Today, folks, I plan to keep this somewhat shorter than my norm. It should not be too difficult; this is a mood episode, not an action one, with only one major and one minor element.
The title says Check but not checkmate, and there at least 3 separate instances where an ongoing power game between two protagonists is suspended at a point.
1) The one between Mahaam Anga and Bairam Khan. After the last round, which the lady won hands down, the stage has shifted from Rajasthan to Agra, and the two are busy keeping pace with the brisk Jalal, each jealously taking care not to be left behind the other. It should have done their cardiac condition some good! 😉
The Malika-e -Azam Hamida Banu Begum tries to get closer to her aloof, even cold son with an affectionate welcome and a bowl of sevaiyyaan. As Bairam Khan, the old khiladi, watches in dismay, Mahaam Anga steals a march on both Hamida Banu and the Khan Baba with her spiel of making herself the food taster, thus gaining Jalal's unstinting appreciation and affection. It is a very clever move, but her adversary has not been knocked out as yet . So check, but not yet checkmate.
It is to be noted that contrary to Bairam Khan's unfortunate tendency to overreach himself, Mahaam Anga is always very careful to pretend, quite ostentatiously, to stay within the role of Jalal's Daima. For example, before complying with Jalal's desire to drink the sevaiyyaan only from her hand, she looks across at Hamida Banu Begum for her assent. It is here that her superior tactics stand out, for Jalal would be convinced that she is being all that is proper, besides being apparently ready to die for him, and that is all that counts!
2)The one between Mahaam Anga and Hamida Banu Begum: This is going to end up like the fable of the hare and the tortoise, but the hare, obviously Mahaam Anga, is lengths ahead at this point of time. Nonetheless , Hamida Banu gets a quick rapier thrust in under Mahaam Anga's guard when, while assenting to her giving Jalal the sweet, she notes Agar main uski ma hoon to aap bhi to uski daima hain, thus neatly relegating Mahaam Anga to the status of a nursemaid! No lasting damage would have been caused to the target, but it must have provided some temporary satisfaction to the unhappy Hamida Banu. Again, check but not checkmate, not for a while yet.
3)The one between Jalal and Ruqaiya Begum: This is the most fascinating of the three, and no wonder.
For Ruqaiya Begum is that rara avis, a woman who can hold not just a man, but an emperor, effortlessly. Not by her beauty, for that is no more than passable, but by her intelligence, her political shrewdness, and her total self-possession. Plus the fact that thanks to a lifetime of knowing him, she can read his mind like an open book. Jalal must be having a lot of affection for her, as much as he can have for anyone, but as he says, the vital point is not that she is his wife, but that she is his friend. And he has very few friends.
So she teases him ruthlessly. There is the arrogant gliding walk - like a model these days on the catwalk - with which she slides past all the simpering females who line the upper terrace for a glimpse of their lord and master, and ensures that his eye not only catches hers, but stays with her, right until she glides back and out. It is a delightful display of control, and no wonder the other aspirants to imperial attention turn a delicate shade of pea green!😉
When he appears in her chambers, she does not run to him and fawn over him. She stays where she is for one long minute, leaning back against the bolster, her left arm negligently outstretched. Clearly the lady has Attitude with a capital A. Especially when she is smoking a hukkah, with ease and elegance.
She makes Jalal resume the game of chess that he had left unfinished the last time , declaring Zid hamara haq hai. This not said with pretty coquetry, but with unhesitating certainty. He knows her very well, so he is not riled, plus he is a natural, self-assured dominator who, as he says, hates to lose. Ruqaiya then displays the ready talent for repartee that must have won his heart and, even more so, his mind: Hamein jeet pasand hai, isiliye to dil har kar aapko jeet liya hai.
When he does make a winning move, the pun in her acknowledgement Yeh to kamaal ki chaal thi, refers as much to his disappearing act, that she has already found out about, as to the chess game. Her unfailing instinct tells her that there is something new in the air. When Jalal reveals to his friend that he had gone to Amer, her eyes narrow as she looks into the distance, and their expression is hard to read. He is leaning forward, fastening his eyes on hers. Can he read them?
All in all, Ruqaiya is the most fascinating woman I have seen on TV in a long, long time and Ekta's team should be felicitated for having portrayed her as such an enigmatic, astute and intellectually superior individual. She is clearly an original, and she will be a delight to watch.
As and when Jodha arrives on the scene, Ruqaiya might be supportive of, indifferent to or resentful of her; it is not yet clear which. It would, I feel, depend on whether she sees Jodha as threatening her very unusual bond with their husband. Bar that, royal wives in those days were taught to adjust to others of their number. Either way, Ruqaiya will leave her mark on the Jalal-Jodha relationship.
Between her and Jalal, it is not really either check or checkmate, for as of now, they are both playing on the same side- Jalal's. I for one found it wonderful that someone like Jalal could relate so well to a woman, treating her as a confidante and an equal. I do not know if he loves her, whatever that might mean, but what they share is something even stronger than romantic love. Jodha, whatever Jalal's infatuation with her, is going to run into some very tough competition.
The ambience today was rich and colourful, whether on the streets of Agra or in the zenankhana. Ruqaiya's chamber was beautiful, and the live chess pieces reminded me of the similar chessboard at the palace in Akbar's capital of Fatehpur Sikri, where he used to play with his queens, using live pieces. I should think that it would be more difficult than normal chess, as one cannot get an overall look at the board before making a move.
I noted the sense of outrage in parts of this forum about what looked like hundreds of assorted females in the harem. It is uncalled for. It is not appropriate to import contemporary sensibilities into 16th century India. I am sure they would be just as shocked by same-sex marriages, or the divorce rates in, say, the US!'
The fact is that not just emperors but maharajas as well had hundreds of women in their harems - wives, concubines and lesser mortals - and this till the 19th century. Most of these were political unions, others the result of a passing fancy. The king/emperor, who would be an infrequent visitor to the harem -being often out fighting a war, or surveying his domains - would probably not be able to recognize half of them, if not more!😉 The way Jalal deals with their importunities was funny and revealing.
Either way, there would be only a small number of senior queens, all of royal lineage, and here I suppose it would be three: Ruqaiya, Salima, and then Jodha. No one minded it, neither the princesses concerned, nor their families. It was the norm, that was all.
It is true that to see so many women have no other aim in life but to catch one man's passing attention is depressing, but this is true even today of the girlfriends or trophy wives of rich and powerful men.
Jodha Akbar is getting to be far better than I could have imagined after the first two episodes, especially now, with the entry of Ruqaiya. The success of a show often depends as much on strong secondary characters as on the main leads, and the former are getting to be aplenty here.
Shyamala B.Cowsik
Anupamaa
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