Friends! The episode yesterday was supposed to be the BIG ONE. We were prepared for it, we eagerly waited for it, and we even expected it to be a high voltage drama going by the "angry Jalal promo" that we had been seeing for nearly 8 days now!
But nothing prepared me for the sheer verbal thrashing, the unrestrained emotional onslaught and the brilliant dramatic modulation of a huge and moving talent like Rajat Tokas - who made the character of Jalal the King give to his Queen Jodha a monologue of the most searing words and feelings I have seen on television, right from the 9th minute of the show through to the very end.
It seems silly, in fact, to say that he "carried the day" or that he "stormed the TV set" or that "mesmerised us". These seem like mere words to describe a performance that had so many levels of feelings, so many gears of mental speed, so many layers of acting skills and so many facial actions and bodily gestures, that we can only describe it all as a kind of "choreographed dance of emotions in the heart of man torn by his wife's refusal to share with him a hidden corner of her world".
He had given her his precious heart - that thing he kept so private to himself for years. And in return her reticence to make him a part of her heart hurt and tore him apart. He withstood everything for days and days, saying one day she would come to him with the truth, she would never betray him, she would never give herself to another the way she would to him, and she would, most of all, trust him with her deepest secrets. But that day never came. And instead there came only one more clandestine meeting with that other man who seemed closer to her than himself, a man she was so eager to protect, a man she guarded as if part of her own flesh and blood, a man whom she was willing to go through hell and fury to hide.
Yesterday's episode was largely Rajat's opportunity for a really long monologue - with Paridhi just having to listen to him in frightened silence ... and so in an undisturbed, non-contradicted way he was able to unleash the highest order of histrionics, voice modulation, emotional tension and verbal whipping. But it was not all just one long tirade. It was a speech he gave that went through diverse nuances of feeling coming out from diverse depths inside him, all of which still felt insufficient to sum up the welling emotions in his heart ... he was disbelieving, angry, sad, pulled and pushed, torn apart, self-flagellating, self-pitying, frayed, unnerved, broken and beaten .
Rajat the actor had to show us how Jalal the Emperor felt as he went through all the play of the sense of annihilation in his heart. The monologue therefore had many subtleties ... there were many parts to it, and each part had a different way of dialogue delivery with different heartfelt tonal quality, different facial expressions of different kinds of searing pain, and different bodily gestures of different types of deep frustration. How fabulously it was all done! The words I have cannot seem to encompass the way I feel about the performance I saw.
For today's analysis I can barely leave anything out ... for the whole episode was one long act of anger and angst boiling up and getting verbalised in a spectacular way. So let me go scene by scene as far as I can for my analysis. But most of all, when I come to the monologue bit I am going to show you how exactly the various parts of it were nuanced to make up the whole. It is a fascinating study of what all a man feels, and in how many different ways he can express what is inside a heart he has kept locked for ages - and has suddenly had to throw his heart open for view of his own eyes and the eyes of the woman he loves to distraction.
Sujamal is not in the pot ... but Jalal knows just where he would have gone!
The episode starts from where the previous episode ended. The whole of the Agra court, almost, is circled around the copper pot inside which Dilawar Khan was supposed to be hiding. Sharif in particular was in trepidation not knowing what to anticipate from a cornered Dilawar.
Jalal commissioned boiling water to be poured into the pot when after repeated appeals the man inside the pot did not seem to stir. But lo and behold, when the boiling water was poured in, a series of painful moans and groans emanated from within the pot. The sipahis stopped to check ... and were aghast to see one of their own comrades bound and gagged and inside the pot instead of the dratted Dilawar Khan! They pulled the almost cooked sipahi out - and got his story.
We were shown in a flashback how Dilawar who was getting into the pot got alerted on seeing the bandhi running to tell Jalal his location. He quickly and nimbly got out of the pot, but a lone sipahi still around, challenged him to a sword duel. It took bare seconds for Sujamal to overpower him, and then bind and gag him, and bodily deposit him inside the pot - as he himself ran away from the kitchen for safety.
