Remembering & Honoring Jodha - my lionhearted Queen-Abhay post pg1

I have stopped watching JA for almost 2-3 weeks now. This thread is not meant to hurt anybody's feelings. These are my views of why I stopped watching JA, (shared by many of my friends on forum here - who also have stopped watching JA).

Those who are enjoying and loving the current JA - please ignore this thread.

I am ONLY writing about JA characters and not about how they were in history.

Oh how MUCH I loved JodhaAkbar - I liked Jodha's Jalal but I absolutely LOVED Jodha. I used to watch even repeats if I could and spent hours on the forum - thinking and writing about JA. This is why I have not been able to walk away from JA forum yet, or atleast wanting to know what is happening to Jodha in what has become RukayyAkbar.

After reading the episodes wu's now - all I feel is low and sad. The Jodha I loved was fiery, proud, intelligent, brave, dignified, self respecting & so fearless. She stood upto everything that was thrown at her in Agra with dignity & self respect and blossomed. Never let anyone trample on it ever - till now.

We the viewers were told this is an epic love story - of how a Jallad is turned into a man who finds love & who changes for the better after finding his heart, his love.

The heartless, cruel Jalal at start of JA, who enjoyed his power & wanted to possess Jodha - after he married Jodha, he told her he did it for revenge to break her - he will save her from the world but there was nobody to save her from him.

I must say Jalal has lived upto his word. Cos the Jodha I see now - is a victim, has no self respect or pride left. She does not fight to clear her name - even after she is accused PUBLICLY for Hussain, who accepts every insult and humiliation hurled at her and even goes and says sorry to her abusers. I do not recognize this Jodha at all.

Of course Jodha felt she was also responsible, accepted blame. Which parent - forget parent which HUMAN BEING would not feel guilty he/she was not around to protect their loves ones from murder, especially innocent defenseless infant.

I just do not get why NOBODY ELSE felt that guilt! Never even voiced it or accepted their share of the blame.

Jalal just seemed angry to me - how DARE it happen to HIM? I wonder if he felt the guilt? As a Shehenshah for not being able to protect the waris? As a father for not able to protect his twins? As a husband of Jodha at laying ALL the blame on her for the few hours she spent with him - out of her love and care for her injured husband?

Did this Jalal ever think that Jodha cannot be with her son 24x7? Did Jalal ever think that if Jodha had been with Hussain - the next day Ruk would have taken him back and Zeenat would have got an easier access to Hussain? Would Jalal then had dared to accuse Ruk of negligence?!

Why did Jalal never ask Ruk when she was accusing Jodha - just what was Zeenat doing at night in Jodha's hojara? Why she had not let Jodha feed Hussain?

Did Jalal think that Zeenat and Kasim were welcomed by HIM?

Did HB & GB ever think if only we had protected Hassan picked twins up after the fire started?

I do not want to talk about if Ruk felt any responsibility blame - the JA one is incapable of it. Nor do I want to waste my time and emotions writing about a character I despise. I want to take her name only in context of Jodha.

Jodha, grieving mother is accused of negligence & eating up her own babies - and the man who professes to love her deeply, who had told her he cannot live without her - instead of standing by her - to clear her name - to put blame on everybody who was responsible as well - instead he conveniently put all the blame on her and deserted her for 3-1/2 years.

What would the haram women have talked behind Jodha's back? When Jalal turned away from her in blame for 3-1/2 years - not even acknowledging her pranams and treating her like dirt?

Does this Jodha THINK about how she was deserted by the man she loves - for whom she drank poison to save his life - that he selfishly laid all blame on her, just left her at the worst time of her life?

No person I know would accept with open arms a loved one who would not stand by them at their worst time.

This Jodha instead of clearing up her name, to show mirror to those who did not stand by her - just takes and takes the abuse and even says sorry to her abusers!

When only AFTER getting Salim this Jalal tells her he will always stand by her - does Jodha believe him?! Does she think where was he and his love for last 3-1/2 years? Where was he when she needed him most?

