Take 5: Top 5 countdown for April 29th; question on pg 9

Originally posted by: munnirony

well ashwini ji was brilliant today. but rajat also proved once again tht he doesnt needs much dialogues, his expressions r enough. the last scene was scripted for maham, but rajat also stood out.👏

Originally posted by: sashashyam

My dear Divya,

As usual, I loved your take on this episode, all of it. Now see how much you like my decidedly frivolous one!

Oh come on Aunty ... You know very well I am the frivolous one ... Yours is the true in depth one. And of course I will love it for its depth and reflection as always.

Mahaam today was superbly over the top. This is necessary at times, as it was with Jalal on April 4, and she made the most of the opportunity. It was like a stage performance, where you have to up the decibel level to reach the back rows, but the sheer ferocity and the unrelenting flow of the tirade were impressive. She clearly believes that the best form of defence is attack, and she tried to press all of Jalal's gratitude buttons, but given the circumstances, she was forced to be crude and in his face, which cramped her style badly.

Yes, it was OTT but like a stage performance it had to be. She was extremely blunt in her attack but I thought it was a well-crafted attack.

As for your question as to why she gave Bairam Khan, whom she hated, equal billing with herself, that was to make her long litany of what she had done for Jalal convincing. If she had talked only of herself, it would have looked like self-glorification, now it sounds like a genuine complaint. Then again, she wants to make Jalal feel guilty about what happened to Bairam Khan (she does not know what all Jalal offered him, or that the Mecca trip was Bairam Khan's own choice), and by extension, prevent him from doing anything drastic to her.

Great points- thanks for that. The guilt one I had a hint, but the self-glorification avoidance is a great add. Again, evidence, there are some SWs left in the show who can articulate apt dialogues. One day I would love your views on when the director / creatives ends and when the character begins ... As much as when an author ends ... And his characters take over,

Jalal was correspondingly, and even more superbly, under the top in that scene, his crumpling face seared with the unexpected agony of being betrayed by the one he had trusted blindly. Rajat produced more variations of expression within this basic palette than I could count,and this without saying a word till the very end. Truly magisterial.

Oh yes, his emotion variations were amazing ...

Earlier, one saw the original Shahenshah, sharp, intuitive, and dominating, both with Atgah and with the witnesses.

My favorite form of him ...

Jodha was her usual sulky, self-righteous self, except that the mumps seem to have receded.

I don't understand why she feels a friend can't correct her- does no one have that right?

It was odd that there was not an iota of mental turmoil, of suffering, or of a sense of deep loss in Jodha's face as she was consulting Shaguni Bai. Decked out in her full Xmas tree regalia - is it not de rigueur for a virahotkhandita nayika (heroine in the throes of separation from her beloved) to be as little adorned as possible?😉 - she looks puzzled and only mildly concerned, as if she is trying to get Shaguni to unearth a lost piece of jewellery, not a lost love. 😉

That is why, I am only saying perhaps we might get 4th time lucky 😆

I almost laughed out loud when Jodha, having turned her back on Shehnaaz (presumably so as to camouflage the disconnect between her words and her expression) said that her prem (for Jalal, one takes it!) has actually increased. It was unintentionally comic, like a schoolgirl reciting her lines in a school play!

I still don't see it in her actions ... But I guess if she says it , it has to be satya-vachan 😉

Tomorrow, Jalal will turn the taps on full while a bewildered and almost scared Ruqaiya looks on, uncertain how to react. How I hate men who cry like this at the drop of a hat!😡

Let's be thankful he reserves dropping to his knees for Jodha Begum ... He cries because it generates TRPs.

Shaguni Bai will dispense sage counsel to Jodha, unaccompanied by her standard Om, shreem, kreem, after which Jodha will sniffle again, and talk of prem, a sentiment of which she understands nothing but that it is a word.

I am hoping she has the insight to tell her both are wrong ... As she did tell Mainvati that it was a test for both ... She looked equally astounded by Jodha's duvidha

Jalal is always looking for a shoulder to cry on, as he has to do so much weeping (Ekta must have written it into Rajat's contract!😉) . I bet the only candidate tomorrow will be Ruqaiya. It will be interesting to see how she reacts to Jalal dissolving into a puddle of self-pity in front of her.

It is not self-pity yet ... It is hurt for now I believe. Ruqs has multiple torpedoes hitting her. Self-pity is when you cannot see beyond himself ... Obviously, he will understand the implications on Jodha,

But why does he not apply to Hamida Banu, who must be hovering (literally, like a hovercraft!) in the wings, ready to unleash another bhashan on her pathetic son, for the aforesaid shoulder? Surely she would be more in sympathy/empathy with his torpedoed amar prem for her Jodha Beta? Why, she might then even be ready to look at his solo chehra !😉

Because she would again rant on how he lost Jodha Begum for this Maham Anga! How he doesn't understand people etc. etc.

But hark! I forgot one key impediment. Jalal would have to stand on a stool to get to her shoulder, and that would not look good for the Shahenshah, would it? 😉

Here, I thought of a serious reason and you thought of an even better one 😉

Shyamala Aunty