A highly frustrated Jalal then gave orders for the men to not stop their search - for Atga opined that the miscreant could not leave the heavily guarded palace, he had to be somewhere inside!
Sujamal meanwhile went to the one place he knew would not throw him out, would give him refuge. He ran into Jodha's hojra, where she had just said some deep prayers to Kanha.
"Sujamal bhaisa, you are here? What do you want" said an anguished Jodha. Sujamal replied in a calmer but breathless voice "I am fine Jodha. I came to meet you one last time before leaving. The only regret I have is that I haven't been able to catch the real culprit." "Don't waste time talking. Please go away fast. The Shahenshah is frightfully angry and your life is in danger" Jodha said with her voice quivering in fear. Sujamal replied, still calm, "I am neither fearful for my life nor do I have any fear of the Shahenshah's anger. I just came to take leave of you. And one more thing. Give me your promise, that come what may you will not tell the Shahenshah that you met me. Or he will start suspecting that it was you who called me here." Sujamal then put an end to Jodha's protestations by raising her hand to take a kasam on his own head. She nodded her agreement. "I don't know when again I may ever see your face, but give me leave now" he said. Brother and sister looked at each other as if picturing each other's faces for storing in the deepest recesses of their memories. But as Sujamal turned to go, a sight they both most dreaded met their eyes.
An livid and furious Jalal, along with Atga and a small group of sipahis, was staring back at them ... there was a barely veiled disgust in Jalal's eyes. "I had a hunch that you would come here for one last look at her. I knew you would come here to complete whatever was left unsaid between you two." Jalal spat out. Sujamal stared right back at Jalal, but Jodha, by now in a state of panic interjected "No Shahenshah, please do not punish him ... he did no wrong. He has not done anything that is unwarranted."
Her defence of Sujamal seemed to wrench Jalal's heart and he shouted with a contorted face "Atga Saab, put this man in jail, where I will deal with him later." The soldiers then captured Sujamal and led him away as he and Jodha exchanged one last loving look at each other. Jalal's eyes were narrowed to slits. He looked at Jodha with utter scorn as she averted her huge eyes away from his face and stared at the ground.
My comments on this scene:
I think both Ruq and Maham would have been delighted at this scene of Jalal catching Jodha and Sujamal together in her hojra. That was just what their plan needed and that was exactly what happened.
In a way I expect Jalal knew he would find Sujamal in Jodha's room and was not as surprised as he would otherwise have been. But the fact that Jodha started supporting Sujamal and pleading for him not to be punished, while Sujamal himself stood coolly and apparently unafraid of Jalal and his threats,seemed to rile Jalal.
Earlier to Jalal arriving in the room, the scene between brother and sister was extremely touching. She was anxious for him to be safe and she was also anxious that Jalal should not find them together. But I loved the way Sujamal said "I am neither afraid of death nor of your Shahenshah's anger. But I am sorry my mission here to save your suhaag remains incomplete. Give me leave to go now".
Why did he need her leave to go? I think because as a brother he felt he had failed her, and he needed her to say "Its OK, I'll be OK and so will Jalal, you can go now with a free mind".
When Jalal's men then ringed him and took his hands to lead him to prison, he went like a warrior, with minimum fuss. His back was straight, his head was held high and he looked every inch a proud and noble Rajvanshi. But to tell the truth, I never thought he would be able to flee from prison later and that too in such a ruthless style, after slaying every single soldier who stood between him and freedom.
Sujamal, folks, has won my heart because of his uprightness, his sense of pride and valour, his enormous fighting skills and his ability to look Jalal in the eye, as one great solder to another. That scene in Jodha's hojra managed to reflect two things about him: one, that as a brother he was all heart; and two, as a soldier, he was all pride.
Men were so grand in those days, weren't they?