I don't recognize this Jodha at all.

NOW it seems - Jodha who is an expert archer could hit bullseye or a moving target with multiple arrows - who learnt and became good swordswoman - is shown for no reason not understanding that a future Shehenshah needs to learn all this. Instead of HER taking interest in teaching her son - in his learning - all she does is oppose and gives silly reasons? So that she cannot be a lead but side actor I suppose!

A woman who was shown learning to read and write Urdu in her first year of marriage - who could read Humanyun-nama - after 15 years of marriage she can't use the right words it seems!

Who is THIS Jodha? A dispirited, defeated woman, who has no self respect, pride or strength left. Who does not understand the reality of people around her for 15 years - no matter how much she is insulted & humiliated by Ruk - she goes asking for more!

Who saw how Ruk changed the min she got Hussain in her hands - even refusing to let her feed him - Ruk who did not have a single word of thanks for her when she handed her beloved son to this woman's arms - the Jodha I loved would have asked Ruk some questions or atleast seen her reality.

Instead this Jodha does rangolis in haram and sings bhajans and cries. There is no difference in a bandi and this Jodha.

It is painful to even read about this Jodha. I don't like this Jodha - nor do I want to watch this Jodha.

I read someone write that Jodha is the ONLY character of Ekta Kapoor who does not fight the vamps!

I wish instead of turning Jodha into a side character - who is no more than a HB was in JA - the CVs just kill off Jodha character in this RukayyaAkbar.

Please spare the viewers who loved Jodha from this atrocity. Just kill her off.

Those who loved Jodha can be at peace, those who watch only for Akbar will be happy. He has haram full of women - and no he does not value Jodha at all. Love? What is worth of love that does not stand by the person when she needs him most? WHO always stood by HIM at his weakest moments? He will be just fine without her - after all he still has his aziz dost and haram-full of women. Now RA seems to be made only for Jalal and Ruk fans - nothing left here for Jodha or even Akdha fans.

Jodha had her self respect dignity when Jalal was against her - later when she fell in love for briefest periods she had him with her - NOW Jodha neither has her self respect her pride nor she has Jalal.

A strong rich powerful PH run by women - but they just turn their strong powerful lead - a Queen who was an accomplished woman - who had army under her control, who was given the power to issue farmans, who ran trade and did so much more in 16^th Century - the 21^st Century PH has made her helpless victim.

Every woman deserves to be treated like a queen but here they have turned an actual queen into a doormat.

I had read this said by Jaya Bachhan somewhere - that why women are said to fall hopelessly or helplessly in love? It should be hopefully in love. Well this Jodha is not just hopelessly, helplessly in love she seems spiritless, defeated in love! I don't see any chance of getting the Jodha I loved back. Well there is nothing left in RA for Jodha fans.

I would love to see my Jodha back - but I know I won't. Instead of watching this Jodha - I would rather retain the memories of what she was once - she was MY JODHA.

I wrote what Jodha has become now. These posts remind what the Jodha we loved used to be.

Priya (Prav2) is right - this is proof that even after CVs butchering Jodha character - turning her into almost a bandi THIS is the Jodha we remember and love. CVs do not let her stand up for her own self also - atleast we can stand up for OUR Jodha and remember her like this. It is a pity Jodha has been turned into someone we do not even recognize!

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By Rak014

The fiery princess Jodha: Let me begin with the Jodha-the princess of amer. Do you remember the first scene where she was introduced? She steps out of mahal and saves a Pigeon.How wittily she defendes herself for her actions! That was the MY Jodha! witty,intelligently mahaan(not foolishly mahaan),brave,fiery,so princessly!

She was the princess who took an oath to place jalal-ud-din's sar at kali maa's head, when whole india shivered at the very name of him!

She was the princess who stopped Abdul from being butchered by giving witty reasons like,"He is our enemy and we can extract information from him",not reasons like,"Life is precious".

