Let's Talk About Why We Dislike Salim-DT NT Pg6 - Page 7

Originally posted by: history_geek

Last night,
Creatives gave us another reason of why Salim is disliked.
His views keep on swinging from one end to another.
Absence of consistency, and yet again he proved it.

This time asking his mother to convert, so that he can be the Shah Shah.
Utter Chaos, don't know what's going on in writer's mind.!

Originally posted by: Charu.S

Side effects of afeem , I think, besides the influence of ammijaan.

Both together = lethal combination. Receiver of the unfair reaction, is unfortunately the biological mother Jodha.

Originally posted by: history_geek

Charu,
You remind me of my chemistry classes. Just take in a lighter vein. :-P

Glycerol + Nitric acid -> Trinitrate glycerine -> Reacts with fire -> Carbon monoxide + Nitrogen + Water

Ammi Jaan + Salim -> Lethal combination -> Reacts with fire(Hamida in this case) -> Problems for the receiver(Jodha) which are nullified later by Jalal.

Glycerol(Ammi Jaan) mixed with nitric acid(Salim) leads to formation of trinitrate glycerine(lethal combination), which when reacts with fire(Hamida in this case) actually leads to problems for the receiver(Jodha) in form of Carbon monoxide which are nullified later by nitrogen and water(Jalal).

Originally posted by: Charu.S

Hi Radhika,

I feel that unfortunately the maturation of Salim's character/personality from a child to an adult has been grossly messed up by the Creatives. How can the audience like a prince who is a victim of 'low self-esteem', having NO emotional connect with his parents whatsoever?

The poor contribution from the Creatives in developing the personality of Salim, him being shown as an 'afeem' addict, this addiction combined with a pre-existing emotional baggage since childhood leading to erratic, unacceptable behavior, is not being digested by the audience at all. He is being portrayed as a prince with NO qualities befitting royalty. He has no strength of character at all.

Moreover the audience is constantly comparing the actors playing the roles of Salim and Jalal. This is not working in Salim's favor either. The viewers, ( me included ) are NOT going to accept and like an insolent, argumentative, Salim, especially if he is infuriating his parents, the Shehenshah and MUZ, whom they have grown to love over the past year and a half, since the inception of the serial.

When the leap was taken, and a grown up Salim was introduced, the Creatives could have taken steps to etch out his character, as one who is rebellious, but not disrespectful, one who is burdened with unshared emotional baggage, yet not selfish and immodest.

If Salim's character needs to be liked by the audience, the Creatives need to buck up and show father/mother and son 'connecting' at an emotional level. There is a reason why I have specified father/mother and not Shehenshah and MUZ. Unless the relationship between parents and son improves, we will not see a balanced Salim.

As much as I wish for this to happen, I do not foresee this change at all, because the Creatives are using Salim's 'pathetic' portrayal as the trump card to showcase the turbulent relationship between him and Akbar, to keep the drama factor going.

The Creatives are solely responsible for creating a sense of intense dislike in the minds of the audience towards the character of Salim. All the youngsters, including Salim are new talents and I would like to see them evolve over time and not be too critical about their acting skills.Tapping their potential and revealing it to the viewers, is the directors' job.

Originally posted by: RadhikaS0

My thoughts in BLUE, Radhika.

Ode to the Jodha-Salim Relationship

That Finally Breathed Its Last on Friday (10th April, 2015) -

May God give peace to its soul

This relationship had always been stunted like a Bonsai plant and never allowed to reach its full stature by the grace of that cupola of chastity - Ruqaiyya Sultan Begum.

CUPOLA OF CHASTITY - Rukaiyya Sultan 😡 ... Very well said.👏 👏.

Ever since Salim was born to Jodha, after many prayers and a lot of heartache, I watched and hoped to see a beautiful bond such as can exist only between a mother and a much-awaited son. Alas, that day never came even once in all these months and now it can never come as the relationship is dead and buried.

For a very brief while in the beginning, we saw Jodha playing with a 5-year old Salim who was all heart like his mother and for whom his mother was his entire universe. Her choice was his choice. Now all that seems like a dream. 😕

Very soon, the son was snatched from his mother, turned into an addict, sent away, and always kept in fear of his father and his punishment. He was never allowed to have a normal relationship with his parents and his heart was filled with unbelievable hatred and a paranoid suspicion of his father's actions / intentions. He became (or may soon become) schizophrenic.

The son may have reasons to have become the way he is due to shortcomings in his parenting. I do sympathize with him. But still to see him insulting his parents publicly, branding their marriage as illegitimate and accusing them of plotting against him is unbearable, episode after episode.

Still, the saving grace was that at least till recently Salim was controlling himself a bit in front of his mother and was not in favor of her conversion.

On Friday, even this last vestige of respect was shred to pieces when Salim accused his mother of thwarting his succession by not converting to Islam.

A man who was as religiously tolerant as his father and for whom his mother was a person to be venerated with sajda is being shown to have no respect either for her or for her right to practise her faith is simply disgusting.

TOTAL DISRESPECT TOWARDS HISTORICAL CHARACTERS AND RELATED FACTS.😒

For him, it is merely sufficient to become the next king - his mother's core identity and the ripple effect of her conversion on the non-muslim awaam holds no meaning. His father's authority and vision for his empire never held any meaning for him anyway.

I wholly understand Salim's angst and his confused state of being due to his troubled past. But to totally negate his parents's identity, their principles, their responsibility towards the empire just to satiate his ambition is SHOCKING and UNACCEPTABLE.

COMPLETELY AGREE WITH YOU.

If I were in Jodha's place, I could bear anything. The rudeness, the tantrums, the stubbornness to listen to reason. I could still show forbearance and patience. But there is a core identity that defines a person and no one, not even a child, has the right to question that identity or ask me to change it to satisfy his whims. No one, not even a child, or especially a child, has the right to question the sanctity of my marriage or his birth.

I would still maintain a relationship with my child as much as possible. But for me, such a relationship would be as good as dead. It would be merely a formal relationship, just because I had given birth to the child. But it would not have any emotional meaning or soul.

It is ironical that for parents who pined for the survival of one child, they were unfortunately unable to connect with the one that eventually did survive. One, that sadly believes every lie uttered by the evil stepmother as the final truth, has completely lost the ability to think rationally due to the effect of 'afeem' and cannot look beyond the emotional trauma experienced during childhood.

Very often I wonder why Salim was not shown as a strong prince who turned around the agonizing experiences from childhood, in his favor, to return as a strong rejuvenated young man after several years of training in the battlefield, after several years of separation from his family. This positive change would have served the purpose of his long term punishment and also portrayed him as a true noble, possessing qualities befitting royalty.

The Panchtantra says:--

Of sons unborn, dead or fools,

Unborn or dead will do.

They cause a little grief, no doubt;

But fools a long life through.

Why beget a son

Who proves a dunce and disobedient?

Beautiful quote, apt for Jodha's current pathetic situation.

Originally posted by: Charu.S

Originally posted by: RadhikaS0

Wonderfully stated, Charu!

Your experience with kids both personally and professionally reflects in this post. You have described Salim's faults and addressed how he can be redeemed in a mature yet sensitive manner. 👏

@BOld: I have lost hope that Salim's parents will ever be able to make him understand where they are coming from and be able to change his thinking/ beliefs.

@underlined: Well said!! I agree that no actor should be ever put down too much. The actors playing Salim and Anar are young and if they are unable to leave their mark, then it reflects on the director too. It's better to be critical of characters and their faults rather than actors and their weaknesses.