Friends, two days ago we had such a wonderful and glorious episode of slow overt hand-brushing romance and Jalal putting Ruq in her place, that many of us were lulled into hoping for more and more and more of the same. But alas, there is always a ration in life of such lollypop romance. So it looks like we have exhausted our quota of trips to La La land this week, and now the reality of turbulent days ahead is begining to gather storm.
But I want to say here to all who are losing hope and happiness, that turbulent days need not mean the separation of Jodha and Jalal. It need not mean the end of romance and love. In fact, external turbulence can actually enhance and make love between two people very poignant. It can cement the relationship of Jodha and Jalal like never before ... and so I am in a mood of eager anticipation that the troubles on the outside will result in closer bonding of the hearts of Jodha and Jalal. I am actually rubbing my hands together in glee, to see how, through a series of external conundrums, Jodha and Jalal can actually come closer in a deeper way than just with hand-brushings and eye contact. The external events that have given sankets now in yesterday's epsiode seem to be happily the type that can unite Jodha and Jalal against external events, rather than create MUs that separate them.
Folks, remember, the troubles and turbulences in life cannot be wished away. They will always be there, and pop their heads up frequently just when we think we want at least four or five uninterrupted days of pure unadulterated lollypop happiness. But turbulences and turmoils are actually opportunities in disguise that allow greater growth of genuine love. The growth of romance and closeness that is achievable in the midst of a "situation that is at odds" is often more precious than the closeness and growth achievable in happy days.
So I am actually not rueing the fact that dreamy lollypoppy days are over and the problems seem looming upon Jodha and Jalal. On the contrary, I am filled with exepectation that they will now fight as a team to overcome the issues that they are going to face and will come out bonded stronger than before. There were many isharas in yesterday's episode that Jodha and Jalal will shape up to handle their impending issues together rather than separately.
Let me explain why I am feeling reasonably buoyant now. There were two main tracks that progressed yesterday - the election issue, and the entry of Sujamal, (plus one side issue of the antagonism that Bakshi showed towards Jodha because of the painting).
Let's take the election issue first, to see where its advantage lies for Jodha and Jalal.
The episode itself began with the election. All of the ladies had to stand and state who they were voting for. Hamida voted for Jodha. Gulbadan then voted for her niece Ruqaiya. JijiAnga voted for Jodha. Maham (as expected) voted for Ruqaiya.
Salima came next ... she threw a bumper number at us by voting for Ruqaiya, but a silent eye signal passed between her and Jodha suggesting that maybe Jodha had been satisfied with the way Salima voted. (In a later flashback we got to know that indeed Jodha had begged Salima to cast her vote for Ruq, which she did!).
Then came the turn of Bakshi Bano, who was filled with silent jealousy with the "Jodha portrait leching" of her husband fresh in her mind. She showed her antagonism for Jodha by voting for Ruqaiya. Then one by one the lesser ladies of the harem then got their chances to vote and they all did ... with the result that the situation was tied at that stage with only three votes left to be cast. Those votes belonged to Jodha, Ruqaiaya and Jalal himself.
Jodha got up and voted for herself, but Ruqaiya refused to state her vote till Jalal had declared his vote. Now Jalal, with some overt confusion on his face, voted for Ruqaiya, all the while locking his eyes with Jodha. Jodha gave a half-smile back at him as if approving his vote. And then we had a flashback again of how the previous night Jodha had asked Jalal for his vote - but not for herself, but for Ruq.
She had pleaded with Jalal that since Ruq was so in favour of continued running of the harem, and had her heart set on it, Jalal should not let her down and he should vote for Ruq. Jalal had agreed with Jodha with some kind of mixture of relief and also wonderment that Jodha was being so broad-minded about this voting process. Even so both of them had no clue what Ruq had planned for the election's final moments, till those moments were actually upon them. By now it was clear that Jodha had made Salima and Jalal vote against herself so that Ruq would get elected.
Having thus got Jalal to state his vote for Ruq, and while it looked like Ruq was ahead of Jodha in the stakes and Ruq's own vote would also be for herself, Ruq flabbergasted everyone - Jodha, Jalal, Hamida et al - by casting her own vote in favour of Jodha. It was given the look of great magnanimity. Jodha thus found that despite all her attempts to see that Ruq continued as the harem in-charge, she had been outplayed by Ruq who made Jodha the harem in-charge with just one masterstroke. Jodha and Jalal looked at each other in perplexity.
