Folks,
I had the rug pulled out from under my feet late last night, when I was enlightened by one of my savvy young friends in the forum that the Jalal-Jodha scene, so gentle and tender and heartwarming, was all a mrigtrishna, to be precise a (daylight) fantasy of Jalal's. But I have an indiarubber heart, so I bounced back out of my disappointment soon enough, and here I am. I mean to analyse their scene as if it was for real, and to heck with the CVs!
Jalal:
The best, for me, was the look on Jalal's face as he stands in the doorway and sights Jodha. A veritable cornucopia of emotions all welling up inside him: guilt, regret, profound relief that she is still there, and a lost little boy's hope to be forgiven and comforted.
Rajat held that look as the camera zoomed in, and adjusted it micrometer by micrometer, with the relief surging up and overwhelming all else. But still, in the background, there was distinct hesitation as to his reception. He has been telling himself, on that long, long walk to her hoojra - with that lovely new sher about the dil jo kashmakash mein padha hai in the background - that he will take whatever she dishes out, including taanas, but still, he is a little afraid. It was amazing how every one of these emotions flitted across that little boy face - he looked absurdly young and callow as he stood there for what seemed eons.
It is pointless to get upset feeling that he need not apologise so much for what was only partly his fault, or kneel at her feet, or feel so guilty. The fact is that he does feel so guilty, and he needs to get rid of that guilt, Period. One can tell a boy only so much that he must not do this or that!
Later into the scene, I loved the look on his face as he tilts his head and looks at her tearful face, her lack of reproach triggering even stronger waves of self-condemnation in him. The deep voice thickens as he says, again and again and again, Agar ho sake to humein maaf kar dijiye. The eyes are dark with tenderness and the overwhelming desire to wipe away the hurt that she glosses over with reassuring gentleness, but which he senses must be there.
Jodha: Coming to Jodha, what I loved was the instant change in her face and eyes when she looked up and saw him in the doorway. Her eyes looked bright and a bit resentful at first, and I wondered how she was going to react. But then she turned, and it was as if a bulb had been turned on inside her. The whole face brightened and glowed with gladness as she started moving towards him at once.
I was pleased to have won my little bet with myself that Jodha would not apologise, not even say, as she had told her antaraatma the night before faulting her own misleading silence vis a vis Jalal, Galti to meri bhi thi, Shahenshah, main vachan baddh thi, par mujhe kaise bhi aapko yakeen dilana chahiye tha ki main aapke saath kabhi bhi dhoka nahin kar sakti.
But at least she cushions his self condemnation with soothing, affectionate phrases, making light of all that had happened -ek shanka thi, jiska abhi nivaran hoi gaya- and the warmth of her concern for his feelings. She was so caring and supportive, so gentle and affectionate, and looked so lovely all the while, that I could not have asked for more at this stage.
Neither, it was clear, could Jalal. Which was probably why he fantasised only thus far: wiping away her tears, a gentle kiss on the forehead, and a couple more on her cheeks to kiss away the lone tears trickling down there. And a tentative, cautious embrace, as if he was wrapping a Dresden porcelain figurine in his arms, fearful that a little more pressure and it might break.
Now , if I had been 40+ years younger, and in Jodha's place, I would have taken strong exception to being hugged in this lukewarm, milksop fashion by a man who professed to love me ! đđ
A love scene, this one?!?:The director obviously has no idea of how to shoot a love scene. Fantasy or not, this was the first warm and tender scene between Jalal and Jodha, and it deserved better treatment. As liberty2 pointed out on my last thread, with a wicked sense of humour, it was less like a love scene, and more like a checklist being ticked off one by one. Here is my version of it:
For Jalal:
Wipe away her tears. Check.
One forehead kiss. Check.
Two kisses on her cheeks to wipe away the lingering tears. Check.
Two cautious embraces; pat her head during the first one. Do not hold her too close. Check.
For Jodha:
Wipe away his tears. Check.
Let him wipe yours, kiss your forehead and kiss the tears on your cheeks away. Check.
Two kisses on his cheeks to wipe away the lingering tears. Check .(I was not quite sure of what she was doing, as Jalal's back was in the way, but let us give her the benefit of the doubt).
Kiss his right hand to make the cut well again. Check.
Let him embrace you twice. Check.
The only problem for poor Jalal was that the girl was like an obstacle race.đ
He tries to kiss her forehead and her maang tika gets in the way. He tries to kiss her left cheek and her cartwheel of a nose ring gets in the way.