She was the princess who gave a bag full of coins to that lady at mathura market to buy a dupatta which was not worth it,just beacuse that lady had hurt her self-respect!
I miss her so much! 😭

The fiery Jodha begum: That firmness in jodha's face during the whole marriage sequence.How can someone forget that?😳
On the first night of their marriage, Jalal revealed his real intentions behing marrying her. That fear in her eyes! A princess royally and delicately brought up by her parents had landed in the arms of a person who claimed to have no heart and seeked revenge from her! Imagine her plight! But the braveness and fieryness in her never declined. She still was strong,brave. Brave enough to openly sing a song in valor of rajputs at shahenshah jalaluddin's bhari darbar!
She answered Rukaiyya right at her face when Ruakiyya came taunting her.But now?
I terribly miss all that!😭😭
Everybody at Agra tried to demean her,EVERYBODY(except HB and Salima),but her self-respect was strong enough to shut them up!😳
That scene where she hands that farmaan to jalal and asks him to release moti!
Ayo,How can i forget that sword fighting scene? Tell me the name of any one woman in Akbar's harem who pointed sword right at jalaluddin muhammad's heart?

The Jodha begum with softened but yet a brave heart: The first scene where i saw jodha's heart softening towards Jalal was the scene where she cooks dinner for him! 😳
When Rukaiyya came taunting Jodha because Jalal spent previous night excahnging knowledge with her, she rightly answered her back and shur her up! She was no doormat to Ruku.
The badal-kajri track!⭐️ where Jodha reflected her simplicity by dressing as a commoner!

Jalauddin muhummad's Jodha begum: After returning from Amer, jalal-Jodha shared a relationship which we were expecting to see,which lasted only for few days untill ruku started her fake pregnancy natak!🤢

Jodha Begum,whom i found harder and harder to get connected with Rukaiyya's fake pregnancy! This is where MY Jodha's self respect was butchered.Every Queenly character of hers was butchered!😡
She was made a doormat for ruku.

She no longer could recognise enemies wround her, or was no longer witty enough to understand real intentions behind Rukaiyya's act of faking pregnancy!

She no longer cared for her self-respect and let rukaiyya shout at her though the fault wasnt hers.

And this is where she started behaving foolishly mahaan.

Jodha Begum,with whom i cannot get connected anymore: The damages done to characterisations of Jodha in the previous tracks were redeemable to an extent. But now?
I find it really hard to get connected to the Jodha we are getting right now.😕 The character is severely butchered and side-lined.

Summing up:

Jodha is no doubt one of the most interesting women in Mughul history. Hailing from an entirely different cultural background, she managed to sustain and emerge out as a politically influential woman in mughul sultanate even after being threatened by her husband, who intially intended to seek revenge from her. I can only see her Uniqueness in all this.
Akbar had so many begums in his harem, her uniqueness is what made him fall in love with her. I find her the most interesting character of this show.

Its sad that when Cv's have a fascinating character like this in the female lead role, they chose to show us Rukaiyya over her. Its sad that a character like Rukaiyya(whom i have no interest in) is glorified at the cost of characterisation of such a strong feamle lead.

The MUZ, who owned other three ritles(though none of them were showed), and commanded 12000 cavalry and was a powerful business woman is shown singling loris and Bhajans here.

Nothing is left for me to watch in this serial nor discuss about its currrent state.


A tribute to Paridhi for bringing jodha alive onscreen:

The Jodha that we got till now whom we fell in love with, was only because of Paridhi.😃
She was perfect as jodha. She reflected elegency and Royalaity in every inch of her body.

She FLAWLESSLY depicted every emotion of Jodha, right from her fieryness as a princess,her helplessness in the initial days at agra,her hatred for Jalal, her bravery to stand up against Jalal as a begum, her softness and tenderness towards Jalal, her love for Jalal,her helplessness in front of ruku(CV's😡),and now her motherly emotions towards her son salim.😊 we are lucky to have Paridhi as Jodha.