Why did Ruq do this? That was the question on everyone's mind after that election. Jodha and Moti discussed this puzzle but to no avail. Jalal was seen muttering the same question to himself. And Hamida and Gulbadan too were talking of nothing else. Only Maham seemed thrilled with the turn of events, but even she did not quite understand Ruq's game till she clarified with Ruq later.
Ruq said to Maham "I took the idea from your own advice to me yesterday not to involve Jalal in my games against Jodha. I decided to take Jodha head-on. I saw to it that she won for two reasons. One, she would get so involved now in the harem duties that her learning curve will be ultra-steep. She knows nothing of the ways of the harem nor our Mughal laws well enough. It will all take her a long time to learn and get right. While she is thus tied down day and night by mounting troubles in the harem, she will have no time for Jalal. And I will have Jalal all to myself, for I will have more than enough time on my hands to bind him to me completely. And two, the harem is a very political place with squabbles between the women every day and a host of petty issues to solve. All solutions will satisfy one party and aggrieve the other. Jodha will soon find that while she makes a few friends she will make more than a few enemies - and even those enchanted by her now will soon start baying for her blood. She will become frightfully unpopular and become as hated as I was. And I'll get to watch and enjoy all that too!"
Maham congratulated her protege on this terrific masterstroke, and Ruq was left with self-congratulation blazing from her eyes.
But very soon, in the precap scene of the episode, that fact that Ruq's plans were not going to work became clear. In fact the exact opposite of Ruq's plans seemed to be happening. Jalal seemed to have been seeking, itching to meet Jodha all day and found her very busy. When he did find her she apologised for being so tied up. He said to her then "Yes I understand you have a long day every day, but can I tell you how beautiful you looked in the midst of all that work?" So he's been spending all his time watching her at work? How much of his own work did he get done?
And, more immportantly, what has Ruq actually achieved by her masterstroke?
1. Jalal is now operating with a new desperate thirst for Jodha's company and as they say "absence makes the heart grow fonder". The scarcity of time available with Jodha is actually making Jalal all the more eager to grab time with her. He is probably obsessing about meeting Jodha all day long, getting distracted from his own work.
2. His persistence to somehow meet Jodha also seems to have paid off also, for in the precap they do grab time to meet and say a few memorable words to each other. He has shown that he is eager for her company. She too is able to convey her disappointment that she was unable to give him more time. I am sure she is gratified that he has been seeking her time all day, and I am sure he is gratified that she was so guilty she couldn't give him time all day. They are both saying overtly how much they wanted to meet each other, which never came out of their mouths before.
3. He seems to have had an eyeful watching her work, and his eyes seem to have found her to be beautiful when she was thus occupied. Normally, if they both had met as usual with loads of time on their hands, he wouldn't have said outright "I thought you looked beautiful as you worked". If they were just idle, both of them, they'd have been taana maro-ing each other. But now it looks like time with each other has become so scarce and precious that they don't feel like wasting it on taanas ... there are so many things in the heart which want to be urgently voiced in the short time they have. They have become conscious that circumstances are keeping them apart - that when they meet, all the words that are waiting to burst out are pouring out in the space of the few precious minutes together. Has Jalal ever said out the words "I thought you looked beautiful ..." when they had so many longer and more casual meetings before? If they were not so rushed for time and he had to say everything in the heart in the few minutes they got, would Jodha have got to hear his most ardent thoughts?
I think Ruq will now find that her scheme boomerangs on herself. Jodha will not suffer through her poor knowledge of harem laws and through the sqaubbles of the harem. Jalal will appoint himself her teacher and they will have a blast as they meet in secret privately every day, and she learns his "teda ways" from him on how to handle the harem adroitly.
Ruq also will not be able to occupy Jalal's share of mind and time, because by denying him Jodha's presence and time, she will have created in him a very urgent thirst for Jodha. He will get distracted and ppreoccupied with Jodha on his mind all the time, even dutring the time Ruq has with him. If Ruq thought she could separate them physically, she will find that she was too late, for they will reveal that they have already deeply fused together mentally!
