Originally posted by: sashashyam
There is a magic in P&P, Harry Potter , Ponniyin Selvan , Gone With the wind and the classic movies that n number of reading / viewing doesn't reduce their charm and brilliance by the slightest shade. Episode 31 of JA falls into this category.⭐️One of the rare episodes that gave Akbar's mastermind its due and actor RT the scope to excel. RT is a rare actor who has a compelling screen presence and the ability to become the role he plays. He can arrest the viewers attention even if he plays the role of a dwarpalak. But here he is Shahenshah, the center of attention, the focus of the limelight and with a script that was any actor's dream. No wonder that he has fired from all cylinders. UFFF ! Did the word sound lovelier ever earlier!Folks,
If there is one thing any of you would say about me, without any hesitation, it would be that I am never at a loss for words, right?😉
Wrong. Last night, after (re)watching Rajat's Shahenshah Jalaluddin Mohammed in full flow, not once, not twice, but four times back to back, I find myself once more searching for words adequate to describe, judge and appreciate him as he should be appreciated, and praise him as he should be praised .
It was an infinitely subtle, layered, and controlled performance, not only by the actor, but by the character himself. One would say a superbly choreographed and directed drama, except that it was a solo triumph. For the lead actor was all in one: writer, director and performer. The kind of bravura act that deserved any number of curtain calls. It was like a tennis match : serve, volley, retrieval, smash, set point, match point, game and match to the Emperor.
Let us take it from the beginning. It is a given that Jalal wants Jodha, come what may. Why he wants her is not relevant for the moment, merely that he does, and what Jalal wants, Jalal gets. But for that, he has to force her bull-headed, obstinate, and impractical father to agree to their marriage, for Jalal never visualizes anything else, for reasons both his own and those of state. Not being a fool like Bharmal, and having spent his early years with the Rajputs, he knows their psyche, and realizes how tough the going will be, given that this idea will be seen as a grave transgression of the Rajput code of honour, of their aan, baan andshaan.
Do you honestly call this loss of words? 🤓 This post is a lovely tribute to the wonderful episode.
There is extreme pleasure listening to good music and joy in equal measure when we read a fitting praise, analysis and appreciation of it. Like reading the newspaper report the day after an excellent victory in sport/ event. It is like reliving the moments of bliss. 😊
So he first brushes aside Bharmal's gauche reference to him as the Sultan of Agra with a gracious Qubool kiya! , adding that he would have been happier to have been addressed as the Hindustan kebadshah, and offers Bharmal a seat. Bharmal sits down and begins with his litany of complaints, while Jalal starts looking down and smiling. It is not even clear if he is listening to Bharmal.
He then looks up and proceeds to disconcert Bharmal by interrupting him, and offering him refreshments.
Kya chaahte hain aap?
Hum chaahte hain ki hamare bete ...
Woh sab baatein to hoti rahegi...koi sherbet mithaayi?
🤣...as though Bharmal came all the way to eat sweets and drink sherbet!
Lowering the boom: It is now time to turn the screws on Bharmal, who is going on an on about yuddh ki sandhi and the need for Sharifuddin to observe those rules and return the Amer princes and other hostages. So Jalal now remarks, with smooth, hard sarcasm : Seedhi si baat hai, Raja Saheb. Jab Amer ka takht aapka tha, tab Amer par, uski jaydaad par, uski har ek cheez par aapka haq tha..
He holds Bharmal's eyes with his own, in a level, steady, slightly amused gaze. Bharmal is now visibly getting hot under the collar, wondering what is coming next.
Jalal goes on: Ab jab ki humne Amer jeet liya hai, to sab kuch kanoonan hamara hua. Hua ki nahin? And he turns to smile at Chugtai Khan.
Bharmal being Bharmal, he walks straight into the trap set for him.Ek chota sa yudh jeet jaane ka yeh matlab nahin, he harrumphs, ki Amer paraadheen ho gaya. That does it. Jalal, still seated, turns to face Bharmal, his eyes, as hard as agates and openly hostile now, widening in disbelief at such ill-timed arrogance.
