Friends, I thought yesterday's episode was a Shehnaaz special. In the first part of the episode we had the back story of how Shehnaaz and Mahchuchak were colluding to bring down Jalal, and on the last part of the story we had Shehnaaz and Maham on each other's tail wondering what the other one was up to regarding the surang.
In the middle of the episode we had some one scene of Hakim Mirza acting as Cupid, and then we had one scene of Ruq jealous of Jodha's Urdu writing skills, and we had one scene of Jalal announcing yet another Meena Bazaar!
Regarding this Mahchuchak and Shehnaaz, it is clear that Mahchuchak is definitely double-crossing Shehnaaz. But in the Shehnaaz-Maham track of the story, it is not yet clear who is the cleverer person, Shehnaaz or Maham.
Will Shehnaaz catch Maham in her surang game, or will Maham successfully foil Shehnaaz's trail to the surang and buy herself more time? Will Shehnaaz discover that Maham is the one that is imprisoning Chand Begum, or will Maham say she is doing it on behalf of Jalal? Or once the whole surang and Chand Begum bhandaphod comes before both Shehnaaz and Maham, will they both collude knowing that Jalal is a common enemy?
This is a little hard to predict, but knowing that these two villains are out to be "smarter than each other" I suspect there may be some double crossing here also. The important thing to watch out for here is: when will Shehnaaz come to know that Maham is herself imprisoning Chand Begum and not doing it on behalf of Jalal. That will be a turning point in this Shehnaaz versus Maham story, and that is when Shehnaaz may get Maham caught. I suspect Shehnaaz will know this truth only after the swordfight with Jodha!
So most probably this Maham getting caught will happen only next week after the swordfight. And if Maham needs to get caught to expose Ruq then in revenge, that should take till the end of next week or even more. Phew! It seems like too long a time to me! As you all know, the rest of this Mahchuchak, Mali, Adham, Maham, Chand Begum and Shehnaaz circus does not bother me one bit. All I am gunning for is the open exposure of Ruq and the end to the Ruq-Jalal-Jodha triangle. So my interest is on a chain reaction happening whereby Shehnaaz gets Maham and Maham gets Ruq!
Meanwhile in this Meena Bazaar, we have another game of sorts going on between Jodha and Shehnaaz and Ruq possibly. In the precap of the episode we saw Jodha about to take Shehnaaz's idea of a new crown for Jalal that will please Hindus and Muslims. But will Shehnaaz actually make Jodha lose to Ruq with a lousy idea? Or will Jodha still win over Ruq because she modifies Shehnaaz's idea? Earlier I always used to think that Ruq will win and Jodha will be shown as beaten by the evil ones. But now that the tables have turned and Ruq is being shown increasingly jealous of Jodha it's my feeling that despite Shehnaaz's evil intentions to throw Jodha off the race, Jodha will win somehow! Let's see ...
In all this I find Zakira to be a very interesting character. She is being shown a lot these days and I suspect that because she now becomes a positive helper for Jodha and Jalal, she may start giving vital inside information on the Kabul gang as she hails from Kabul herself. Thus at Agra, if Hakim Mirza turns negative at some point, maybe the foil against Hakim would be Zakira!
Isn't everything getting too complicated? Phew!
Anyway, here's what happened yesterday ... followed by my comments:
The episode opened on Mahchuchak's darbar. It was interesting to note that she was being announced in with the same fanfare that is used when Jalal enters the DEK. So obviously Mahchuchak thinks of herself at least on par with Jalal and not as Jalal's subordinate handling the Kabul end of things in the overall Sultanate. I am not sure of history here but I wonder if Mahchuchak had total autonomy over Kabul or she had to act as an agent of Jalal at Kabul!
Anyway Mahchuchak went and sat on her throne, crowing over the fact that she was this imperial power. She asked about some bhagis and their fate and then proceeded to the important matter at hand ... was there any news from Nigar? (Now those who watched the last two episodes will know that Chand Begum referred to her own lost daughter as Nigar when she was talking to Maham, so Nigar is the real original name of Shehnaaz!).
At Mahchuchak's court there is one blind man seen who seems sharp as a razor. Historically apparently he was described as "Though, he was blind , but in chichanery and strife-mongering his whole body was an eye." (Coutesy: Abhay's PM to me).
This is the man on whom Mahchuchak depends for almost all information and advice, it seems. (Abhay tells me this man is Fazal Beg, the brother of Munim Khan ... and this man helped to kill Munim's son, and later his own son was killed by others who were ranged against him and Mahchuchak, because people didn't like him being appointed as regent for Mahchuchak's son Hakim Mirza!). Thus the fate of this Fazal Beg seems to be very intertwined with the powerfulness of Mahchuchak .
