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IF and when Jodha Begum grabs the poisoned chalice and stares death in the face, she will look like she's merely doing her duty and saving her pati's life. But she will also be tearing the veil that kept Jalal and her tantalisingly close but closed to each other.
So much of the status quo gets shaken and broken thanks to this dramatic event. The Begum who has not just stolen his heart without her knowing it, but has also offered her life to save him. The Begum whose shudh Hindi seemed to only lend gravity to words, now saves the Sultanate from descending into chaos with the most dramatic rescue. The Begum who took him out and about on his birthday for raja-praja lessons, stops the danger within the walls of his court, right in his harem, under his nose. Helping all this to come about was poor Benazir. Helping further was a mysteriously preoccupied Shahenshah, who seemed to be present in body only and not in spirit. Whatever the artistic license employed by the writers, the two protagonists now have this opportunity to allow each other a window into their souls. To allow a brief kiss, a sharing of similar soul pains.
Beyond this, if I were to hazard a guess, I would say Jalal will be shaken. Shaken out of his zoned out time in the harem. Livid with himself for having allowed such an obvious danger to come so close, that it had forced Jodha to suffer in more ways than one. She hadn't been able to persuade anyone of the truth when the accused was so comfily close to power. Maham Anga, Ruqaiya and the whole harem had legitimised Benazir so quickly and effectively. So much so that Jalal could only view Jodha's reservations about Benazir as nothing more than a case of harem-politics. Jealousy. Now he will see how exactly Jodha had to fight against the odds and wage her one woman operation.
What will Jodha see IF she has been stricken by the poison and Jalal holds her, looking at her with a mixture of horror at the prospect of losing her and anger at what he has allowed to happen. Hopefully she sees that somewhere between ghrina and prem, there is a very solid place that Jalal occupies in her soul.
If these two souls see this much, then I will be very pleased. Ab aage...
Arjun
Jhanak
Tum Se Tum Tak
