Porus 173-175: A great escape, a demolition job & flawed justice - Page 3

Haan par yahan to Alexander uske baare mein baat hi nahin karta!

What a shame!

At least now he will be able to compare his ustaad with this aalem (I'm talking about the Sony version).

did not watch a few parts so cannot comment on the post

But did chankya really meet porus and guide him?

Don't worry, Prem. So much has happened since this post was written that you would find it difficult to comment as at that time!

No, Chanakya did not guide Porus, who was then over 50, not a young man of 30 or so, but he was a classmate (at Takshashila university) and close friend of Porus' chief minister, Indradutt. So through Indradutt, Chankaya met Porus several times - this was after the battleof the Hydaspes and Porus was by then an ally of Alexander's - and persuaded him to slowly move out of Macedonian control, and also helped him acquire more territory, under the guise of preventing rebellions there against the Macedonians.

The prospect of becoming the Chakaravartin Samrat of the Akhanda Bharat that was always Chanakya's goal, was held out to Porus by by Chanakya, to ensure his co-operation. But of course Chanakya had no notion of making Porus the emperor; he had reserved that position for his protege Chandragupta Maurya. And then, a few years after Alexander's death, Porus was treacherously assassinated by one of Alexander's generals, Eudemus.

Shyamala Aunty

You are welcome, my dear Nonie. And I was very pleased to see that you have actually written several lines of comments on my next post! Keep it up!

Shyamala Aunty

It is not an easy task, to comment as if one was at an earlier date. But I must say you have done an excellent job of it!

Do also see my response to your interim comments on my next post. I am getting depressed and fatigued by the relentless efforts to blacken Alexander's character. As if the bull was not enough, the killing of Kanishka was downright awful😡, and it was also pointless and most unfair. Rohit performed superbly, and looked postively demented when he was wiping the blood off his face - such things ought not to be allowed in an 8 pm show that is seen by kids 😲 - but that only makes matters worse.

Then the lines written for Sony Olympias, with endless repetitions of Bharat ka Alexander ke pairon tale kuchala jana , to reinforce Sony Chanakya's babbling that Alexander wants to destroy Bharatiya sanskriti, whereas the fact is that the real Alexander never crushed or hurt the civilisations of any of the kingdoms he conquered, whether it was Egypt or Persia or Mesopotamia. Sony Olympias might look good and perform well - though she is more into attitude than into acting - but she only reinforces her monstrous image, which reflects on her son's image.

Shyamala Aunty

Originally posted by: inlieu

Sorry for the late reply, Aunty. But here goes - I will do my best to write a response based on what I knew then and not what was aired today. 😉

Yes, the pre-cap was hilarious, with Hephaestion barely able to believe that he had to relay such a message to Alexander. 😆 I wonder if Chanakya will go to PR right away or will he finally make a detour to visit other kings/kingdoms?

A bit late in the day, but yes the mud coating did protect him. It's a nice twist to see Chanakya using the very maati that he is so proud to serve, serve him well in this case. Physics, chemistry, biology, nothing is relevant to the CVs. I understand this was 327 BC but still!

Silent subversion:

There were many teary-eyed spectators, and a very horrified Ambhikumar. I am expecting some defectors but not in huge numbers just yet. What happens to the raj ved remains to be seen but he might get away by telling Alexander that Chanakya had not been breathing. The real Alexander had never met Chanakya, nor had to play such silly games while in Taxila, but our CVs have taken creative liberties to a different level altogether.

Mind over body:

Yes, yoga and other exercises will definitely save him, but there's something about the physical mud coating itself. So I would say it's a matter of mind and body. Again, thermodynamics is best left out of discussions on this show - they've made a total mockery of it.

As for the screaming or groaning in pain on this show, it has always fallen short. Remember that Farsi soldier "screaming" when Alexander was pushing the knife into his body with his foot, or the groans of the man who drank water from Alexander's hammaam that Arrhidaeus had sent him to poison? In fact, they all sound like they are the same person. 😆

I think Chanakya was faking the screams to give everyone, especially Alexander, the impression that he was indeed burning up in there.

Potli mystery has been cleared up (sorry couldn't resist adding this here).

The demolition job:

I still feel disturbed thinking about that scene and my rant about Sid T's dhoka covered this enough. Alexander did look petrified, and it was clear that he regretted that things had to come to this, for he truly believed it was a "necessary evil" if you know what I mean. Yes, this is all because of Sid T's love for GoT, and like in that show, here too we get one scene with such gruesome stuff and the next one where everyone goes about as if nothing happened. 😡

Rohit's conscientiousness:

Absolutely! Despite being saddled with this lousy script showing a sharp decline in Alexander's character in the morality department, he's been doing a stellar job. Can you imagine being in his shoes? Living all the way in that remote Umergaon area for months on end, training like crazy, filming in the heat, rain, swimming pool, horseback, (and now mud pack), etc. Yet, his performance levels never drop for a second, whatever his internal thought process might be. Commendable work and a true artist! 👏

Some light relief:

Three blind men trying to describe an elephant - what an apt description! Their faces were hilarious to watch as they seemed bewildered by the weird activities of this aalem. I guess they chalked it up to foreign culture and typical sage-like behavior that the common man was not meant to be able to understand. Alexander at least caught on to the concept of soch.