Anyway Mahchuchak again turns to this Fazal Beg to ask if there's any info from Nigar. He says Nigar has sent a paigam at last asking for help ... and this then opens up a flashback for us of what exactly transpired earlier between Mahchuchak and Nigar. In the flashback we see Nigar telling Mahchuchak that she wants to find her long lost mother whom she thinks Jalal has kidnapped and she wants to grab the Delhi takht which she thinks is due to her by the Humayun farman. Mahchuchak promises all help to make yet another woman rule at Delhi, and says "Go find your mother for she was one of Humayun's other wives I loved more than others. After you find your mother, send me a paigam and I will send you my fauj to help you get your takht." Nigar believes this, but after Nigar leaves, Mahchuchak does some self-talks that she has no intention of helping Nigar and will use her to get the Delhi takht for her own self (ie. for Mahchuchak!).
Even as this is all taking place, a spy bandhi is seen overhearing discussions between Mahchuchak and Fazal Beg. Despite being totally blind Fazal Beg is seen nabbing the spy squarely and Mahchuchak then gives him license to do whatever he wants with her. He chokes the girl to death mercilessly. All this is supposed to show what a man without eyes can do if he as bad an egg as Fazal Beg!
Meanwhile at Agra the DEK is in progress, but despite Atga and Hakim Mirza and others trying to tell Jalal the political news of the day, Jalal isn't even listening. He is entranced seeing Jodha in the garden with Rahim, so Atga calls a halt to the DEK and asks everyone to go, leaving just Jalal and Hakim behind. Hakim ribs Jalal about his fixation with Jodha and Jalal gushes and declares he is truly in love with Jodha, what can he do if she is on his mind all the time? Hakim then says "Okay I am now going straight to Jodha to tell her of your love!" Jalal demurs but Hakim marches on.
Hakim then goes to Jodha and says he needs to talk so Jodha despatches Rahim to his mother. Hakim and Jodha are then just talking in gerenarlities about his absence from the court for a while, when Jalal comes there and spills the beans himself inadvertently. He says "I told Hakim not to but he insisted on coming here to tell you that I love you!" It was a moment for blushes all around then. Hkim then leaves. Jodha remarks to Jalal on Hakim having become this "love guru" when Jalal tells Jodha a key sentence "I never mistake Hakim Mirza and love his innocence a lot. He too loves me more than he loves his mother and always listens to me. In fact his mother Begum Mahchuchak rules Kabul. I give her respect as my Ammijaan but she doesn't like me a lot".
Accha, on an entirely different front, Maham is coming back from her surang visit when she spots a yellow cloth tied to a tree on the path. By now, having already seen markings near the door of the surang she becomes deeply suspicious that someone has been placing markings on the path to the surang to be able to get there again ... and she wonders who this person may be who knows of this surang now? It's obviously some lady for the yellow cloth seems to be part of a dupatta. Shehnaaz in her own room is also thinking about that yellow cloth she tore from her dupatta to tie on a tree to mark the way to the surang. "Hope I can now find my way back to my mother in the surang" she says to herself.
In yet another part of the palace, Jalal is in his hojra admiring the scroll Jodha gave him with the word "Akbar" written on it by her. He has framed it and cannot take his eyes off it. Ruq enters the room and catches Jalal looking at this framed scroll and gets the shock of her life to hear that Jodha has learnt enough Urdu to be able to write this, and gift it to Jalal. Ruq leaves the room urgently as her jealousy hits a new high. "That Jodha Begum, I cannot forgive her for all this" Ruq says with vehemence to herself!
Maham meanwhile catches Shehnaaz walking surreptitiously out of the palace into the jungle and follows her. Shehnaaz comes to the tree where she had tied the yellow cloth but finds no cloth there (for Maham has removed it). She is now not only perplexed about the way forward to the surang but also gets alarmed that someone knows she knows about the surang! "Who is this who knows of my knowledge of the surang?" is the question on Shehnaaz's mind as she is back at the palace. Meanwhile Maham has another question on her mind "This Shehnaaz seems to know the way to the surang, but does she know I have Chand Begum there? And this Shehnaaz is so close to Jodha so does that mean Jodha too knows about the surang and its occupant?" Maham doesn't know where these questions will end!
While Maham and Shehnaaz are thus second guessing each other, Jalal calls his mother and his three khas wives and says he now wants to have a special Meena Bazar for just his three wives. Whoever gives him the best gift is the winner. Ruq is seen all eager to win and asks for time to prepare. Jalal gives them all 48 hours to come up with something.
Maham meanwhile decides not to tax her mind too much. She decides to accost Shehnaaz and summons her and tells her she knows she is acting mad but is not really mad, and asks outright what she knows of the suurang. Shehnaaz initially puts on her childish act and tries to behave innocent. But suddenly Maham traps her by saying "Okay in that case I have to take you soon to Jalal where you will tell all!" Shehnaaz instantly drops her childish act and says "Okay in that case take me straight away to him". That startles Maham that at last she has guessed right that Shehnaaz's childishness was just an act. The two women then look like they are levelling with each other as they look daggers at each other.
