Friends, sorry for the delay in posting. Had some urgent work. Anyway there does not seem much to say on the Monday episode of Jodha Akbar. The episode looked like a starter for the new track - and so many small things happened to give shape to the future track of Jodha and Jalal going on a "disguised" trip to Sikri - with Ruq showing her jealousy with a new fervour.
I want to keep this analysis short today as I am swamped with work. But there were three highlights that happened that I want to write about particularly.
In these topics below I have underlined some sections that I want you to notice especially. These are instances where I thought Jalal was going a great distance to make Jodha feel ultra special to him. He seemed to be eager to show her that he wanted to do something that would please her! And he kept finding ways to do do that! Maybe the same trend will allso continue on the trip?
OK so here goes ...
The Diwan-e-Khas proceedings - maafi request and a city for Jodha!
In the Diwan-e-Khas, where Jalal had invited everybody - including particularly Jodha - he first congratulated Hakim and Mansingh on their Chanderi War victory. Immediately, our dear Mansingh and our dear Hakim went into "mutual admiration society mode". Each one praised the other, till Hakim mentioned how Mansingh had actually saved his life on one occasion by taking a hit himself.
Jalal was sent into a reverie about the way Mansingh had repeated the feat of Bhagwan Das when he too took an arrow in the chest to save Jalal. The Shahenshah thus praised Rajvanshi valour sky high and said that Mansingh was a true chip of the old block - and Jodha almmost brimmed over with pride. (I have a feeling that Jalal is going to spare no effort to praise Rajvanshis hereafter and especially use the praise of Mansingh as a route to Jodha's heart!)
Anyway Jalal then turned to Ruq and said she could have the Chanderi province as her gift for doing a heroic act when Ben kidnapped her. But Ruq, in a fit of extraordinary magnanimity said that Chanderi was actually the amanat of Bairam Khan and rightfully it should be given to Salima and Rahim! (I wonder if she'd have been so magnanimous to Jodha as she was to Salima?)
Jalal agreed. And then Jalal surprised me by saying to Jodha "I have nothing to give you, but something to ask." She looked quizzically at him, as did Hamida too. Then Jalal continued "I have to ask for your maafi. Time and again you warned me about Ben but I didn't heed you and moreover I didn't treat you properly either. And here, you had to risk your life to make me understand you. So I hereby gift you a whole new city I plan on building called Fatehpur Sikri". Jodha folded her hands in thanks and their eyes met with mutual admiration.
Folks, it was very interesting to me how Jalal managed to apologize without giving away too much of his dignity in the process. He did not raise the issue of Jodha being jealous with Ben but merely talked of how he had not heeded her warnings and how he had "mistreated her". And as for Jodha, she looked so ready to forgive him that I fear Ela and a few other friends of mine will feel bad. They so wanted Jodha to put up her price a bit and not readily forgive Jalal for all his ill-treatment. But there we were ... he wanted to apologize without loss of face, and she wanted to forgive him because, well ... I don't know. Maybe she is feeling too friendly already or perhaps overwhelmed with the fact that he chose to ask for her maafi in the open sabha?
Jalal then also announced that as per the dua he had prayed for during Jodha's illness, he was due to go by foot to the dargah of Salim Chishti at Sikri. Hamida said he should take all his three wives, and that ended the sabha on a seemingly blissful note.
(It was generally blissful if you discount the fact that Atga said Abul Mali was still very much around as enemy No. 1 ... and the Chanderi Pathan was licking his war wounds and smarting for a fight as enemy No. 2 ... and Mansingh said Maharana Pratap and his father were marshalling their forces as enemy No. 3. These were all political issues that needn't worry us a lot as yet, though. So all was well in the DEK when the house was "barkaasth".)
One wife in hand is worth three in the bush!
Hardly had the DEK adjourned than Ruq went onto a high horse. She was not going to stand being one of the three wives on a dargah trip by foot with Jalal. She wanted to be the "one and only" and not "one of the three". I doubt she thought of Salima as a "kabab mein haddi", but she sure resented Jodha being "one tof the three khas ones". So what does she do? The idiot chit pulls out of the trip and shoots herself nicely in the foot!
Later, much later, she is still in bed fast asleep when Maham announces that its too late to stop the flow of Destiny, for Jalal and Jodha have already left for their trip together while the "brainless were still in bed"! What must have been Ruq's chagrin to have thus been awoken from sleep to be told the "good news"? her dishevelled outer look resembled the state of her mind!
I feel like asking Ruq "Tantrums are all very well on small issues, but should you let yourself lose the big opportunities to score brownie points with Jalal - especially on such a long trip to a dargah that was so holy and had some important connotations?"
It is my suspicion that Ruq was miffed about the trip not just because she did not want to go as a "wifely pack of three". She resented the very fact that Sikri, the destination of the trip, was the same city chosen to gift to Jodha, plus this whole dargah visit was in thanksgiving for Jodha's life. Ruq knew that if she went with the other two wives, she could still pull rank as the Begum-e-Khas and feel taller than the other two. But I suspect the real reason for turning down the trip was to not participate in anything that involved Jalal doing things specially for Jodha!
Now as it happened, Ruq did not know that Salima too had cried off. Salima, hearing that Ruq was crying off, decided to suddenly develop a backache and demur to Hamida that she too couldn't go on this trip. But Hamida was shrewd. She knew why exactly Salima had acquired a bad back ... it was to make Jodha and Jalal go together out of the Palace alone so that they could develop more closeness with each other. Hamida and Salima - the "incorrigible romance arranging pair" - thus congratulated each other on an idea well executed by Salima.
