Rajat's jalal's memories via shyamala's pearls.. links updated pg 1! - Page 27

My dear Donjas,

You are my pepper-upper of choice! Thank you for reassuring me that the effort I put into these posts - much, much more than when I wrote my almost daily posts - is worthwhile. And harking back to your comment on my last Part 5, to which I have not yet replied, it was characteristically thoughtful, and it did do me a lot of good. See, it is not that I want 85 Likes now as I used to get before. I know that so many have quit for good, and are not going to be tempted to come back no matter what the blandishments! But I felt sad, not so much for me but for Rajat's Jalal, that even a few of them were not ready to come back and enjoy all those wonderful episodes with us.

Never mind, we have our own small group of diehard faithfuls, and we shall soldier on!

Yes, the loss of Mahaam Anga was a body blow to Jodha Akbar. It was also odd how Haider suddenly vanished, somewhat like Abdul at the beginning. One episode he was there and then he was gone! So see what they have been reduced to: destroying Ruqaiya's character and making her a cheap, nasty little witch, and then, horror of horrors, a chudail (which was when I finally quit!) and now a bunch of badly outfitted English traders!😡😡

And now I understand that the Shahenshah-e-Hindustan is being held prisoner by the aforesaid traders, beaten up and poisoned! Well, even an Emperor can be ambushed and taken prisoner, like Richard the Lion-hearted was during the crusades, but that was by another king, not by a bunch of cheap little Brits! 😡It is beyond belief, this even worse remix of the mirchi war, only now Jodha is apparently going to be all in all. I suppose Akbar will crawl out of his prison and pose for the final family photo op!😉

Thank you so much for liking that Tiger advice to Jalal. It is really very funny, and I enjoyed writing it , but for some reason not too many reacted to it when it was first posted, though there were a few who chortled at the omelette of Jalal's grey cells; they mostly zeroed in on the Jalal-Jodha-Mahaam Anga scene part. Tongue in cheek satire is an acquired taste for most of us in India, so perhaps that was only to be expected! That is why I almost always issued a statutory warning of sorts, to prevent people from taking my flights of fancy to be real!😉

Shyamala

Originally posted by: Donjas

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this latest series. Rajat was of course brilliant in his scenes at the court, with Jodha and Salima and you brought it to life in that inimitable style of yours.

But of course the show stealer was Maham Anga. The psychological analysis was interesting to read. Your description of the split personality that Ashwini emoted with such passion made me realize once more why this serial faltered this year. A show needs strong villains and both Maham and Adham were formidable opponents for Jalal and Jodha. Once they were gone there was no one else to take their place.

On a parting note, that Tiger advice was hilarious. Had me in splits.

You are welcome, my dear Pari. I am glad you enjoyed this one.

Keep up with your writing, and mind that in each update, I want to see at least one descriptive passage of the kind I had liked so much in your earlier episodes!

Shyamala Aunty

Originally posted by: 155pari

Nice post shyamala aunty... Loved it... Thanx for the pm...

My dear Lavanya,

Thank you for being an unfailing morale booster. These posts take much more out of me than the original, nearly daily posts used to do, for I am not well and there is no fudging that central fact. There are days when I do not feel like doing anything at all, and last week, all I could manage was the tribute to Dr. Kalam. This makes me feel guilty, so I made it a point to get this one out on Saturday itself. I am glad you liked it so much.

Yes, the central tragedy of Mahaam Anga's life was that the one she wanted was only her foster son and the one she had was hopelessly inadequate for her plans. Trying to square this circle destroyed her, though I wish they had spared us all that ranting and cursing by her, and then, presumably to strengthen superstition among the viewership😲, bumped off Hasan and Hussein. In the end, a dyed-in-the-wool villain had a grand send off, with the Shahenshah weeping all over her.😡

No wonder the Bible says that the wicked flourish like the green bay tree! It was so much more graceful and plausible in the film.

Yes, as I wrote, and you agree (did you mean to say intolerable? ) , Salima , like Bhagwan Das, is a single expression performer. So, in that scene, the viewer has to imagine her reactions and emotions, that is all! Well, she IS his lawfully wedded wife, but still I felt uncomfortable at the beginning of that scene. It is all in our minds.

No, my dear, it is not that I am upset with Jodha no matter what she does. It is more that she never seemed to do anything sensible or logical during these days. On the rare occasions when she does so, I have always praised her.