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By Prav2

I'm fascinated with the feisty yet compassionate queen who despite having everything remained always humble as true legends are and wish to make this post as a dedication to the one I look upon as an embodiment of womanliness.

"Leaders are the one who never aspire for it but when thrust upon take up the mantle because

they must find it to their surprise, they wear it well. "

Our Jo is a truly example of this. She has so many endearing qualities which make her well deserving to be the MUZ and Queen mother of Hindustan and that's what I would like to touch upon the rise of our fiery princess to an enigma she truly is amidst all the strife's and struggles.

Amer Princess:

At the beginning of the journey, the amer princess was an uncut diamond who simply loved, revered and treasured her family and her homeland and had immense pride on the valor of her countrymen unknown of the journey she would soon embark upon a journey that is not dared before .But we saw the glimpses of a true leader she would be in the pain she felt for mb ,the justice she strived for by bringing the head of jalal to kaalima,the compassion she felt for abdul and the fierce patriotism she displayed by sacrificing herself for the welfare of her citizens .It was so endearing to hear her say with the pride that she would be honored to even lose her life for amer as amer is her soul and pride.

Begum of Jalal

Destiny placed her in an unknown and a hostile surrounding a culture and people she doesn't know of, a husband she completely detested, having her kanha only as a solace and an anchor to live and life threw in umpteen challenges at her daily but she always remained true to her character be it the motherliness she showered on rahim ,the respect she paid to the other queens and her mother in law ,the quest to learn new language, culture and religion , the enormous courage and mental strength to endure a wrong accusation and in process became a daughter in law any family could pride upon

Chief Queen

As a chief queen she brought into light the problems of the prajas and inturn gave him the most precious gift prayers of his awaam. She not only brought into notice the harsh reality of child marriage but also helped to punish a criminal without severing his marriage.She once again braved all the insults and the odds that were stacked upon her yet strived to eliminate an evil and save the life of shehenshah and thereby won not only the heart of her her husband, but the entire sultanate . They prayed for her and rejoiced at her recovery and gladly narrated the tale of her which they could happily do so for years to come with enormous pride.

MUZ

The path of from being a chief queen to muz was also one full of battles more a battle of inner turmoils,insecurities,crave for respect and acceptance in equal terms .Yet by standing with him and helping him to fight his inner demons at the loss and betrayal of the closest ones and by showing him he always has one person who would see him and love him for what he is and not for the position or the title or the enormous power that come along with it she become a soulmate in it truest sense and also make as reminiscent of a love that could be looked upon for ages.

P.S.

I agree with you maddy these days they have stereotyped jo and its heartbreaking but whatever nr they do this is the jo I remember ,loved and cherished and in my heart this is the one who is true the cvs could do any fabrications but they couldn't erase from our minds the enigma she truly is.

Wonderful... Heartfelt post Maddy. I felt like I was reading a eulogy speech. Maybe it is, because they have killed Jodha by killing her spirit.

It is so unfair to the real queen to be depicted like this. We are aware of the attempts by zealots to remove her name from history...they were successful to some extent. Entertainment Media (starting from Mughal-e-Azam days) brought her back in our minds and discussions ...but unfortunately, the same media is trying to turn her into someone who wasn't worth remembering.

I want to write so much about the reel Jo who won our hearts. Her beauty, courage, hunars ( here I hv to agree with Jalal...she was one talented woman)and above all...she had a will to survive in the most adverse of situations, the most hostile environments, against the most deadly opponents. I am a Jodha supporter and not ashamed of being called a feminist because of that...because I AM...a busy feminist...I don't really have the time to join the rest for "causes" like the right to kiss in public or the right to wear the clothes of our choice...I pick and choose my battles...therefore, submissively follow the accepted dress codes ( bikini only on a beach/pool and business formals at work) and etiquettes (kissing inside four walls if it makes others uncomfortable) of my surroundings...but I do take time to speak for a woman's right to be treated with respect...a woman's right to be shown respectfully and honestly on a medium that has been proven beyond doubt to influence the mindset of people.