Jalal however seemed to have other ideas. When he heard of Ruq and Salima not going, he thought Jodha too would not (in fact, should not) go with him as she genuinely was just recovering from her ordeal with the snake venom.
But notice this folks, Jalal seems to have decided that even if Jodha would not go, he wanted her to know that he was going in the disguise of a commoner Marwari (i.e. Rajvanshi) and so he brought all his clothes to show her! Why would he do that if she was not expected to travel with him?
No doubt Jalal wanted Jodha to know that he was doing something he knew would please her. It was she who had made him dress like a commoner and go among the praja on his birthday and thus get closer to his public. He knew the act of his - in using a commoner disguise - would warm the cockles of her heart - and he had come to her room precisely to turn her heart into "happiness mode".
Regarding this disguise, I am also getting an additional feeling that Jalal has deliberately chosen the "Marwari attire" (when in fact he could have also chosen to dress as a humble Muslim commoner). So why the Marwari outfit idea? Again to please Jodha?
What he didn't bargain for was how Jodha would react. Jodha said she would not stay back and she would go on the trip. She said "You've prayed for me, how can you not include me on the dargah trip." And then hearing that the other two wives were not going, she further drove home a big point to Jalal "Oh, in that case, you need me to look after you!". Did you see the look on his face, folks, when she said she was going to be on the trip to offer TLC? He was positively preening!
Hamida then sealed the matter for Jodha by favouring her going with Jalal (with a smile so broad Hamida didn't deceive Jalal!). He said "You are ganging up on me, you saas and bahu" and took leave, looking utterly thrilled at being browbeaten by the two dearest ones in his llife!
The precap and its delightful anticipation!
The precap is extremely interesting because it gives us all kinds of isharas of some cute coochey-coo between Jodha and Jalal on the trip. Already we saw them feelding each other and then washing each other's hands with a great deal of mutual pleasure. But I have a sincere request to the Creatives here.
Please Creatives, do not just make this all about surface level friendship, some hand washings, some feedings, some handholding on some bonfire nights in the outdoor eyeing each other (a la the new banner). Please go further and let them both talk about the thorny issues between them (like that letter and the dhakka) so that the tensions between them are not glossed over in superficial romantic actions. Let them genuinely make a breakthrorugh in communication, in clearing misunderstandings, and in verbalising at least some of what is in their hearts.
Rahim can still decode the paigam after they return and nail Maham as the culprit. But meanwhile let Jodha and Jalal at least believe each other regarding that dhakka issue and let them both see clearly that the other was not wrong. Normally we are all saying Jalal should realise Jodha was truthful about not having writtten that letter. But equally Jodha should also realise that if he were not mistaken, Jalal would not have come into her room with amorous intentions!
If possible, Creatives, I also want them both to talk about the divide now existing between the Ameris and Mughals and discuss how this can be bridged. I want them to mutually arrive at the idea that Shivani and Tejwant's marriage has to be given its dignity - and that Jodha and Jalal need to take the initiative to reconcile with Bharmal and family, since they are much younger than the Bharmal-Mainavati-Dadisa group ... and it would be easier if the younger ones took it upon themselves to help the elders save face and let relations between Amer and Agra heal.
Let this trip not be wasted Creatives, in just stupid coochey-coo. Let serious things be spoken about, ironed out by Jodha and Jalal ... and in between if you can us some scenes between them of a more sensuous nature than just gestures of teenage love it would be good. They are a married couple, and even if they have not yet slept with each other, there is no need to just stay on periphery of physical contact. Get a bit bold, Creatives!
Accha, in winding up this post a couple of questions:
1. Is this the beginnings of Fatehpur Sikri construction? Does that mean there's a good possibility of Tejwant being the Chief Architect. Abhay has said that sure proof is not there yet that Tejwant was the Tuhir das who built Fatehpur Sikri, but I feel there may be that connection made? What say, folks? Does it look like things will take that direction?
2. The track seems to be deviating from the movie a lot if on this joint trip Jodha and Jalal come across this yatri tax imposed by the Mughal Subehdars on the Hindus. In the movie, after Jodha was sent back to Amer as punishment for an alleged extra-marital affair, Jalal realises his mistake and tries to make amends by going onto the streets as a commoner and thus gets to know about this unfair tax hurting the Hindus. And he then tries to set things right to win back Jodha's confidence. In the serial however, we are nowehere near Jodha's banishment and they are going together, when they chance upon this tax. So I am not sure how all this sits with the real timelines of history. Maybe Abhay can tell us if the serial is right or the movie was closer to the historical truth.
3. Where is Rahim? Where is Rahim? Where is Rahim? Even if Jodha-Jalal iron out their differences about the dhakka night, I still want Rahim to expose Maham and her highly creative letter-reading style! So if anyone can give me spoiler news that Rahim turned up on the sets for shooting today, I'll owe you one! I hope they start shooting showing him sitting inside Maham's box where she has kept the pieces of the paigam. Even that much is enough to give me hope. See, what I am saying is, while Jo-Ja are on this trip, simultaneously they can also show Rahim starting to find the letter pieces and playing with them. Then he should be good and ready to show it all to Jalal when Jalal and Jodha come back?
4. Adham seems in a "Kill Zakira" mode! Any guesses whether he will manage to silence Zakira before she bleats to Jalal that Adham was in cahoots with Ben!
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