Jodha Akbar 21-23: The heart prevails - Page 3

My dear Donjas,

I had no idea you would like this post so much, and I am naturally very pleased about it.

I think that in the serial, Ekta tried to economise on battle scenes, so she did not show the actual battle between the Mughal forces and Bairam Khan's followers. I agree with you about the missing step, between the break between him and Jalal and his open rebellion. There would surely have been some attempt at negotiations, especially from Jalal's side. Moreover, in his face to face spat with Maham, Bairam Khan shows no inclination to abandon the post of Wazir--e-Aala. This was after the DEK scene with Jalal and Bairam Khan's raging in his hoojra to Salima Begum.

So it is not made clear when and how Bairam Khan switched to open rebellion. But that he u rebel is clear from the fact that he calls himself a baaghi. It is not just a case of Maham repeating like a parrot that he was one. So I suppose he had declared war on Jalal, but had changed his mind and repented of it.

What they have done is to replace the historical scene where, after Bairam Khan had been defeated, he was brought before Jalal in chains, and was forgiven and his honours restored to him, with this one in front of the Agra palace gates.

This natakiya rupantar, for once, works well!

Shyamala

Originally posted by: Donjas

I relished this post. It ranks among the best in the serial repeat phase.

My observations. The entire sequence from Jalal undecided about what to do about Bairam Khan, to his riding out of the fort in armor to confront his Khan Baba, was spectacular in acting, in direction and photography. That last scene of the episode is iconic, Jalal hugging Bairam Khan with the blue sky in the background. That image speaks to us in so many ways.

The actor playing Bairam Khan is so expressive, his interaction with Maham and Jalal have always been a treat to watch.

However, I disagree with your views on one issue. In this serial, it is not shown that Bairam Khan is on an open road to rebellion. He was defiant, sure and he disregarded an Emperor's Farman, again true but considering his position and his years of service, there was also no intermediate step by Jalal to open negotiations. Considering what happened in the Jalal Bairam clash in the Diwan e Khaas, there was one missing intermediate step. In that clash, Jalal had given a warning but it was not an immediate call for action. Similarly, after that clash Bairam said to his wife Salima, that Jalal would have to choose between him and Maham, meaning that he did not intend to rebel against Jalal as yet.

My take, the situation was not as bad, but Maham worked on it and made it appear bad. With no contradictory argument from Bairam Khan's side, it was Maham's view which slowly worked it's way into Jalal's mind.

I will comment later on more aspects of your wonderful post.

Originally posted by: sashashyam

My dear Donjas,

I had no idea you would like this post so much, and I am naturally very pleased about it.

I think that in the serial, Ekta tried to economise on battle scenes, so she did not show the actual battle between the Mughal forces and Bairam Khan's followers. I agree with you about the missing step, between the break between him and Jalal and his open rebellion. There would surely have been some attempt at negotiations, especially from Jalal's side. Moreover, in his face to face spat with Maham, Bairam Khan shows no inclination to abandon the post of Wazir--e-Aala. This was after the DEK scene with Jalal and Bairam Khan's raging in his hoojra to Salima Begum.

So it is not made clear when and how Bairam Khan switched to open rebellion. But that he u rebel is clear from the fact that he calls himself a baaghi. It is not just a case of Maham repeating like a parrot that he was one. So I suppose he had declared war on Jalal, but had changed his mind and repented of it.

What they have done is to replace the historical scene where, after Bairam Khan had been defeated, he was brought before Jalal in chains, and was forgiven and his honours restored to him, with this one in front of the Agra palace gates.

This natakiya rupantar, for once, works well!

Shyamala

No, no, Bairam Khan calls himself a baaghi when he is kneeling in front of Jalal. I am not referring to his earlier comment to his Thug No.1. So that means that in his own mind, and on the ground, he has openly revolted against Jalal.

The hopes for reconciliation would surely have been there earlier, and Bairam Khan is also shown as in no hurry to abandon his Wazir-e--Aala post, as he warns Maham. But these hopes must have been dashed at some point that we have not been shown. Perhaps Bairam Khan wanted Jalal to make the first move but Jalal, furious at the very insulting comments about his father made in the DEK by Bairam Khan, probably did not make that move.

Remember that the way Jalal reacted, convening that DEK meeting and at the meeting itself, had nothing to do with Maham bar the fact that she sent Takhatmal's soldier to Jalal. And he was really very, very angry. And at the end of that meeting it is Bairam Khan who mentions a jung, but as something he is sure Jalal will not envisage. It is then that Jalal uses the word baaghi.

Maham would of course have been working over time trying to alienate Jalal permanently from his Khan Baba, but she seems hardly sure of success, if we are to go by the scene of Jalal and his Teen Devian!