She tries to kiss his hand, but again the cartwheel makes sure that it ends up like one of those airy society kisses, about an inch away from the intended part of the recipient's anatomy, usually a cheek, but here his hand.
He tries to hold her close (at least so I presume, unless he is afraid of another dhakka), but fails. I am not sure what got in the way this time, probably that armour plate like necklace she wears plus the even stiffer haar she sports above the armour plate.
Now, I am told that this was all one of Jalal's (this time daylight, and without even the excuse of being sozzled) fantasies. I feel distinctly cheated, for now we are all set for:
- Jodha entering vanvaas, to the great delight of all the nirdosh pashu pakshi there, at least till she starts giving them her trademark bhashansđ. She will look once again as lovely as Kajri used to look, minus the Christmas tree look.
- Rajat pulling out all the stops for Jalal's Majnun act. I have had enough of a weeping Jalal. A man can be sensitive without having to be a watering pot.
- Jalal being lectured by Hamida Banu, Salima Begum, Jijianga ,and possibly Javeda and the palace cat as well, about what they will insist was his unwarranted cruelty towards Jodha, and the need for him to make immediate reparation. Since he will feel exactly the same by then, he will cry a few more bucketfuls.
- Jalal riding at breakneck speed to Amer, only to draw a blank there. If he had remembered Mainavati's last bhashan, that she would close her doors to a parityakta Jodha, he could have spared himself (or rather his horses) the trouble.
- The Amer lot will curse Sujamal, roundly and with good reason, for having created this imbroglio, while Jalal will speak up in his favour, insisting that he is still a member of the family.
Yes of course, for the right to save Jalal's life has now been signed, sealed and delivered to the Amer royal family - first it was Bhagwan Das (at that farcical "battle" at Sujanpur) , and then Jodha. Now since Sujamal has also saved Jalal's life, he must still be a member of the family!
- Jalal will set off, jaw tightened purposefully, in search of Jodha. Where he will find her, when and how is still on the laps of the CVs.
Till he does become rubaru with his Jodha Begum, Jalal will be practicing the shashtaang namaskaar daily, for obvious reasonsđ. How soon this riyaaz comes in handy remains to be seen. She cannot stop him from putting it into practice, for he will not be touching her feet.
Sujamal: I still think very poorly of his terminal folly in entangling Jodha in a mess of his making, and then running away and leaving her to face the music, but he was good yesterday. He looked princely, and his exchange with Jalal was dignified and to the point on both sides. These are enemies who fully respect each other as warriors. He also took himself off with dignity before the scene began to sag under the weight of their collective nobility!
I did not think much of Jalal's breakneck chase after Sujamal, except that it was a break from the claustrophobic confinement to the inside of the harem. Their duel and the mano y mano (hand to hand) combat was just passable, with Jalal leaping athletically over the tree branch to get at Sujamal, and later throwing him bodily over the branch, being the only highlights (Akbar was reputed to be very strong physically).
Sharifuddin:As for Sharifuddin, how on earth could he position himself so neatly within shooting range of Jalal without being heard and seen? He could not have known where precisely the chase would take Jalal &v Sujamal without following them and if so, he would have been spotted. Next, how could he know the accompanying soldiers would not catch up with Jalal, and if so, they would spot Sharifuddin and might even have collared him.
What it all boils down to is that Sharifuddin must have been an honours student at Hogwarts. He simply focussed his mind on Jalal, and apparated straight to where he was, pummelling Sujamal! Bingo!
I loved the way Jalal questioned him, with cold precision, where he had been all this while. And the even colder, narrow eyed look he gave him after listening to Sharifuddin's stammering reply (surely a conspirator should have a back up story ready for all eventualities? And Sharifuddin knew that Jalal had been saved and Sujamal injured, and had all the time in the world to think up something plausible).
But when the enquiry re: the inhouse gaddar was entrusted to Atgah Khan (of the zero effectiveness track record), and to Adham Khan, my heart sank. Does the Mughal court not have even a couple of sharp and trustworthy investigators?
As for the opening scene and the precap, I am by now totally fed up of the Ruqaiya-Mahaam confabulations, and the Hamida Banu-Salima Begum Greek chorus of self-reassurance as well. I would readily take the vanvaas, or Amer (I long to see the delightful Dadisaa again!) or Mathura - anything but this madhouse of a harem!
Shyamala B.Cowsik
Veer Hanuman
Kumkum Bhagya
3