Friends, those of you who did not watch the episode yesterday will be surprised to hear that it was a fairly good episode after all!
I must say I was expecting something really close to a disaster - and was pleasantly amazed to find that the episode was not at all as bad as I expected. In fact, it was actually better than most okay episodes we have seen in the last few weeks, not just in quality and pace of story progress, but even in content.
Two very important things took place in this episode to signal the change of phase in the lives of Jodha and Jalal.
One, the opening montage of the episode changed. We now have the montage that was used in the recent promo, where Jalal and young nine-year-old Salim are standing to one side while Jodha is on the other side. But, to my satisfaction, the expression on the faces of Jalal and Jodha did not look like an MU. They did look like they had "opposite opinions" on the bringing up of Salim but they did not look like they were gone to the level of fighting about it!
Two, the story carried on from where we left off in the previous episode with Baby Salim just a shade short of one year old. This continued for about two-thirds of the episode - till in the last one-third of the episode we had a time leap of eight years.
To make this leap extremely clear to all of us, the Creatives used the Akbar ka Makabra scene, where Jodha's soul is seen telling Jalal's soul "Eight years passed fast and our Salim became nine years old." Jodha's soul also then refers to the "other children" in the palace who were more boisterous and naughty while Salim was always the soft-hearted one living by his dil".
Meanwhile there was another boy with Murad, older than him, but his name was not mentioned. I got the impression that since he looked older even than Salim, he must be Javeeda's son.
The precap then continued on the theme of this new phase of life at the Palace now abuzz with a lot of kids. Jalal was practising sword-fighting with a young teenager who was fighting back rather fiercely. It looked to me like that boy could be Rahim judging by his relative age.
So all in all, if we also count in a possibly older girl in the posse of kids (Bakshi Bano's daughter) and a girl younger than Salim (Nadira alias Anarkali) we have quite a different generation running riot with life at the Agra Palace now! For convenience now I am going to refer to this new phase of Jodha and Jalal's life as the "Children's Phase" ...
What can we expect to see in the Children's Phase of this serial now? And how long will it last?
Folks, it's a little early days yet to see how this children's phase of life will be different at Agra for Jodha and Jalal. Will Ruq now try and work her chaals by brainwashing the sober and soft Salim, playing on his vulnerability to alienate him from his own parents, especially his mother? Will the Salim-Anarkali "child-romance" get too much space in the storyline and episodes? Will Jalal and Jodha's love continue to be shown as evolving and satisfactory for us fans? Will there be side stories of Sharif and his fleeing, the fight with Jalal and the death of Sujamal etc. on the lines of what happened in history? Will they continue to show the growth and roles of the Nine Gems at the Palace?
There are a lot of questions that can be asked here on how this phase will shape up.
But we have one big clue as to how long this phase of the story may last ... yesterday there was an article that said the child-actor playing Murad had been contracted for three months i.e. till January. So could we then guess that at least till January, or say, February, we may have the storyline stationed at the current "children's phase" before another leap may occur around Feb where Salim becomes a teenager?
I am just guessing from the article that came out yesterday. Also, I am trying to correlate the article with what Manish Paliwal (the Balaji writer) has been tweeting that this children's phase will be about six months. The question I have is: Have Balaji and Zee frozen their plans finally to confirm that the childrens' phase will last about four to six months? Is it four months or is it six months? Can we breathe a sigh of some relief that the BIG LEAP to a teenage Salim will only happen in Jan-Feb or later - and at least till then Rajat and Paridhi will continue?
If the answer is Yes, then I think a lot of people may - and should - come back to watch the serial seeing that this childrens' phase may not be so bad after all! I got the feeling yesterday that the episodes may not be so bad if our expectations are low. If we do not expect Ruq bhandaphods ... and we can tolerate Ruq trying to alienate Salim from his mother ... and we are willing to live with Salim-Anarakali childhood romance in between Jalal and Jodha romance ... we may find the episodes bearable or sometimes even good.
Jodha and Jalal's pledge of love intended to set fans hearts at rest?
The episode began with Jodha holding Salim and standing on the balcony outside her hojra. At the back of her mind was the gnawing feeling that she had herself told Jalal to go to his other Begums the previous day. She asked Moti where Jalal was and was told that he was in the other part of the harem. Jodha looked very jealous but also tried valiantly to console herself that he could go where he wished, to whomever he wished, whenever he wished ... but time and again her stoicism disintegrated and she found herself back in the jealousy mode.