How much i laughed whenI read this the first time. Bharmal was exactly himself.
He is on his feet in an instant, as agile as a panther, offering to settle the matter in one fell swoop. To theek hai, aar paar ki jung kar kete hain, Amer par poori tarah se kabza kar lete hain. And then, with sharp irony: Phir to aapko koyi shikayat nahin honi chahiye! Though he never raises his voice, the overt aggression in his manner is like a whiplash.
A hundred whiplashes all condensed into a few words.
Bharmal's dilemma: Bharmal is thus forced to reveal his Achilles heel - that he cannot afford to go to war, for that would mean the total destruction of Amer. He is not afraid of war or of death, he huffs, but he does not want the blood of the brave to flow needlessly.
Jalal's expression, as he mocks Bharmal's dilemma, is a throwback to his terrifying mirthless smiles of old, but it is not quite the same, for he is not quite the same Jalal of old. Ufff! Nahi aap chahte hain ki Amer ke liye koyi harjana bhara jai ( note that he does not say a word of this harjana being excessive; and no wonder, for he must have decided it himself!😉 undoubtedly . ...😆), aur nahi ki yeh chahte hain ki ek muqammal jung se Amer jeet liya jai..
He motions Bharmal, now clearly on the back foot, to his seat and asks: To phir kya chahte hain aap? Batayiye!
Bharmal, by now, has been softened up, and his voice is hesitant and pleading as he seeks a third path, a way out of his dilemma.
I must admit here that the actor playing Bharmal was good in the scene. He displayed Bharmal's confusion pomp vanity helplessness and pain convincingly.
Boxing in the opponent: Jalal rules this out - Ab ya to aapka aan hoga ya phir Mughalon ki shaan - then once again looks down and starts twirling his moustache in apparent unconcern.
Bharmal, by now desperate, looks at Chughtai Khan for support, and the Khan gets the opening that he, and his Shahenshah as well, have been looking for. But still, as he looks consideringly across at Chugtai and says Batayiye, Jalal's eyes look incurious, detached. It would never do to look too eager, would it?
It is only when Chugtai utter the word rishta that Jalal begins to smile again, but secretly, head down. Note that unlike Bharmal, he seeks no clarification as to the kind of rishta Chugtai has in mind, and for a perfectly good reason. If one had been unsure that this was a carefully choreographed exercise, Jalal's wide smile snd his lack of curiosity offer clinching corroboration that it was indeed such a stratagem.
The proofs strengthen. My regard for Akbar's super brains would come down by several notches if he attained the improbable by chance.
What follows is pure, kneejerk stupidity from Bharmal, which is par for the course, and silken, sledgehammer brutality from Jalal.
When Bharmal bounces out of his seat with an overloud Bas! to Chugtai Khan, Jalal swivels round.His eyes slowly rise to Bharmal's face. They are expressionless, cold as icicles and as sharp, unreadable, calculating. If I had been at the receiving end of that look, I would have been really scared. Rajat, always very good, was superb in that instant.
As for Bharmal, one cannot blame him for being shocked and dismayed, but surely a more measured and diplomatic reaction would have been both graceful and pragmatic?
Bharmal being Bharmal . ...🤣
His voice breaking and his throat constricted by helplessness, he rages that no alliance is possible between him and the Mughals, as Chughtai Khan watches in an agony of apprehension. Jalal sits unmoving, his chin in his hand and his dark eyes veiled and unfathomable. His thumb rubbing against his closed fist is the only sign that he is there and listening.
The ultimate put down: It is when Bharmal has run out of steam that Jalal finally moves, and how!
Theek hi to keh rahe hain Raja Saheb. Aur waise bhi is rishte ki zaroorat hi kya hai? he declares as he moves to stand near Bharmal, but still looking down, his eyes veiled . Hope flickers in Bharmal's eyes, for he has no idea what is to come next.