Jalal unleashes a verbal shellacking at Jodha, each word cutting into her like a whiplash!
The monologue of Jalal can be appreciated better if we see the stages of change he went through as he was speaking ... each successive portion of his speech seemed to bring out a different angle to his emotions ... but the fact that he is agitated shows clearly by the way he swings back and forth between a quiet voice and a loud bellow ... and between declaring his own state of mind and then questioning the state of mind of herself and Sujamal ...
a. Jalal talks of his anguish at Jodha not sharing her secrets with him
Walking over to where Jodha stood in her hojra, Jalal kept looking at her through eyes that pierced her.
In a voice filled with calm and menace he spat the words out "I first want a word with you. I had to bear you lying to me again and again as I saw you with my own eyes meeting with a man. And in spite of it, I kept quiet. I had faith in you, I had deep faith that you would do no wrong, I had faith that you must be under some majboori that you were keeping this whole thing secret from me." ...
"Every day I waited thinking you would come and tell me, and yet every night in secret you kept meeting him? I tried so many times to make you tell me but every time you kept pushing this silence and secrecy at me."
"Why, Jodha Begum, did you not have that ounce of trust in me that you could share your heart's situation with me?"
Jodha was by now looking at the floor, at him, weepy and woeful. She said to herself in her own mind "I cannot break the promise I gave my Bhaisa!" She looked up at him with mute eyes, and it got his anger rising.
b. Jalal says he too is majboor ... he because of his heart!
Jalal saw the effort she was making to suppress her feelings by tightening her closed eyes and this gesture infuriated him beyond words. He started shouting "Even now you are silent?" She tried saying Forgive me Shahenshah, I am bound against telling" to which he bellowed even more "You are majboor? Then I too am majboor, Jodha Begum, because of this ...", and he starts pummeling his own heart!
"I always thought I had no heart ... but today, God knows why I felt that I should give you at least one chance, just one more chance to come clean. That why I am giving you your first and last chance now. If there is any humanity inside you, please tell me the truth right now Jodha Begum, tell me who was this man?"
c. Jalal questions the Rajvanshi qualities of Sujamal
Jodha standing wide-eyed, mute and helpless make him angrier. "Tell me!" he rants. "Till today I have allowed your every act, your every feeling, your every guroor and whim ... but what kind of a Rajavanshi was this man who in the disguise of a khwaja sera infiltrated my harem where my women live in safety. What drove this man to cross all limits that Rajvanshis proudly tell us Mughals about."
d. Jalal talks of the how she was the woman who taught him to love
Seeing Jodha still reticent and hanging onto her silence, he continues "You know, don't you, that this harem has eminent ladies I married for political reasons and some of them are even my childhood friends. All these women crave for one look for me, and do you know why till today they didn't get it? Because till today I was incapable of giving love. But today, God knows why there is a strange sort of pain in my heart.
e. Jalal aksks how Sujamal is so brave and fearless?
"This man of your has shown an incredible courage in entering my harem, and that is all because of you. He has given me the call for his death, and I promise you I will kill him in front of your eyes. And I know it will you pain, and that you will cry. But before that I just want to ask you, Jodha Begum, what is the reason why this man does not even value his life? Give me an answer, tell me!" He yells as he yanks her hair and bends her neck backwards in pain.
f. Jalal questions why Jodha does not love him as her husband
"What about this man makes you fall for him so that he even makes you love him and hate your own husband? Why did you never let me come phsyically close to you, why did you give me that dhakka, why did you invite a gair mard into your hojra? You are able to call a gair mard into your room, but when your husband asks you about it, you have no answers to give? Give me your answer". He is still pulling so hard at her hair that her neck looks ready to break. And then with a huge shove he pushes her straight back into a hard wall. She squeals in pain and shock.
g. Jalal questions the length and importance of her relationship with Sujamal
There is a moment of quietness as Jodha collects herself and he draws so close to her that their faces are but barely apart. "I am vivash" she says through a choked breath.
