Meandering Musings on Mughal Relations - Page 15

Originally posted by: RadhikaS0

Abhay

When I can see all the NRs of EK, I can see that NR too. 😛 I know the show you mean - saw its promo. It's based on a famous book and thankfully has limited episodes. And from the trailer I could make out that Salim is manipulated to try and kill his father so that he can become king.

Anyway, most likely, I will not really be watching any show after JA, not even the one you recommend. 😆

Originally posted by: RadhikaS0

Thanks, Ayushi!

I agree the writers here like you, Abhay, Charu, Priya, Rashmi, Sindhu, Aadhya, Lasya, Aashrita etc are all wonderful and I enjoy reading everyone's posts.

This is my last thread for sometime to come. Will be taking a break soon from forum for a few days. 😊

Originally posted by: RadhikaS0

@Aashrita,

@bold:

I don't agree with the word victim for Jodha. She is an educated, thinking individual. She used to stand up for justice for the downtrodden, whether it was Moti or Tasneem. In her own case, she maintained her dignity in the Ruq MC case and the Jodha FP case.

She may be ridden by guilt and suffering from shock and trauma after the twins' demise. But the erstwhile Jodha was strong under duress. Case in point, Separation track. It would have been a natural progression for her to stand up for her dignity and refuse to accept Jalal's accusations without demur. If she kept silent through the 3 years of separation and then apologized for no fault of hers to Jalal and Ruqaiyya, and went on, as if nothing was wrong, and continues to remain grateful to Jalal and Ruq for forgiving her and accepting her back, then she is to be blamed for her situation. She is "victimizing" herself.

Note that I agree Jalal and Ruq are at greater fault. But no adult becomes a victim without their own tacit agreement.

Coming to the second part of the post.

I do not have any issue with Jodha returning to Jalal and continuing to love him, putting the past behind. Many couples reach the point of no return due to many factors and then somehow work out things.

In fact, Jodha and Jalal had parted ways during the separation track and then come together again to forge a stronger bond. Much earlier, their relationship had seen worse days and still they managed to put their relationship on track. They have seen many ups and downs and faced many MUs, some natural, some contrived by others. But they have managed to overcome everything in the past. This is what made their love epic (till before the Atifa/Khyber track, which was a bad track to prove epic love).

This 3 years of separation and all those heinous accusations by Jalal - an atrocious natakiya rupantar, which should never have been shown, as you have so well explained, was thrust upon us. 🤢

Still the CVs could have then shown how this gap was bridged by the two, how Jalal repented, how Jodha retrospected and healed herself and started learning to trust her husband again. In other words, this could have been Separation track 2. Jodha should have been shown to go back to Jalal on her terms when she chose to. (Separation was not an option for women in those days, not even for royal women. Life for such women became a living hell.)

The two should have been allowed to come together and then go together to Salim Chisti for healing and to make a fresh beginning with Chisti's blessings.

Originally posted by: RadhikaS0

Hi Maddy, Lavanya, Aashrita, Abhay,

Wonderful conversation 👏 I agree with everything you guys have written.

@Maddy: I am glad you are interested in at least JJ and Jodha Salim relationships. 😊

The show has moved on from the original idea of showcasing the epic love story. So those of us who signed on for it should bid adieu to the show or adapt ourselves to watch the new season of the show, forgetting the epic love story we were promised.

After a few days break, I watched last night's episode without reading the WU (what a risk nowadays!) and without any expectations. I actually enjoyed it, after muting Ruq's scenes. 😊 (Not that I will watch tonight's because the precap promises it will be another of Ruq's drama-centred episode!)

I can understand everyone's angst concerning Jalal and Jodha's love story having crashed even before it ever really took off.

Yes, the stereotyping of Jodha's character both last year and this year in various avatars is grating on the nerves to watch.

Yes, Jalal is not the ideal husband. Many months back, I had asked this Q in a thread which most of you would never have read, "Is the reel Jalal a desirable husband?" 😆 He is a typical guy who lectures easily but fails his wife when she needs him. Why be shocked by this? This is pretty much a reality, even before the show happened. Most Indian men, 450 years or today, would be the first to ditch their wives in crisis, even though they may pose as noble men outside the confines of their homes.

Yes, TV is a powerful medium that can psychologically impact viewers. And care must be taken as to the kind of message that is being conveyed.

I wish to know why the show is still getting high TRPs. Why are the women writers churning out such tracks? Are they influenced by society or do they influence society? Personally I think they are lending a stamp of credibility to and perpetuating notions that already exist in the Indian society. Today's TOI mentioned that around 60% of Indian men admitted to being violent with their partners. Juvenile crime and drug abuse are rampant. The show is not causing this but yes, it is making all this look PERMISSIBLE and JUSTIFIABLE. 😕

And if we wish to get into this discussion, stereotyping goes beyond just what you have mentioned and what is overtly visible.

Stereotyping is also involved in the taming of the shrew concept. Jodha is now a completely domesticated housewife. All she does is sing bhajans, give prasad lovingly to husband and kids, and smile sweetly at her son's antics. Salim probably does not know that his mother is also good at sword fighting. And that she doesn't need his chaperoning.

Jalal is trying to teach Salim sword fighting. He is using every trick in the book to get him interested in this fine sport. But not once has he mentioned even in passing to Salim that Jodha is also trained in it even though she is not a king and does not need to protect herself or her awaam. He has never tried to use Jodha's skills to get Salim interested in learning to use the sword.

This is also stereotyping - the male is the protector and the female is to be protected by her father, husband or son.

Originally posted by: history_geek

Aashrita,

You've put it quite beautifully. I was very much hopeful from Jalal(read CV's) that Jalal will support Jodha and the story will take a beautiful turn from now on.