She peered over the balcony wall and caught sight of Jalal standing in the garden below talking to a lady whose face she could not see. Jalal was all smiles and all this was not helping Jodha's jealousy one bit. Suddenly though, the couple below moved away, and to Jodha's surprise Jalal appeared at her elbow, upstairs, next to her. He started teasing her about her jealousy while she pretended she was not bothered. But then she immediately betrayed herself by asking whom he was with and what were they talking about. Finally, after a bit of teasing, Jalal told her he had been talking only to his mother, Hamida!
Jodha looked relieved and yet a bit miffed that he had teased her. Jalal then set jokes aside and reassured her in a solemn voice "I can never stop loving you and go to other women!" He then added "If I did I am sure you'd kill me!" Jodha couldn't bear to hear words like "kill" fall from his lips - and so she hastily covered his mouth with her hand. Jalal then said "Well at least I've made you touch me!"
Now all this sounds like their usual teasing and banter, but I thought it was significant in yesterday's episode that the Creatives upfront gave the fans what they wanted to hear ... the sankets were clear. Jalal was going to be shown as loving Jodha, even if he may play pranks with her or have nok-jhoks or even serious disagreements ... and he was not going to jump into other Begums' beds either ... so we fans need not worry that this Children's Phase was going to lack Jodha-Jalal romance or that their disagreements will be such as to cause major MUs, or that Jalal was going to spawn a spate of kids through other wives.
I think lots of people have been tweeting the Creatives to ask such questions and so the opening scene of the episode seemed to be one where the Creatives made Jalal re-confirm his commitment and love to Jodha to set fans' minds at ease.
Thank God for small mercies.
Shaguni's sojourn to Agra and her role in prophecying the storyline!
The second point I wanted to highlight was this idea of the Creatives to bring Shaguni to Agra all of a sudden. It was a bit strange at first and I kept asking myself what was the purpose of it. But it then happened that Shaguni went into a torrent of prophecies concerning various people that gave us the contours of the storyline going forward. It was almost like Shaguni was prophesying the future storyline for us.
Shaguni first cast her cowrie shells and found it pointed like an arrow to a hut. It was the hut that Zilbahar and Rashid had made their home. Zilbahar was praying but got up to see this strange visitor. Without much ado Shaguni just started spewing her prophecy at her "You will not live in this hut long for you will be taken to the mahal by a woman ... your own daughter. She will give you a tough pariksha while also exposing you to mahal luxury". All this was astounding stuff for Zilbahar.
Then Shaguni reached Jodha's hojra and surprised Jodha with her visit. Jodha, carrying Salim met Shaguni, when Shaguni noticed the taveez on the baby's arm and said shrewdly "That is a sign of "rishta jud gaya hai" between two souls". She looked pleased.
Jodha then asked Shaguni about Salim's future. Shaguni once again cast her cowrie shells and said "This child will live by his dil' only. But his dil' will cause lots of hulchul. His pyaar will be of red color. His love will cause batwara in his mother's heart . You will be broken into two by love for him and his problems. But still he will be a great king. He will have two loves in his life. One love will break him and the other will heal him".
(No doubt the two women in Salim's life were going to be Anarkali who would break him and then Nurjehan who would make him!)
This prophecy seemed to throw Jodha into consternation. She was sitting at Kanha's feet praying when Jalal found her and he, despite his own troubled face, tried to calm her saying "Don't worry about this prophecy. It beats me too. We love Salim so much, so how is it that we will be at loggerheads with him? Anyway, let's cross the bridge when we come to it. And we always have Kanha to help through tough times, don't we?" Jodha agreed and looked a little relieved as they both prayed to Kanha.
I think Shaguni's round trip of Amer had done what it was intended to do ... it gave the audiences a walk-through of the potential future storyline. So here we have it all together ... we have a daayan with ulta paav who will try her best to despoil life at the Palace, we have a Salim bonded to Anarkali by a taveez, we have a future of Salim that is heart-lived but a problem to his parents, and we have this Salim falling in love twice, once with a woman who will tear him apart and once with a woman who may make him whole again. Story told!
More "divine bonding" reinforced between Baby Salim and Baby Anarkali! Yech!
Two parts of the episode were totally not needed, in my opinion, but the Creatives seemed to think they had to rub in this Baby Salim-Baby Anarkali bonding even harder into our faces than they did in the previous episode.