No, Alexander did not have to light the fire under the bull himself, nor did he have to jump in the river to search for Porus' dead body after the explosion. Sometimes he just likes to take matters into his own hands because he wants people to remember that he won't refrain from doing the deed himself. This is also in line with his attitude towards fighting battles from the front, alongside his men.

Alexander + Chanakya:

Yes, Chanakya and Alexander in one team = dhamaka, of many sorts. The real Aristotle would not have had to worry about Alexander conferring the title of sabse bada aalem on Chanakya, since the two never met. And in this show, we've never seen Aristotle. Imagine if they had shown Aristotle's philosophy vs. Chanakya's? Now that would have been a treat to watch! Since we already have so much distortion, this wouldn't hurt.

It's not too late to introduce Aristotle. CVs, are you listening???? Also, Chanakya can provide a lot of guidance on the field that Aristotle, being more of an academic, may not have been able to guide Alexander about. Though the real Aristotle did give him one good piece of advice: not to get distracted by women. Chanakya, on the other hand, would not see eye-to-eye with Alexander on a lot of matters, since he believed in the by hook or by crook approach, whereas Alexander always wanted to attack from the front without using any sneaky tactics. 😆

I agree, Alexander regretted both the loss of this intellect and also admired Chanakya for his patriotism and inner strength in these circumstances.

PR scenes:

I found the whole segment ridiculous to be honest in terms of the CVs trying to show Porus trying to be fair. It fell flat as far as I was concerned.

This again shows that Porus lacks training in kingship and I was disappointed to see Bamni remain quiet. Justice is about balance and emotionally involved plaintiffs or defendants are not the best candidates for being a fair judge in this case. God knows how long the 7 days will be dragged. Or maybe it will be 7 minutes? The CVs are famous for their warped sense of time.

You are right, it's up to the state (and maybe Lacchi if she so wants to) to prove Anusuya's guilt, but I don't think SidT loves Law and Order as much as Game of Thrones (or now even Mission Impossible). Even Bamni used to ask for evidence to be presented (from time to time 😉). What I don't understand is that even if Bamni has stepped down as the King, he's still responsible for what happens in his kingdom and must guide Porus as much as possible. None of that happened. 😡

O Ripudaman, Ripudaman, wherefore art thou (dead) Ripudaman?

Thank you so much, my dear Meghna, and I am sorry to be so late with my response. I am not in good shape these days. I am also happy that despite your disgust at the script, you still come to visit my threads. Please stay with me till the end, won't you? I myself almost dropped out ten days ago, but was pressed to stay on, and of course I did.

I am very sorry that I have not yet sent you the list of my Jodha Akbar posts. I will get them out to in two parts, or maybe three. Do let me know if they come thru cleanly.

Shyamala Aunty

Thanks Aunty!

I always feel compelled to respond to your detailed posts. You put so much thought and effort into them that I feel restless until I've written back, though real life does get in the way. Better late than never, I suppose. 😉

I've written a detailed response on the other thread and will look at your comments now. Rohit's stellar performances notwithstanding, I expect more and more inspiration from GoT as we go forward. More battles, deaths, tortures, you name it - totally unsuitable for the time slot. I've read online that in some countries the gory scenes are in black and white - I don't see how that helps really because violence is violence after all.

They are destroying the legacy of the real Alexander who was not just famous for his military achievements but also his far sightedness about uniting cultures and revelling in their differences. What they are showing now directly contradicts what he told the Farsis in his public address. Ugh!

I finally tweeted to SidT to stop degrading Alexander's character and to fix the issues with the script before it's too late, but I don't expect him to care or to react. 😡

Yes, my dear, I do put a lot of effort into them, these days more physical than mental!😉 And then there are about 9/10 people who read them, max, and as for substantive comments, even less. But you are one of the very rare happy exceptions. You not only respond with detailed comments, but do it with admirable freshness of approach, and felicity of both analysis and expression.

I too don't think SidT will pay any attention to your tweet. He surely has all the gory stuff lined up and probably shot already.😡

I have read through your long comments on the other thread; they were as interesting and perceptive as ever. But I don't think I will be able to comment on them; my right shoulder has frozen up, and I have had to lift my arm up to the table to work on my laptop. It is so painful that even my good temper is wearing thin.

I shall do this and one more post and call it a day. Even if Puru does oblige us, I doubt if I would be able to put up even a page tomorrow.

Shyamala Aunty

Thanks Aunty!

Please please please do call it a day and give yourself plenty of time to rest. I will keep nagging you until you get the speech recognition thing set up. No more hours of typing, please!!

Maybe let a few episodes collect and then write something next week if you feel better. Health comes first!

Take care of yourself please. 🤗