When he supported Jodha , and stood as the shield, the gesture was divine. I was running out of words to praise him.
https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/post/114258026


Later also, after demise of second twins, i was constantly told by forum members, not to have GREAT expectations from him. Anyways, my expectations were taken for a toss, as i stood by Jalal.😆

Here is what i THOUGHT and wrote.. >>
https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/post/114534522
"
I will NEVER believe that Jalal can EVER get angry with Jodha now and think that, she could, in any way, be responsible for the Twins demise. On the other hand, i am worried about Ruqayya, as she may get the treatment from Jalal, in case she accuses Jodha.😉

Remember that, we are still to see HOW the CV's Plan to put Ruqs in her place.
Many things are still under wraps and i am getting ready to see COUNT-less Flashbacks for explanations.
"

^^^ And see, what happened was completely opposite..Jalal blames Jodha and the rest you know..They have left no stone unturned to ruin the story of J-J..

Originally posted by: angie321

This is a magnificent piece of writing Radhika!!👏 I completely agree with you.

Can you provide me the link for your "Is the reel Jalal a desirable husband" thread? I'm sure it'll be very interesting and worth a read.

Originally posted by: prav2

Radhika,I would also love to read that thread of yours .Tried searching but couldn't find it .It would be great if you could share us the link.

Originally posted by: history_geek

Lavanya,

It is not only from my perspective, but i have many on same terms who used to watch this show. Can we imagine a father blaming a mother for the twins death.?. This is a simple question.
I made this LONG post that time, here..Just want to know, if you think this was Justifiable by any means..
https://www.indiaforums.com/forum/post/114766865


When we evaluate his actions with some of these monologues, they do not match.
I have not seen him professing what he says.

Wonderful post, Abhay and kudos to you to have such sensibility👏👏. The blame was obnoxious and cruel. Jalal should NOT have blamed Jodha for something that gave both of them pleasure, more over when both were both active participants. It makes the whole outlook towards relationship as ribald.

@bold brown.
Absolutely hilarious. *I have no emoticon to express, how much i laughed.😆*


About the stereotyping part i completely agree with you.

Television is a strong medium, and people get influenced by it. The moment someone watches a visual, the thing and the 'thought' behind it leaves a strong impression on the mind. More so in youngsters. And, after knowing that it is the lady writers who write such tracks, i was shocked. { Reason : No exp. of TV shows. }

JA is among the top TRP earners, and has a lot of potential to influence the viewers. I tell you one thing, which is very shocking. During the Khyber - Jodha track, i heard someone saying that MAY BE THIS Happened Really.?. 😕😲😆 It is not related to forum, but an issue happening in the countryside, i was visiting that time, on a TOUR. 😕 Imagine this afeem issue.?. Also, that manhandling of his wife during the Sujamal track.?. The viewership runs across various strata of our society. There are sections where the Lead is worshipped as God, and often the acts shown on TV are repeated.!!!!!. All these depictions leave deep impact on thinking of viewers.

Why is it acceptable? No idea. As a woman I feel offended and believe that other women feel the same. Its same old story from last decade and guess its because of of lopsided number of TRP meters, the day the sample size increases, the situation will improve and different and realistic stories will be shown. There are many people who keep the TV on and do their work, they don't invest time to recheck things or ponder over and just simply believe what is shown. Some people believed that Ekta must have done research and hence showing this, simply because its on TV. Infact Smriti Irani in her interview as cabinet minister said that "Simply don't believe whatever is printed or shown, not everything is true always"😆😆 she cited the presence of two eminent journalists. Yes the mind of children is impressionable and content at prime time should be regulated. The afeem thing is detrimental and objectionable.

The thing is there are acts and rules in place but NO one to check the implementation. The only silver lining is Min of I&B coming to Jaitley and hence hope for the related bodies/agencies to become active and productive.

Isn't the psychological aspect the thing which major Ad agencies target.?. While making any particular advertisement, they ALSO consider the psychological impact of it, this is a common practice.

Abhay, advertising agencies are not much concerned about the program content, they majorly go by TRP ratings. If they get feedback about some special track like say on babies or marriage then related advertisements are released during those episodes.

In case of controversy of course they are the first to back out😆 For the advs, they take care as they are governed by ASCI which is very active body. Besides advs represent the brand-hence the company. See advs are closely watched as they are money minting😆😆

Please see this article from today's newspaper. It strikes a bit of semblance with what we are discussing. Though, this is related to gender sensitization.
https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-newdelhi/over-40000-autodrivers-get-gender-sensitisation-training/article6585251.ece

More than autowalas, its the political candidates like Yousuf Bhat and CM Jitan Ram makes offensive comments against women, what do you expect from the less privileged

Someone i know was associated with this workshop, and one of the points under consideration was the impact of Tele-Media on the thinking..

Originally posted by: realitybites

There are very insightful and introspective views here, hence posting.

If TV is women's media then why could the makers not show Jodha as a powerful woman in the Mughal empire- managing administrative work-issuing official documents, having a rank of 12000 cavalry, managing trade in spices, silk etc, Do the makers believe that TRP meter houses women would have rejected that? If empowering the woman was acceptable in that society then what is the problem in portraying the same?

Why would any woman reject empowerment?😕

The only content the makers show is degraded portrayal of women as servile and stereotypical. Why is it acceptable to watch a woman in the orthodox role of a mother and wife? Where the woman in her? Isn't Ekta herself a woman with power and business acumen, has any of her serial portrayed such a woman? Today girls in villages are far more confident and have higher self esteem then what is shown in TV.

INDIA has MOVED on but sadly the TV writers are stuck in a time warp.