I stopped watching the show too...not worth wasting my precious 22mins on a constipated looking manipulative woman...but my love and respect for another valiant queen with a tender heart does not let me break free from the story. Just for her, I tried to make another attempt to try to understand the reasons behind her drastic transformation in this show...this time, I removed the bias that the CVs prefer Ruk's character over hers and just focused on studying Jodha's behavior. Though badly written and directed, a few things that stand out... there is someone in the team who has seen a victim of spousal abuse up, close and personal. He or she is probably not aware of this, but this is a classic transformation in a lot of women after years of abuse. Their spirit is broken...they blame themselves for things going wrong...they subconsciously try to appease(forgive) the most cruel ones around them...they start believing that being submissive is the safest way to be. I think that this presentation is not deliberate...the intention was drama and the moolah resulting from it...but I do get a nagging feeling that someone's experience and inner demons are shining through the rotten depiction. Don't know much abt the people who influence the storyline of this show...but someone needs help so they can stop the spread of this fear and negativity that good rarely triumphs over evil. Not all gifted women get cowed down like this...we know for sure that the real one finally got the appreciation she deserved.

More later ...Getting ready to go out for lunch...Will certainly follow this thread closely and share more on Jo's characterization when I get a chance.😊

Maddy, thanks for making this thread. We shouldn't sideline our Jo and give all forum screenspace to D1.😉

jodha the word itself means fearless

We all miss the old daring jodha, we are realy fedup seeing rotlu, week jodha. 😡

Res

Maahri jodha the courageous fiery beautiful graceful queen who mark her way in unknown world of mughal era and became its integeral rather most influential women in mughal sultanat

for our paridhi

and of course for my maddy after ages a thread

will come after dinner and edit


Ok here I am back after dinner

Jodha what I say about her the character had so many layers and so beautiful and paridhi portray it so nicely
her intro to till Friday episode
she had gone through alot

a place where all loved her praised her to come where actually none care about her but she make place for herself
and n akbar harem most powerful women during akbar rule

I cant forget first time I saw jodha on my screen and bg voice over saying
Rajvanshis ka woh pride her beauty innocence her soul grace all
anyone just see her ones and fell in love how her persona was

jodha a warrior her ability to make others fall for her with time she grow
I cant forget her asking for temple in agra her self respect she loved her motherland
her every breath dedicated to her land and her people

after wedding how she conducted herself maintain het dignity head high strong
her every relationship she had in agra she just fulfill all her responsibilities
Gave her best and nurture every relationship
how a fighter in her faced every situation with her head high without pulling anyone down

love jodha soo much and paridhi did brilliant full justice to character
she grow as an actor in JA alot her every expression is never being ott
So beautifully done and crafted character

will post second half of my take on another page so many moments and so many jodha scenes which are master piece without much halla heavy dialogues her eyes spoke volume

Maddy! I was eagerly waiting for this post from you!🤗
Amazing post!!👏


The fiery princess Jodha: Let me begin with the Jodha-the princess of amer. Do you remember the first scene where she was introduced? She steps out of mahal and saves a Pigeon.How wittily she defendes herself for her actions! That was the MY Jodha! witty,intelligently mahaan(not foolishly mahaan),brave,fiery,so princessly!

She was the princess who took an oath to place jalal-ud-din's sar at kali maa's head, when whole india shivered at the very name of him!

She was the princess who stopped Abdul from being butchered by giving witty reasons like,"He is our enemy and we can extract information from him",not reasons like,"Life is precious".