He suddenly lowers his voice to a whisper "Why? Are you feeling ashamed, Jodha Begum? You don't have shame in forming an illicit rishta with a gair mard, but you feel ashamed to admit it? Does Raja Bharmal know his daughter is doing all this?"
"How long has all this been going on? From the time of our nikah or even before? Tell me what is the reason why you never let me come close to you, you never let me love you, you never let me please you ... it is very important to me now to know all this from you. "
" Tell me, when you got married to me, was this man in your heart? Tell me, when you gave me that dhakka, was it all because you were in love with this man? Tell me Jodha Begum! Till today I thought that when you drank poison and survived you did it for me, but now it looks like you came back to life for the love you have for that man?"
"Oh how idiotic I was, how much I didn't understand" he continues, hitting himself on his own forehead in self-loathing, " ... and how clever you were! You have just come here to do war on me, to get revenge. Every day you lived here, you remembered this man and you kept hiding this big secret from me? You kept increasing your poisonous feelings for me while pretending to go along with me and this place? You knew full well that Benazir's poison would have killed me in one blissful instant, but instead you have killed me inch by inch with your insidious poison?"
" Oh, how unthinking I was to give you my heart. Not only could you not return me your heart, but you have instead come here just to break my heart? How unthinking I was to think that even in your heart there was place for me."
i. Jalal suddenly remembers that he is the Shahehshah
"Jodha Begum, till today I have never bowed before anybody ... because I am Shahenshsh Jalaluddin Mohammmed. But for your life to be spared I bowed before him", he said pointing to the Kanha murthy. "He was supposed to be the messenger of love. I now see how every day you prayed for that man, and how I prayed for your every prayer to be fulfilled."
"I was so proud of you as a loyal Rajvanshi who would be paak-saaf and would never even countenance the thought of another man. But far from just thinking and praying for him, you have actually called a gair mard into your hojra? And that too when your husband is rght in this palace."
He then starts laughing hysterically "Oh, how unthinking I was. I am here this owner of thousands of women, the Sultanate's great Shahenshah, before whom even izzat bows, and the one with the power to forgive or punish ... to such a man you have given dhoka? Even though we both are married, I respected you enough to never even touch you. And you have taken advantage of this goodness in me. Give me your answer, Jodha Begum. Tell me all, Jodha Begum, or I will make death so painful for that man that even death itself will be afraid of me. You will not be able to even bear it, so I'm telling you ... give me my answer!" And with that he starts hitting the wall behind her hard till his palm and fingers start bleeding profusely.
j. Jalal promises to listen if she talks
"Oh my God, what have you done to your hands" she exclaims, but he shouts back "Don't touch me." And with that he gives her such a shove that she is moved right across the room to land on a settee.
"All I ask is for one answer" he says, "I don't know why even now there is a voice inside my heart that wants an answer from you. For God's sake, if you give me an answer, I will listen. I swear on your God, your Kali Ma, on everything you hold dear to you. But give me an answer."
k. Jalal decides to eke the answers out of her
"That man, do you know him? Answer just what I want - a Yes or a No?" Do you, Jodha Begum, know that man?" She says "Haan" and he raises his hand to use his fist on her face, as she shields her own face against this threat. He tries hard to restrain his anger but unable to do that he makes a loud cry of agony as he shatters vases and objects off the tables.
Then he bends low to keep his face close to hers and asks again "Have you met this man before we were married. Answer for the sake of your Kanha, Yes or No?" She again has to say "Yes". He utters another agonised cry and overturns a whole sofa in the room.
"From when do you know him, tell me?" he says pacing up and down the room. "From childhood" she says her voice barely audible.