When it does, the level monotone contrasting with the harshness of the words, one's breath is caught in one's throat in sheer shock. Jalal turns finally to look at Bharmal, his eyes hostile, sneering. And his words sting like a whiplash. Jab Amer hi hamara hai, to Amer ki har ek cheez hamari hai - Bharmal's eyes show dawning fear - Phir chahe wo uski shehzadi ho ya uski baandi. The cold smile returns. Aur hum jise chahein apni harem ki shaan bana sakte hain.The lips are drawn back in a smile that is almost a snarl.
As the full import of Jalal's words dawns on him, Bharmal's face crumples in helpless dismay.
This was the clincher. The stark reality of the what the worst could be was unexpectedly flashed in front of Bharmal's unsuspecting eyes stripping him of any residual pride. And Rajat/ Jalal was perfect displaying bringing down a thunderbolt on Bharmal without ado, his words like 'naavik ke teer ' giving 'ghaav ghambeer'
Chughtai Khan, predictably, moves to fill the breach, seeking permission for a private heart to heart with Bharmal. It is then that Jalal, unconsciously following the dictum of Chanakya, delivers thecoup de grace.
Behatar hai.. Agar yeh hamare numayindon se hi baat karein to behatar hoga. He sits down and looks up at the standing Bharmal, his eyes sharp, bright, and arrogant. Kyonki ek badshah doosre badshah se baat kar sakta hai.Aur shayad inhein is baat ke ehsaas ho gya hai ki yeh ab ek raja nahin rahe.. Nothing more crushing could have been imagined, and as Bharmal looks into Jalal's mocking eyes , his heart must have plummeted into his mojvis.
I felt a momentary pity for Bharmal here. Jalal ripped him apart sliced him through without shedding blood. Shylock should have sought his help. Jalal would have taken taken many pounds of flesh out of Bassanio without shedding a single drop of blood.
As Chugtai Khan and Bharmal leave the audience chamber, there is the same secret, smug smile on Jalal's face.
A diplomat par excellence: The discussion that follows is a triumph for Chughtai Khan's powers of persuasion. He would have made an excellent diplomat. He uses every argument in the book to convince the by now almost tearful Bharmal that his duty as a king should take precedence over the fears of a father, and that Jodha's marriage to Jalal is the sole way out of total and inevitable disaster for Amer and its citizens.
He counters each of the by now desperate Bharmal's objections - about his losing face in front of the other Rajput royals, about his own place in history likely to be that of a coward who saved himself by sending his daughter to the the Mughals, about howcould he enter into a rishta with the Mughals, about how he would confess this to his daughter - with impeccable, if at time specious logic, and a calm, soothing stream of roseate visions.
Agar Hindustan ke Shahenshah aapke damaad ban gaye, to aapse kaun nazarein milayega? ...Amer aur zyada phalega, phoolega, aur zyada taaqatwar hoga.. Jodha, kahan ek choti si riyasat ki Rajkumari, aur kahan Mughal Sultanat ki Malika! ( like Ashutosh Gowarikar, Chugtai Khan too makes both Ruqaiya Sultan Begum and Salima Sultan Begum vanish into thin air!😉).. Dosti sab se paak rishta hai. Agar aap mujhse, ek Mughal se, yeh rishta bana sakte hain to Shahenshah se kyon nahin?..In mushkilon ka hal aap ek baap bankar nikalna chahte hain.. Raja bankar sochiye, hal khud ba khud nikal aayega.
And Bharmal, driven to point non plus, finally caves in, probably, in his heart of hearts, passing the blame for this to Maa Bhavani!😉
IIM Students need to listen to Chugtai Khan for a supplementary course.👏
He goes on to reduce Bharmal almost to tears by affirming Ab hum aapko ek achche rishtedaar hone ka sabot denge. He passes orders restoring Amer to Bharmal, and assures him of the freedom of the 3 princes, now to be brought to meet him. He reassures Bharmal: Ghabrayiye mat, Raja Saheb, quaidi bankar nahin, hamare mehmaan bankar.
No wonder that as Bharmal folds his hands in a namaskar to the Shahenshah, his eyes are moist with relief and unfamiliar emotions.