Now let's look at the Sujamal situation and what it can achieve for Jalal and Jodha.
Sujamal was seen in the second scene of the episode yesterday arriving with a henchman at Agra in the disguise of a beggar. The henchman gave him a bag of money for his immediate needs and then left after Sujamal said "Go and wait for me near the banks of the Yamuna and I will follow very soon." This bit of dialogue showed that Sujamal thought his trip to Agra would be very short. He clearly just wanted to see Jodha after the snake poison episode to see if she was well again.
A little later Jodha was visiting the Ambe Ma mandir in the city and distributing prasad to the beggars there, when one of the beggars stretched out his hand to grab her hand and turn her around in a bit of a secluded corner. Jodha was shocked by this and didn't immediately understand who this man was ... till the man said "Look at me Jodha, I am Sujamal!"
Jodha's eyes were a picture of love and heartfelt emotions for this favoourite brother of hers who had been separated from her for a long time now. Flashbacks of scenes with him in childhood came to Jodha's mind. But then also came the realisation of who exactly he was in the present context. He was the man Jodha's husband was planning to seek revenge on for the brutal backstabbing and massacre of his cousin brothers at the Mewat war that Sujamal had initiated. Jodha knew Jalal had asked for Sujamal to be handed to him, alive or dead. And Jodha herself was still angry with Sujamal for his betryal of her whole Amer family.
She turned to him and said with asperity "Why are you here?". He replied that he had heard of her snake poison episode and wanted to make sure she was OK. But even this statement of brotherly conccern was not enough for Jodha to see merit in his being here at Agra. "I don't want to see you..." she said, "... first you betray my father, and now my husband. You have waged war on Mewat and killed my husband's two brothers in the most underhand way."
Sujamal immediately sees that she has got the wrong impression of his "misdeeds in war". He seeks to straighten her perspective. He says "Yes the Mughals are our enemies, so no matter if you are married to one, when it comes to a soldier of war his enemies are not spared because of how they are related. I am a sipahi first and last and the Mughals are my enemies. So I plead no excuses for war. But as for the underhand treatment of opponent soldiers, there you have got it wrong. I accept they attained veer gati in war, I respect them for that, and I even had their bodies sent in all honour back to Agra. I did nothing underhand!" (Phew! I am glad Jodha got a chance to tell him everyting about what Jalal was planning for him, and Sujamal also got to tell Jodha that he had not done that peet ke peeche se war"!)
Jodha, at this point, thinks the conversation has covered enough ground and she is eager for Sujamal not be found by Jalal's men, and so she tells him with as much loathing as she can summon in her voice "Go away. Befoore my husband catches you, for he has sworn to get you alive or dead. Go away, right now!" Sujamal says "I will go" and blesses her head in a brotherly way. After he disappears into the crowd, Moti asks Jodha "Who was that?" and Jodha simply says "Someone wwho reminded me of Amer!" I almost thought Moti would recognise Sujamal, but she didn''t. But Jodha still kept wistfully looking over her shoulder for that last glimpse of her estranged brother, half-relieved to see him get away and half-longing to see his face one last time.
But folks, this is where we have NOT seen the last of Sujamal. Because I now suspect that this big jashn that Jalal is planning for Jodha's snake poison recovery will be a watershed moment in this serial. In fact if Jalal had not announced that jashn I would have suspected that the track will go into an MU like the movie after Sujamal's entry. But the fact that Jalal has announced a jashn suggests something entirely different to ne now!
It is common to expect in most serials - especially Ekta serials - that these big parties, shaadis and jashns will all be high points when major bhandaphods take place and serial gets twisted into unexpected angles. I think Sujamal will hear of this major jashn about to happen for Jodha and he will be tempted to stay back for one more day. He will attend the jashn, where I fully expect Sharif and Bakshi to also be there. Now while Bakshi is busy looking at Sharif to see if he is looking at Jodha (and she may see him leching at Jodha which will make Bakshi even more jealous!), at the same time, Sharif may also see and recognise Sujamal.