And then he says "One last question, do you love this man?" She makes to move but he again intimidates her by raising his fist as if to strike her face. She cowers and says "Haan". His face is by now twisted beyond limits. He utters even more agonising cries as he overturns more furniture and holds his aching head in his hands in sheer frustration.
l. Jalal is hysterical but drained, self-derisive, self-revealing
And then suddenly he starts laughing hysterically ... but all the energy is drained in him as his laugh sounds hollow. "You have made me ashamed, Jodha Begum, " he says with a quieter and exhausted voice ... by having an illicit affair and by accepting it, you have made me ashamed of our relationship. Today I am ashamed. The whole Mughal Sultanate is ashamed. Are your parents ashamed of you? And most of all is your entire noble Rajvanshi clan and culture ashamed of you?"
"You are so talented aren't you, Jodha begum? And I have always applauded your talents. I've seen all you talents but not his fabulous talent of taking revenge. But no more of this! Your face is as your talents are."
" I had fallen in love with you Jodha Begum, I had started feeling the small flame of love, but you have made that roshni na-paak by your treachery."
" I am now releasing you from this rishta with me, and for God's sake, tomorrow morning before the first light of day, please go away from here. GO AWAY FROM HERE!" And with that, a broken and spent man, he leaves the room and walks out!
My comments on the overall scene:
I counted twelve different nuanced states of this long monologue. Throughout it all Jodha was looking at him with wide yes and tears brimming over. But it is to her credit too that she uttered not an extra word, nor gave any indication of breaking that vachan to Sujamal. She too is no mean warrior. She looks soft and even brittle at times, but when it is the moment to keep stubborn she can carry it to its limits and then some.
He was spectacular. I could not fault a single word of that dialogue and the way it was spoken. His feelings swayed this way and that as his voice went high and low. His gestures went from pleading to belligerence, from cajoling to even raising his fist as if ready to strike her. He hurt her with words, but hurt himself physically.
The overarching theme of this whole monolgue was of "frustration".
He was oh-so-frustrated with himself for loving her. He was so frustrated with himself for showing open his heart, for giving it to her. He was so frustrated that he had allowed every whim of hers, trusted her and given her room in his life, and she had failed to reciprocate in equal measure. He was frustrated that she kept secrets. He was frustrated because he didn't know if she had a relationship or love for this other man ... and if she did, how deep and long it had run.
He didn't know if her parents knew of all this. He wanted so many answers, but most of all he wanted to know that everything else was insignificant to her and he was the most important thing in her life at least after their marriage.
Notice how he does a comparison of himself and this "gair mard". He wants to know if she values Rajvanshi qualities and pride so much more than the Shahenshah he was, all powerful and one who could get whatever he wants. He even says "I don't bow before anyone, but I bowed before your God to save your life. Because he was supposed to be the messenger of love".
But notice also that the greater he feels as a King the greater is his self-derision that he couldn't get his wife to confide in him, accept his advances or even receive his freely given love. His self- derision at being "thrown over" for this other man was like a hurt so heavy he could not bear it.
Even through all this folks, notice how many times he says "Something in me makes me want to ask you again ..." and "Something in me, God knows what, wants an answer". The truth is that something in him wants to trust her! She holds a special place in him because she was the only one, from among his thousands of women who was ever able to make him feel his heart.
You know folks, there have been many stories with many great declarations of love ... but I have never before felt so moved by a declaration of love like this one that came out the man's mouth as a scolding! In every hurtful phrase, and in every hurtful feeling there was so much love ... giving everything he said an extra depth of meaning.
Only a man violently in love could have spoken so violently of love. His every word which sounded like a whiplash was nothing but a loving embrace!
Jalal berates all for allowing the intruder into the harem ... and is scathing of Maham!
Later in the DEK, Jalal has lined up all his men including Maham and he is verbally thrashing them to pieces for allowing a male intruder into the harem, thus jeopardising the safety of the women there. He talks to all his courtiers in general, spewing anger at them and sparing no one.
But when he comes upon Maham, he is deeply scornful and scathing. " I never expected this of you" he says "I had more faith in your doing your job well, but you have failed miserably".