She was the princess who gave a bag full of coins to that lady at mathura market to buy a dupatta which was not worth it,just beacuse that lady had hurt her self-respect!
I miss her so much! 😭

The fiery Jodha begum: That firmness in jodha's face during the whole marriage sequence.How can someone forget that?😳
On the first night of their marriage, Jalal revealed his real intentions behing marrying her. That fear in her eyes! A princess royally and delicately brought up by her parents had landed in the arms of a person who claimed to have no heart and seeked revenge from her! Imagine her plight! But the braveness and fieryness in her never declined. She still was strong,brave. Brave enough to openly sing a song in valor of rajputs at shahenshah jalaluddin's bhari darbar!
She answered Rukaiyya right at her face when Ruakiyya came taunting her.But now?
I terribly miss all that!😭😭
Everybody at Agra tried to demean her,EVERYBODY(except HB and Salima),but her self-respect was strong enough to shut them up!😳
That scene where she hands that farmaan to jalal and asks him to release moti!
Ayo,How can i forget that sword fighting scene? Tell me the name of any one woman in Akbar's harem who pointed sword right at jalaluddin muhammad's heart?

The Jodha begum with softened but yet a brave heart: The first scene where i saw jodha's heart softening towards Jalal was the scene where she cooks dinner for him! 😳
When Rukaiyya came taunting Jodha because Jalal spent previous night excahnging knowledge with her, she rightly answered her back and shur her up! She was no doormat to Ruku.
The badal-kajri track!⭐️ where Jodha reflected her simplicity by dressing as a commoner!

Jalauddin muhummad's Jodha begum: After returning from Amer, jalal-Jodha shared a relationship which we were expecting to see,which lasted only for few days untill ruku started her fake pregnancy natak!🤢

Jodha Begum,whom i found harder and harder to get connected with Rukaiyya's fake pregnancy! This is where MY Jodha's self respect was butchered.Every Queenly character of hers was butchered!😡
She was made a doormat for ruku.

She no longer could recognise enemies wround her, or was no longer witty enough to understand real intentions behind Rukaiyya's act of faking pregnancy!

She no longer cared for her self-respect and let rukaiyya shout at her though the fault wasnt hers.

And this is where she started behaving foolishly mahaan.

Jodha Begum,with whom i cannot get connected anymore: The damages done to characterisations of Jodha in the previous tracks were redeemable to an extent. But now?
I find it really hard to get connected to the Jodha we are getting right now.😕 The character is severely butchered and side-lined.

Summing up:

Jodha is no doubt one of the most interesting women in Mughul history. Hailing from an entirely different cultural background, she managed to sustain and emerge out as a politically influential woman in mughul sultanate even after being threatened by her husband, who intially intended to seek revenge from her. I can only see her Uniqueness in all this.
Akbar had so many begums in his harem, her uniqueness is what made him fall in love with her. I find her the most interesting character of this show.

Its sad that when Cv's have a fascinating character like this in the female lead role, they chose to show us Rukaiyya over her. Its sad that a character like Rukaiyya(whom i have no interest in) is glorified at the cost of characterisation of such a strong feamle lead.

The MUZ, who owned other three ritles(though none of them were showed), and commanded 12000 cavalry and was a powerful business woman is shown singling loris and Bhajans here.

Nothing is left for me to watch in this serial nor discuss about its currrent state.


A tribute to Paridhi for bringing jodha alive onscreen:

The Jodha that we got till now whom we fell in love with, was only because of Paridhi.😃
She was perfect as jodha. She reflected elegency and Royalaity in every inch of her body.

She FLAWLESSLY depicted every emotion of Jodha, right from her fieryness as a princess,her helplessness in the initial days at agra,her hatred for Jalal, her bravery to stand up against Jalal as a begum, her softness and tenderness towards Jalal, her love for Jalal,her helplessness in front of ruku(CV's😡),and now her motherly emotions towards her son salim.😊 we are lucky to have Paridhi as Jodha.

And lastly, thanks a ton for giving us(Jodha fans) a platform to pour out our love for Jodha and frustrations for butchering her charcter!😃

PS: IF I START TALKING ABOUT RUKAIYYA, YOU KNOW THAT I WILL NEVER SHUT UP.😆
SO, THIS POST IS ALL RESERVED FOR MY JODHA!!

Firstly, Maddy, a big hug to you for making a thread after a quite long...