertaker😉 ) and wept like a tap in full flow, a wailing Mahaam who pulled out all the stops and drowned Jalal in an ocean of treacle (it was noteworthy that she had now completely stopped coughing, and was able to deliver all those long lines without being short of breath! ) , and Jodha, properly tearful and secretly rejoicing that her "reverse psychology" had worked at last - all hammed away to glory.

The final lesson to be drawn from this display of unbridled emotionalism was that one need not spend one's whole life being loyal to the emperor, ending up by saving him even with your dying breath, as Atgah Khan did, to merit such a grief-filled farewell. Mahaam, by trumping Atgah effortlessly in this regard despite her endless crimes, proved that it is possible to fool at least some people all the time. Especially those like Jalal who, as I wrote yesterday, seems to be an emotional haemophiliac, bleeding all the time for the assurance that he was truly loved.

I don't know about you folks, but I was hard put to save myself from being drowned as well in this sea of facile sentimentality. Oof...!

Shyamala Aunty

Originally posted by: adianasr

Sands, my guess is that we may be saved from the torture soon 😉😆

Originally posted by: sashashyam

This time around, Adiana, I agree with you in toto, especially re: @blue, which is spot on.

But if Jalal believed that Mahaam would never harm him come what may, why does he say, at the end of the Atifa track, that though she was ready to have him killed (though she had been asserting the very opposite loudly just then) he could not have her executed?

Shyamala

Originally posted by: ---Khushi---

Sands, my guess is that we may be saved from the torture soon 😉😆

Originally posted by: sashashyam

Sandhya my pet,

I am so glad that you are with me on this: I could hardly sit thru the episode. I was not looking forward to Jalal's weeping profusely, but I had not bargained for this wholesale whitewashing of pure, unrepentant, unashamed evil. Why, next to Mahaam, Lady Macbeth looks like a church choir girl!

Your @blue is perfect, but then, my poppet, Mahaam does NOT think she has wronged Jalal in any way. She does not apologise for anything she has done, and her accepting Jodha (as I had predicted on Khushi's thread) was not a change of heart, but an arrogant paying off of her debt to Jodha for having brought Jalal to her at long last.

Mahaam, in her passing, was exactly as my title makes her out to be, triumphant. Everyone has to die one day, but she made a far grander exit that poor Atgah, and that is what got my goat. Jalal wept over her far more than he did over Atgah, who lived and died for him. Such is life. The film was much, much better in this respect.

As for Jodha being glorified, I am by now inured to it. Now, I just want this mess to end soon. I agree, I could not have done a stand alone post on this episode in Dhwani, but see, I was so irritated by it that I had to put this up, here and in Khushi's thread as well!

Shyamala Aunty