She does not even try to challenge his words. She opts for a docile look and stares at the ground before agreeing with him. Punish me, please, for I know I have not done right" she says with mock supplication. But in her heart of hearts she is gloating.
His anger, his venom, his deranged state she knows is a result of him having already met and shouted at Jodha. Maham is dreaming of the day imminent when Jodha will have to leave the palace. She is not sure what Jalal told Jodha for this time she was not behind the curtains listening to them talking, but from his demeanour she has a shrewd idea that very difficult words have been exchanged and he is still seething from anger from that interchange with Jodha.
Maham is hardly feeling responsible for letting the intruder into the harem. She seems like she is congratulating herself for it!
My comments on this scene:
I was eagerly waiting for a scene where Maham would get a real dose from Jalal. But when the scene actually came I was not too pleased with it. There was no real "downfall of the ciulprit" ... and instead Maham just silkily accepted blame all the while feeling glee that Jalal was shouting more because of his residual anger with Jodha.
Things will just go back to normal between Jalal and Jodha - and Maham will go scot-free.
The great Maham downfall was nothing as expected or hoped for. The few words of beratingthat Jalal gave Maham for not doing her job well was lost in his general scolding of everyone else including Sharif.
I am a bit disappointed with this scene. I wanted Maham to get it hard from Jalal, but alas, it was not to be! She just went in as part of the crowd and beyond a bit of sarcasm from Jalal, she is none the worse for wear!
Sujamal has fled leaving a mountain of dead sipahis ... the precap reminds us of Jalal at Amer!
The precap scene sees Jalal informed that Sujamal has fled from prison. He rushes with his troops to the entrance courtyard of his palace where Sujamal has left behind something so reminiscent of what Jalal did at Amer on his first visit when he saved Abdul from prison and fled.
Sujamal has killed every sipahi in sight and piled all the bodies of the dead men into a mountain as a signature for Jalal to decode!
My comments on this scene:
What a wonderful loop closure this scene is ... the past turns full circle as Jalal no doubt realises that this man Sujamal is not a lesser but an equal. He too is a warrior of the first water, and he too is so Jalal-like in his fierceness, his fighting skills, his escape planning and his signature style of leaving a lasting impression on his enemy.
It is not wonder then that history says Jalal grew to have a deep respect for Sujamal and even convinced Bharmal that a soldier of this class need a country to rule and call his own! One man of great pedigree always recognises another!
What will happen now? l I suspect that Jalal and his troops will run after Sujamal hoping to catch up with him.There may be a free-for-all somewhere in an open countryside. At that moment it could be that someone inimical to Jalal tries to use the opportunity to send an arrow to attack Jalal that Sujamal notices and takes on himself probably saying the words "I have promised Jodha, my sister, to save her suhaag!" That should jolt Jalal back to reality after having been transported into a different zone of mindless anger.
If Mansingh is part of the posse of soldiers that has followed Sujamal, he probably will immediately vouch for the fact that this is his uncle Sujamal. Jalal will probably then drop his arms and let Sujamal ride away after due attention to his wound, but not before Sujamal tells him a lot more about the conspiracy against Jalal himself and the nightly planning visits to Jodha and the vachans he bound her by!
Jalal will also unhappily suddenly remember that he has asked Jodha to leave by sunrise. Maybe it's almost dawn and so he rushes back to try and stop Jodha from leaving him. Contrition and remorse may be etched on his face as he prepares to find Jodha first and then beg her pardon.
Can you imagine folks what it would have been like for a 22 -year old man to first have a day of hunting for Sujamal inside the palace, followed by a long heart-breaking evening of monologue, raving and ranting at his stubbornly silent wife, followed by another hunt for Sujamal all night long ... and then to find that he still has to go back by dawn to that wife and beg pardon with another long speech (if she is still there).
What a long day in the life of a young emperor who finds himself tossing on the stormy seas of love!
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