In the precap, Shehnaaz is with Jodha and Zakira, when Jodha says to them both "Oh what a super idea Shehnaaz has given me. I will make a new crown for Jalal that will appeal to both Hindus and Muslims and Jalal will like it too". Shehnaaz is looking slyly at Jodha as if her idea was intended to trip Jodha up!
My comments on this episode:
The entire episode seemed to be building up the plots of this "threesome" of Shehnaaz (aka Nigar), this Mahchuchak and this Maham. At the moment it looks like the link between Mahchuchak and Maham is not direct but Shehnaaz is the one party in some sort of connect between the two great vamps Maham and Mahchuchak. But folks I am having this nasty feeling since yesterday that all these plots will somehow mesh. I am not sure exactly how, and in my mind I am trying out all kinds of permutations and combinations, but I am not getting a simple clear way through all this.
I have a feeling that the Creatives are deliberately running these parallel tracks of the Mahchuchak-Shehnaaz story and the Maham-Chand-Begum story and also this third Ruq pregnancy faking track, so that all of these can somehow culminate in a huge common anti-force against Jalal - which Jodha and Jalal will have to manage.
I can see who all the players will be: in the anti -force we can count Mahchuchak, Fazal Beg, Maham, Adham, Sharif, and Abul Mali. In the pro-Jodha-Jalal forces we can count on Zakira, the ladies of the Agra palace, Atga, Todarmal, Mansingh etc.
Now here comes the "double-dubious-bit". What do we make of Hakim Mirza and Shehnaaz? When exactly will Hakim Mirza turn negative and will Shehnaaz turn positive?
As regards when Hakim Mirza turning negative, I feel that will happen right up front as soon as his mother's fauj arrives to help Nigar, for I am sure his mother will send him some message on how he should act. The game plan could be that Hakim continues to look innocent and not cause Jalal to feel any doubts on him, while in the background Hakim double crosses Jalal. Jalal was shown telling Jodha in this latest episode that Hakim loves him more than he loves his own mother and will always mind what Jalal tells him. This sense of trust in Hakim may be Jalal's initial undoing. The person I would watch for signals of Hakim's negativity would be Shehnaaz again. We have to see her and Hakim in the same frame and see if they are in the plot together acting in concert with Mahchuchak. Again here the person who may be able to help Jodha-Jalal uncover Hakim's true colours may be Zakira since she is a Kabul-ite and may know the inner workings of the Kabul gang.
Let me now tackle the issue of Shehnaaz turning positive. She will, I think, be initially negative and in cahoots with Hakim Mirza until such time as she thinks Jalal is entrapping her mother. When she is convinced of this fact (probably by Maham) she may then come out in the open and declare who she really is and she may decide to challenge Jalal ... and Jodha may discover her antipathy for Jalal and then this swordfight between Jodha and Shehnaaz may happen. After that when Shehnaaz comes to know that Jalal was not behind imprisoning her mother and is even willing to give her the inheritance due to her ... and Shehnaaz also discovers that Mahchuchak was double-crossing her ... and Maham was the culprit who had imprisoned her mother ... this Shehnaaz may actually turn positive.
The big surprise additional element will be if Chand Begum, who ,when discovered, recovers her senses, tries to say Shehnaaz is not her real daughter Nigar at all, because she doesn't have some crucial birthmarks she should have. That should put Shehnaaz in such a spot that she would have to turn positive and start helping Jodha who in a way had given her asylum, even though she was in fact a nobody! So Shehnaaz may even help Zakira in helping Jalal and Jodha unravel the plots of the Kabul Gang and Maham/Adham.
Now it then remains to be seen if the Zee man can be trusted in his news that an exposed Maham will then take revenge on Jalal (who punishes her hard by banishment to Delhi) by letting the cat out of the bag on Ruq and the extent of her pregnancy faking. At the moment Jalal thinks his wife's faking story is just between the three of them ie. Ruq, Jodha and himself. But if this Maham betrays that she knows even more than he does about it all and will spread the word around the kingdom, that will leave Jalal in a huge pickle and he will have to overtly punish Ruq so that he himself does not look as if his wife has taken him for a ride.
Untill all this unravels, will Jodha's pregnancy happen? Will Ruq get increasingly jealous after the Meena Bazar loss as well as when she hears of Jodha pregnancy? Will Ruq try to do something to abort Jodha's pregnancy? Will she be successful or unsuccessful? And will Jalal punish Ruq once and for all not just because Maham exposes her but also because Ruq tried to make Jodha miscarry? All this is among the possibilities.
And how long will all this take to happen. Two or three weeks? Or more? To me it looks like too much to happen in a sort of domino effect, so I am wondering if someone has a better clue on how things may happen in a less cogitative way? I am in knots trying to predict how the story may go. The only steady feeling I have is that all the three tracks we have seen so far (Maham-Chand, Ruq faking and Mahchachuk-Hakim) will intertwine into a grand melee. Beyond that I am in a mental mess!