Now there are two possibilities if that happens. Sharif will either expose Sujamal (as we would all expect him to do) or else in true Sharif style, he may seek to do some blackmail on Sujamal. He may pull Sujamal aside and say "Your game is up. I have seen you here. Jalal is craving your blood for having captured Mewat. Now I'll save you if you give me what I want. I want your sister Jodha. How you give her to me is your problem. I will wait at so-and-so place and I want you to bring Jodha to me. If you don't, I will expose you!"
I think if such a thing happens, and Sharif does choose the blackmail method with Sujamal, Sujamal will temporarily seem to acquiesce to Sharif's plan but in his mind he may be trying to work out alternatives by which to checkmate Sharif. Could he perhaps abduct soome other female and try to pass her off to Sharif? Could he perhaps corner Sharif in some remote place to finish him off?
I don't know what these two men - Sharif and Sujamal - will do, but I am sure they will try to outwit each other. Mewanwhile if Sharif is planning to go and wait somewhere for the arrival of Sujamal and Jodha, I am dead sure Bakshi will be tracking his footsteps and be keeping a watch on Sharif.
Also at this jashn, as per Ekta's usual style again, we may have this whole Bharmal family also arrive with the capture of Mewat achieved, and with high hopes of a reconciliation with Jalal. It is typical that in these serial-wala jashns that everybody and his grandmother arrives to give the story the maximum twist. If that is the case, and Bharmal and Co arrive, what are the chances of Sujamal also being spotted and recognised by one of the Amer family (maybe Dadisa who already once saw through Sujamal's disguise during Jodha's marriage?).
I also expect that at this jashn, Ruq and Maham will be utterly peeved because even though Ruq has managed to outwit Jodha in this harem management affiar, the fact that Jalal is raising Jodha sky-high with a huge jashn for her long life will not go down well with these two.
Now I am not sure what fracas will take place exactly at the jashn, but I am quite sure that for the sake of TRPs, there will be mega melodrama. There may an attemped abduction of Jodha, a huge save of Jodha by Jalal, a miffed Ruq, a Bharmal family joining Jalal's side in this whole issue but actually getting in the way, a Sujamal and a Sharif trying to make asses of each other, and maybe even an Adham and Atga keeping tabs on each other.
The net result I am sure will be some herogiri by Jalal to save Jodha in some physical way from some harm, which may end up bringing them closer again, despite Ruq's ambitions to separate them. By now Sujamal will also know for sure that Sharif has this burri nazar for Jodha and he may try to warn Jodha. So all in all, at this jashn, previously held secrets will all be out, faces behind masks of decency will all be unmasked and reveal their true ugly selves, the Bharmals will rush around complicating things a bit, while Jodha will be in physical danger and Jalal will get to show his machoness thus neutralising Ruq once again.
In the ensuing melee I won't be surprised if Jodha chooses an absolutely out-of-context moment to tell Jalal that her heart is full for him!
I expect all kinds of hungama at this mega jashn. The more mega the jashn is planned to be, the more I expect some major multi-faceted melodrama involving almost all of the characters in a comedy of errors!
I also won't be surprised if Sujamal comes to Jalal's aid in saving Jodha, when Jalal may not know who he is (having never seen him in person and having only heard of him!) ... but after their on-the-run mutual introductions, the two men may even join forces to save Jodha out of their husbandly and brotherly love for her. Sujamal and Jalal may actually get a different and good impression of each other than they had before, even if they decide to keep their enmity and revenge on each other for another day.
All I'd say is it's seatbelt time, folks. And do keep a positive attitude. The jashn promises to be an eventful comedy of actions and errors, so I am looking forward to it because a bit of melodrama at this stage will help the Jodha and Jalal romance a lot. All that I want to see is Jalal's herogiri and some dramatic bhandaphods one after another. I want at least once in this serial for all the characters to come together and be in the same place and for "things to start happening anywhere and everywhere".
And in the middle of all this melee, I want a centre-spot filter and some romantic music on on Jodha and Jalal as they run away from the milling crowds to safety with each other ... and have their first embrace. I am the eternal optimist so those who want to dump their negativity and join me in my happy expectation of "jash mein tede mede jalebis" are welcome!
Achha, for today's episode, I expect talk of the jashn, but not the actual jashn. The jashn itself may start on Monday and its hungama may extend over next week. But for today we still have Jodha wanting to ablolish slavery so some progress on that front is what I am expecting.
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