In yesterday's episode, they first showed something hairy ... out of the blue, Baby Salim came almost to lose his life as his heart stopped beating. This was wholly coincidental with Zilbahar going into labour. Jodha and Jalal were so alarmed that they may lose yet another baby that beyond praying hard they knew not what to do. Then suddenly as Baby Anarkali was born and took her first breath, here Baby Salim's heart started beating again. It was straight out of 1950s Hindi cinema of the "unbelievable miracle" kind!
Accha, if this was not enough "baby-romance" to set our hearts aflutter, we had another incredibly atrocious scene. At the DEK, Zilbahar and Rashid had brought their baby to show Jalal and Jodha. As Jalal had agreed before, he named the baby. He called her Nadira. As the four parents were discussing their babies, we saw a rather nifty bit of by-play by Baby Salim for Baby Nadira. He brushed her head with his chubby hand, and then - gadzooks! - he kissed her head! (He's got his father's head-kissing disease?)
What can I say folks? I am speechless! Who is the superbrain at Balaji getting such baby-moochy ideas?
All that happened in the episode:
The episode starts with Jodha holding Salim on balcony and looking for Jalal. She is upset to hear Jalal has gone to see other begums. She looks down at the garden below and he is talking with one begum. Jodha gets very jealous. Suddenly Jalal appears near her and teases her for jealousy and says it was only Hamida with him. Jodha acts miffed.
Jalal then tells her he can never stop loving her or go to other women - or she'll kill him for sure. Jodha covers his mouth to stop the words he is saying about killing. Jalal jokes that he has made her touch him!
Meanwhile Shaguni Bai has come to Agra and throws her cowrie shells down for a prophecy. It forms an arrow leading to a hut. She goes to the hut.
In the hut Zilbahar is praying and sees Shaguni. She comes to the door to meet her. Shaguni says "You will not live in this hut long for you will be taken to the mahal by a woman ... your own daughter. She will give you a tough pariksha while also exposing you to mahal luxury". Zilbahar is surprised to hear all this.
Ruq is walking in the palace grounds when she sees Shaguni going towards Jodha's room. She asks "Who is this?" and is told by her bandhi that this is Shaguni of Amer come to see Jodha. Ruq says "Oh, so this is Shaguni who gives prophecies?". As Ruq goes, Shaguni sees her footprints and says "This one has ulta paav ... she is a daayan".
Jodha and Salima are giving Salim a bath when Shaguni comes visiting. Jodha is surprised and goes out with Salim to meet her. Shaguni sees the taveez on Salim and says "Rishta jud gaya hai between two souls". Jodha then asks how will Salim's future be. Shaguni throws the cowrie shells and it forms an arrow. She says "This child will live by his dil' only". Shaguni then adds "But his dil will cause lots of hulchul. His pyaar will be of red color. His love will cause batwara in his mother's heart . You will be broken into two by love for him and his problems. But still he will be a great king. He will have two loves in his life. One love will break him and the other will heal him".
Later Jodha and Salim are praying in front of Kanha when Jalal also comes there. He tells Jodha "Dont fear what Shaguni said." Jalal however himself also looks concerned. Jodha says "Shaguni is always right". Jalal says "We love Salim. How can he cause us trouble? Anyway, let that time come and we will deal with it. And Kanha will also be with us as support. " They both pray to Kanha.
Then a voiceover says slowly Jodha started getting more confidence to face potential problems. But then one day suddenly Salim fell very ill and his heartbeat was about to stop. Jodha and Jalal got scared of yet another child loss and started praying desperately. At the same moment Zilbahar went into labour ... and at the exact moment when she gave birth to a girl baby, here Salim's heart started beating properly again. Shaguni cast her cowrie shells and was thrilled to see that all was happening exactly as per fate!
Later in the DEK Jodha and Jalal were shown the new girl child of Zilbahar and Rashid. Jalal as agreed gave the girl the name of Nadira. While the adults were talking about the joy of having their children, Baby Salim was caressing and kissing the head of Baby Nadira (Anarkali).
Then they showed the Akbar ka Makabra where Jodha's soul said "Eight years passed fast and our Salim became nine years old". Jalal' s soul said "He was always living by his dil' just like you." Jodha's soul said "The other children were rough and tough, but Salim was so different". They then showed Salim petting and releasing a dove, but Murad his brother, who was with one more unnamed boy (Javeeda's son?) hit the bird with his archery.
Salim was then seen running hard as he finally got to the hurt falling bird and his face looked devastated by the wound on the bird. The episode ended there.
In the precap, a swordfight practise is shown between Jalal and another fierce young man of teenage. His name is not told, but I suspect it may be Rahim.
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