She does not stand up to Jalal when she should have, as when he is trying to terrify her during the dature ka ark phase. Instead she weeps and wails and looks scared to death. And now, when the time comes when she has been vindicated, she should display chill dignity, and make Jalal feel how badly he had behaved. Instead, she carried on like, what else, a fishwife!

I was with her in the first scene with Jalal post-Sujanpur, when her grief and rage pour out of her in a frantic stream, and Paridhi did very well there. But breaking vases and indulging in shrill rants is not my idea of a classy princess. One would assume that when, as a young girl, she was being trained in royal deportment in Amer, she must have been looking out of the window for more pigeons to save!😉

I liked to make those complicated analyses to prove that even at the height of her rage and hatred, there was still a part of Jodha that wanted to go back to the comfortable camaraderie that she and Jalal had developed after the poem incident. I did them not just for the fun of it, I believed that was true.And it was.

Personally it irritates me to see characters who are too confused about their own feelings, lie to their own self and their actions do not match with what they preach, specially if they beat their own drums about being moralistic and holds high opinion of themselves for being righteous.

Do see my comments in blue as well.

Finally, how come you had nothing to say about what, to me, was the best part of this post, my advice to Jalal about how to turn the tiger attack to his advantage? 😉

Shyamala Aunty

Originally posted by: Sabdabhala

THANKS SHYAMALA AUNTY FOR ANOTHER BRILLIANT ANALYSIS

I SPECIALLY LOVED THE DETAILED MANNER IN WHICH YOU ANALYZED MAHAM ANGA. JUST LIKE YOU SAY, SHE DEF CAME ACROSS AS A COMPLICATED AND A SPLIT PERSONALITY. WITH THE CRUX OF THE MATTER BEING THAT HOWEVER MUCH SHE ADORED N LOVED ADHAM, IN HER HEART SHE WANTED JALAL TO BE HER SON.

AND THE GUILT THAT SHE FELT FOR THIS, BECAME THE CAUSE FOR HER END

BUT HATS OFF TO ASHWINI FOR BEING ABLE TO PORTRAY SUCH A CHARACTER FLAWLESSLY. I HAVE HARDLY COME ACROSS A SCENE IN WHICH SHE IS NOT PERFECT, SPECIALLY THE EARLIER ONES

I ALSO APPRECIATED THE PURE BRILLIANCE WITH WHICH JALAL TACKLED THE " IS SALIMA GUILTY" QUESTION. EVEN THOUGH RAJAT HANDLED IT PERFECTLY, MY RESPECT FOR THE CVS TOOK A BEATING. HOWEVER WONDERFULLY PICTURIZED THE SCENE MIGHT BE, I STILL FEEL, THAT THEY SHOULD HAVE THOUGHT OF A BETTER WAY THAN THE "COME TO BED" SCENARIO

AND FRANKLY SALIMA'S LACK OF EXPRESSIONS MADE IT (IN?)TOLERABLE FOR ME 😆

MY FINAL POINT IS ABOUT YOUR ANALYSIS OF JODHA BEING A SPOILT BRAT. INCLINED, AS I MIGHT BE, TO FULLY AGREE WITH YOU, SPECIALLY KEEPING IN MIND ALL THAT YOU HAVE WRITTEN, BUT I DO WANT TO SAY THAT THAT AGAIN, I FEEL, IS A LACUNA OF THE CVS.
No, my dear, you cannot take that "blame the CVs" route - which would reduce all the characters to puppets without any will or character of their own - and then try to analyse the characters as well. As I always say, it has to be one or the other, not both at the same time. I take the characters as real persons, responsible for both the good and the bad, or often stupid, that they do.

OF COURSE WE ALL NOW KNOW HOW PROPHETICALLY RIGHT YOU WERE ABOUT JALAL AND JODHA EQUATION 😆. BUT READING YOUR POST I GOT A FEELING THAT WHILE SHE WAS SILENTLY MOPING N CRYING, YOU WERE UNHAPPY, AND EVEN WHEN SHE GAVE HER ( ALBEIT LONG) TUPPENCE TO JALAL, YOU WERE STILL MIFFED 😆

ALL IN ALL, I AM HAVING THE TIME OF MY LIFE READING YOUR POSTS

THANKS AGAIN

My dear Donjas,

As usual, I am no end pepped up by your comments, which are invariably very reassuring as far as this series is concerned. Thank you!

