There have been a lot of threads on the leap, the CVs, lack of romance ... here is my response to all of them ... addressed to the CVs.
Dear CVs,
The Grass is always greener on the other side ... That is the only way I can explain why you would be considering a leap to Salim-Anarkali.
Yes, new leads, a new love story, does bring something new ... There is an intrigue value and novelty ... But if you treat it in the same way, it will turn things stale ...
and yes, the Jodha Akbar lawns are getting a bit dry, brown ... But that is not because, of the leads, our boredom ... To me it is about the script, dialogues, and how the scenes are shot, that is where there is a challenge.
So, before you decide to move to greener pastures ... You might consider some fertilizer to rejuvenate the beautiful garden of Jodha Akbar you have now ... Because there is a lot more it can grow.
And let me tell you what I mean ...
(1) There are a lot of historical moments for you to use in Jodha-Jalal's life ... But you need to change the template. When you make up NR, your dramatic elements are usually very good- Ben-vishpaan- and the aftermath, mirchi war, Atifa, etc.
But when it comes to history , it is always the same template : a problem arrives (usually in the harem or caused by some negative female lead), Jalal is in a fix, Jodha helps him out, everyone praises Jalal, Jalal praises Jodha, and then the next problem arrives.
There is nothing wrong with that ... Except the fifth time around ... Well it is kind of boring ... Why can't we use another template to show history? For example:
- Jalal leaving off to war ... And both longing for each other ... You could even show it a cute, romantic flashback 😳
- Jalal-Jodha casually discussing a social issue over a game of chess
- Show Jalal discussing issues with his navratans ... The women discussing another set ... Everything possibly could not have started in the harem
- Introduce Birbal with a puzzle that stumps both Jodha and Jalal (i have one, How many crows are there in Agra?😆 One of my favorite stories ...that I apply to the business world all the time)
(2) Where are the guys? Why does this show seem like a girls club- Maham Anga, Ruqaiyya, Javeda, even Gulbadan Begum gets more screen space then Maan Singh and Todarmal combined. And where did Abdul disappear?
I would love to see some male bonding between Jalal, Maan Singh, Todarmal , why even Tansen. And Birbal would be the cherry on top of the icing. You guess what my icing is on this cake.😉
And that does not mean Jodha has to be out of the picture ... For example, Tansen sings Miyan Ki Malhaar ... It rains, and a beautiful Jodha-Jalal scene that follows
Todarmal-Jalal could be practicing sword fighting ... Where Jalal gets hurt .., and you know what follows. I don't mind lep-love ... It has been a while.
Okay, I need to make a plug for Todarmal , after all I am the President-e-khaas of the Todarmal Fan Club.😆
(3) Time to show the emotions of the leads ... You guys are very staccato and abrupt with our dear leads ... You love to show insight into the emotions of Ruqaiyya and Maham Anga ... Why not more self-talks and reflections of our leads ...
- A Jalal self-talk trying to figure out what Ruq's is up to
- A Jodha self-talk on the pain of separating the child from her
Without insight into their emotions ... They lack the depth we know they have.
Now, my take on what I think the two biggest things that are an issue with the lost and found of love and passion on this show
(4) Jodha-Jalal's world no longer revolves around each other ... In the ghrina days and the new love days, Jodha-Jalal always could feel each other's presence and were constantly watching each other and observing each other ...
There was a physical tension ... An awareness of each other and feelings for each other, e.g., the aarti scene. CVs, you yourselves set expectations for the passion between this couple, with the push-pull scene in the first evening in Agra.
After the Baadal-Kajri track, we had the mother of a slave child blessing them with a kid for saving her kid ... And immediately Jodha-Jalal were transported to a moment of love even amidst a crowd.
Now these little moments of love, connect seem to be missing:
- Jalal is in Jodha's room to talk about baby names and Jodha is busy shooing him off as she is busy worried about Bakshi Bano
- Jodha walks in color coordinated for the naming ceremony of Bakshi Bano and they hardly show Jalal looking and observing Jodha ... One look that is all I am asking ... Maybe with a dash of "ishq hai ehsaas" 😳
They are like an old couple bored of each other! They remember each other in dramatic moments and by then I don't know where they come from.
I feel it are little moments that always showed the love connect - take the deer hunting scene, Gaungaur, and the aarti scene- they were short scenes but it was the connect that Jodha-Jalal were always together somehow...
... In Badal-Kajri ... They were also always more than one foot apart but their thoughts were always together ... As Jodha was cooking chapathis for Jalal, Jalal was looking at only her ... And Jodha was only thinking about him.
... And ironically, that togetherness is missing ... When they are together. CVs don't take it for granted that now the love confession is over, we don't want to see these little moments of love.
And I don't want to see dramatic moments to see their love ... Their relationship used to be the fabric of their life, and now I want to see the same.
Or else, when there are dramatic love moments ... I don't know where they come from.
(5) Dialogues (or rather the lack off) ... I am trying to think of my favorite romantic scenes- the hand-holds, the eye-locks, the aarti scene, Angoori Bhaag after vishpaan ... All of these examples, there were no love filled dialogues.
I actually think CVs cannot write good love dialogues ... Because perhaps love is not mean to be expressed in dialogues ... Especially not formal Urdu-Hindi ones ...
I felt Jodha's silent back touch to show her support for Jalal when he was upset at Bakshi Bano post the fake pregnancy track ... Spoke volumes over words and words of concern and explanation these days.
CVs, use dialogues in self-talks on anger, longing, sadness, dilemmas ... As I mentioned in (3), but for love ... The less said the better. There should be no need for words in love.
And as evidence, I will share my two favorite Jodha-Jalal scenes of late ...
- One was when the women were praying and Jalal walks by and stops to stare at Jodha and she looks back ... It reminded me of the Golden days, where these two were lost in each other in a crowd.
- Another was the same episode, where Jalal was at his wits end and comes to tell Jodha the truth on Atifa ... Jodha is looking out of the window thinking of him, he is silently supporting her from the back ... If you remember that scene reminded me of the poem Footprints.
No dialogues, no proximity ... But they were together emotionally. and that is love for me. The emotions, eye expressions, background music, and lighting ... That is what is key.
So, please before thinking of newer pastures ... Please consider these potential ways to bring back to life the magic you yourself created- Jodha-Jalal's story.
If you just fast forward to Salim - Anarkali, without fixing these issues ... The next thing you will be doing is fast forward to Shah Jahan building the Taj Mahal ... 😆 Fast forwarding is not the solution to your issues.
Ah, now what was that- a take 5 advising the CVs, now that is what I call "rishta wahi, soch nayi" ... You can never take the take 5 away from me I guess, but I always try to bring new twists to it.
So, your thoughts?
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