So to attribute Bairam Khan's volte face to his abandoning the fight because of what he perceives as Maham having all the cards, which is what Prem asserts, seems to me to be totally unjustified. I do not agree with that part of Prem's analysis and I shall be discussing that in my response to his post.I am rather tired now, but I shall do that tomorrow.

Shyamala

Originally posted by: Donjas

Thanks for your quick response. There are two ways of looking at it, one way is to assume that the CV's simply did not show the intermediate steps.

The second way is a bit more complex. First, I will discount Bairam Khan's "Baaghi" comments because of his "choose between me and Maham" comments a while later. Just like Jalal was conflicted, in this line of thinking Bairam was conflicted too. There was anger and defiance but there was hope for reconciliation too.

This second way of thinking is much better presented by Myviewprem, as compared to my ramblings. When a child lives in the care of two parent figures who mean the world to him, if any of the parents leaves for a reason, it becomes easier for the remaining parent to poison the child's mind against that person. Here there is a clear break between Jalal and Bairam Khan. Maham makes use of the opportunity to make sure the break remains permanent. If Bairam Khan had not been sulking he could have countered this, but since he is away Jalal hears only Maham's words. In this way of thinking Jalal is justified to act against Bairam a Khan because he definitely did act against him, but there also a possibility of reconciliation if the lines of communication had not broken down.

Originally posted by: sashashyam

My dear Donjas,

I had no idea you would like this post so much, and I am naturally very pleased about it.

I think that in the serial, Ekta tried to economise on battle scenes, so she did not show the actual battle between the Mughal forces and Bairam Khan's followers. I agree with you about the missing step, between the break between him and Jalal and his open rebellion. There would surely have been some attempt at negotiations, especially from Jalal's side. Moreover, in his face to face spat with Maham, Bairam Khan shows no inclination to abandon the post of Wazir--e-Aala. This was after the DEK scene with Jalal and Bairam Khan's raging in his hoojra to Salima Begum.

So it is not made clear when and how Bairam Khan switched to open rebellion. But that he u rebel is clear from the fact that he calls himself a baaghi. It is not just a case of Maham repeating like a parrot that he was one. So I suppose he had declared war on Jalal, but had changed his mind and repented of it.

What they have done is to replace the historical scene where, after Bairam Khan had been defeated, he was brought before Jalal in chains, and was forgiven and his honours restored to him, with this one in front of the Agra palace gates.

This natakiya rupantar, for once, works well!

Shyamala

Originally posted by: sashashyam

No, no, Bairam Khan calls himself a baaghi when he is kneeling in front of Jalal. I am not referring to his earlier comment to his Thug No.1. So that means that in his own mind, and on the ground, he has openly revolted against Jalal.

The hopes for reconciliation would surely have been there earlier, and Bairam Khan is also shown as in no hurry to abandon his Wazir-e--Aala post, as he warns Maham. But these hopes must have been dashed at some point that we have not been shown. Perhaps Bairam Khan wanted Jalal to make the first move but Jalal, furious at the very insulting comments about his father made in the DEK by Bairam Khan, probably did not make that move.

Remember that the way Jalal reacted, convening that DEK meeting and at the meeting itself, had nothing to do with Maham bar the fact that she sent Takhatmal's soldier to Jalal. And he was really very, very angry. And at the end of that meeting it is Bairam Khan who mentions a jung, but as something he is sure Jalal will not envisage. It is then that Jalal uses the word baaghi.

Maham would of course have been working over time trying to alienate Jalal permanently from his Khan Baba, but she seems hardly sure of success, if we are to go by the scene of Jalal and his Teen Devian!

So to attribute Bairam Khan's volte face to his abandoning the fight because of what he perceives as Maham having all the cards, which is what Prem asserts, seems to me to be totally unjustified. I do not agree with that part of Prem's analysis and I shall be discussing that in my response to his post.I am rather tired now, but I shall do that tomorrow.

Shyamala

You have made a very spirited defense of your viewpoint. I must say it has a lot of logic. That is the beauty of scenarios with incomplete information, one can interpret it in any manner one wishes. On the whole it is obvious to me that your viewpoint seems more plausible, but the other scenario cannot be ruled out also.

By the way, please don't respond to this particular post. It is not necessary. I made this post to express my pleasure at the large number of likes that your posts are getting. It shows that people still get enjoyment from watching the repeat run and reading your analysis.

👏 What a spell blindingly fantastic assessment Aunty!

This is like Burger king's double whopper for me. First, Aunty's excellent analysis on this group of episodes followed by Ashwinee's(Ash67) superb take.

Hello Shyamala, I hope this font is better😉