My comments are in blue.And do let me know where I can find that poem and your post on it.

Shyamala

Originally posted by: Donjas

Thank you so much for the latest installment. Two things stand out for me, the Rajat masterclass in Ep 55 and your psychological analysis of the reasons for Jalal's ferocity. I agree with your assessment that in times of extreme stress, you go back to your default settings.

If we look at Rajat's entire body of work in this series, the performance in Ep 55 ranks amongst the best. The change in gear from utter delight to total despair, and you brought it out to us in all it's naked glory. Yes, clearly among his best here. Some others I would mention were in Episode 31, the Emperor Strikes Back, where he cons Bharmal into agreeing to his marriage to Jodha, and the Gordian Knot and Shakespearian Heights posts. The last was phenomenal.

Just one thing more, I wish to apologize. You are used to getting and you deserve a much better response than your getting. But I assure you, those who are left admire you for helping us relive the golden memories of Jodha Akbar. As for those who have left, if only Ekta were smart enough to realize that the JA audience is not your typical Saas Bahu audience, disappointed JA fans left in droves after things deteriorated, and they left both the show and the forum. Thank you for being so comforting!

By the way, have a look at my post, Akbar's dream, a poem by Lord Tennyson. Where is it?

No problem, my pet. I am sure my series is going to continue well past August 17!

But please do not assume that I will be writing fresh analyses of the retelecast episodes! I plan to watch them with quiet and passive pleasure.

Shyamala Aunthy

Originally posted by: ---Khushi---

Shyamala Aunty, try as I might, I am unable to enjoy the nuances of your delightful posts as I haven't seen these epis at all in their full glory... hence will not be able to do justice to your writing...

But will defo be here once the rerun starts on Zee Anmol...am already rubbing my hands in glee ...😆

I am glad you liked it, Sri. And as for Episode 59, the imaginary lines for Jodha and the satirical parts about Jalal were the ones I enjoyed the most when I was writing them!

Take a look at my advice to Jalal, in my next post, on how to turn the tiger attack to his advantage vis a vis Jodha, and tell me how you liked it!

Shyamala Akka

Originally posted by: jayaks02

I am reading in parts Akka - Read with Particular interest the Historical Footnote and Episode 59.

Historical Footnote sends shivers down the spine - It has affirmed my belief that West was always more violent than Eastern civilization or cultures on a compartivie scale - Have heard of countless tortures by Japanese army in 1st world war though. Yes, the Japanese have an inbuilt capacity for refined, sadistic cruelty. And you mean WW II, and the prisoners of war, don't you? But for me, the lynching of African Americans by absolutely commonplace folks, family men with kids, was the most horrible. Like the SS officers weeping over Wagner arias in the evening after having bayoneted kids during the day.

59 episode commentary is a seasoned critic's elevated writings - At the first outset, anyone will quality this to be a duel of sorts with back and forth commentaries/ bursts getting flung - But if you really SEE deep, the episode comes more on drama quotient and less on emotional battle. Your writing brought in a nice fresh take to what one should see beyond filming and dialogues.

There are better tit for tat scenes with both in which not much is spoken.

Very nice read. Thanks !!!

Thank YOU, my dear Lavanya!

Shyamala Aunty

Originally posted by: Sabdabhala

DEAR SHYAMALA AUNTY

THANKS FOR YET ANOTHER MASTERPIECE. IT WAS ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC.

I LOVED READING THE ENTIRE ANALYSIS, BUT YOUR TAKE ON EPISODE 55 WAS THE BEST IN THSI SERIES.

THE ENTIRE STRUGGLE BETWEEN JALAL 1 AND 2 WAS AN AMAZING READ, AS WAS THE SPLIT PERSONALITY THEORY THAT YOU POSTULATED FOR MAHAM ANGA. BOTH THESE WERE JUST BANG ON

ALSO I LOVED THE WAY YOU, VERY LOGICALLY, ADDRESSED THE FORUM MEMBERS, WHO, APPROPRIATELY SO, WERE IN DEEP MOURNING 😆

YOUR MAKE BELIEVE CONVO BETWEEN JALAL AND JODHA HAD ME IN SPLITS 😆

WHAT MORE CAN I SAY, EXCEPT THANKS AGAIN AND AGAIN

Thank you, my poppet! I knew I could depend on you to like the parts I liked writing and react to them as I did myself.

Affectionately,

Shyamala Aunty

Originally posted by: Sandhya.A