At the end of the meeting of such import where such a huge decision was made Bharmal was not himself. He was just flowing in the tide. He was neither given the time or opportunity to think. All doors were seemingly closed for him except this...he HAD to give the vachan. It is also curious that Chugtai Khan brought Bharmal ALONE with no one to counsel or distract him from walking along the 'only available choice'. Not that Jalal or MP would have caved in under similar situation. But Bharmalbeing Bharmal ...😆
That smile!: As for Jalal, he watches the duo leave with the same inscrutable, secret smile. It is a a cross between the look of a cat at a mouse hole, and that of a cat that had swallowed all the cream!😉😉
NB: Chughtai Khan's revelation about a newly puffed up Sharifuddin having evil intentions towards Jodha was a surprise.
Probably to relieve Bharmal of any scruples. It is also curious that Chugtai Khan reveals Sharifuddin's intentions only now. Not that Chugtai Khan has fooled Bharmal. In fact it was the only choice Bharmal had if he wanted to save his skin. Chughtai Khan helped his friend and his master. He revealed the plan/truth at the uchith samay and uchith sthaan.😉
A strategist and a tactician: For us, Jalal's bravura act does not end with Bharmal's departure. Jalal the strategist still has some surprises up his sleeve.
The smoothness and plausibility of the three (entirely correct) reasons he gives for agreeing to this marriage - that it would avoid a lifetime of enmity with the Rajputs if Jodha was carried off to his harem by force (he carefully avoids explaining why he wants to bother with this obscure princess from a small riyasat at all!😉), that it would help increase the Mughal sultanate's trade and commerce, and lastly, that it would provide new shoor veer sainik ( not bahadur sipahi) for the Mughal army: Wo humse ladein is se behatar hai ki wo hamare liye ladein - are such that his initially disapproving Ministers are not just convinced, but turned into his cheerleaders.
As the praises of his wazirat fill the air - Ab humein yakeen ho gaya hai ki aapne bahut soch samajhkar yeh faisla liya hai.. Bade door ki sochi hai, Huzoor! - the Shahenshah's face is still and inscrutable, but his eyes gleam with some secret triumph. We , the viewers, know, even better than he himself does right now, the reason for that, for we know why he wants what he wants, and he does not.
Here it was Akbar more than RT in pink and purple defining his reasons as much to himself as to his Wazirs.
A hosanna to Rajat's Jalal: Throughout the 11:52 minutes of the Bharmal-Jalal segment, it was a superlative display by Rajat as Jalal, with a mastery of facial nuance that I have rarely seen in nearly 50 years of movie viewing, He just chewed up the screen. The boy must have been really enjoying himself!
Plus, as my mother, who has grown to love him too, noted, his eyes are his major asset - they are deep set in a face with strong, well marked features, and they gleam from the depths even when he keeps them lowered, as when he was listening to Bharmal babbling about the Mughals' breaching assorted maryadas. The silent menace in them at times is terrifying. And when he wants, they are smooth and as unreadable as the still waters in a lake just before dawn.
Remarkable, this young man. He is a constant delight.
He is a camera's delight, a director's delight, a viewer's delight. ( in or outside the bt.🤪...in Mughal attire ( blue esp) or Rajvanshi robes...in anger or tears...in shararat or smirks...
Yesternight , he was fully backed by the script and the director, and showcased to perfection, and he delivered more than 100%. It is not often that an actor can manage to go beyond the script and make it say more that it does on paper. Rajat did just that here, for without the terpischorean ( aunty, please give a footnote like in English textbooks with the meaning of hard words...with *1, *2 marked near the words) range he brought to those scenes, they would not have been anything like what they were.
In fact, what I loved the most was Jalal's absolute self control regardless of how infuriating Bharmal was. Not once did that self control slip, and when he was brutal in his putdown of Bharmal, it was deliberate, and the pitch was just right. This is how a Shahenshah should be, always in control, of himself and of others.
Jalal being Jalal could only be superlative.
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