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Honour. Promise. Commitment. Defiance. Pride. Imperial Aggression.
All the above qualities run in royal gene pools - at least until the tail-bone of the 19th century , they did. Today, both Jalaal and Jodha exhibited these traits very strongly , within the realms of imperial honour and mutual commitment. Jalaal, proving himself to be man of his words but not without the vintage Jalaal touch. Jodha, rising to the occasion as the ideal daughter , wife and queen but with her pride and defiance intact.
Jalaal and Hameeda welcomed Bharmal and Mainavati with the honour and affection that befits family. Jalaal gave all the respect and honour to his in-laws , even as he played his own chess with Jodha in a secret labyrinth that the innocent Mainawati could not see. Only Jodha knew that Jalaal was not praising Jodha to Mainawati - his honey-dripping odes were laced with cutting sarcasm , venomous disapproval and a wicked sense of humour that was almost threatening Jodha - Shall i spill all the beans, my enemy wife?...Maina has no wisdom of age and the world or else she would have read her daughter , Jalaal's daal-chaawal-damaad act and suspected the wrist cuts of Jodha. She bought everything that Jalaal and Jodha sold to her - or maybe she was just psychologically conditioned to believe that my daughter gotta be happy!
In the royal court , while Jalaal honoured all the rituals and gifts , he ensured that he gets to take a jibe on Jodha and also remind Bharmal that return of Amer was NOT charity. His obsession with Jodha is one thing but he is a sly emperor too who keeps the political angles aside - he made it very clear to Bharmal in the most respectful way that this alliance also means that Bharmal has political allegiance to Mughals now. I mean, Jalaal has his cake and he eats it too -ask Jodha.
Jalaal is getting addicted to Jodha - just like you get addicted to a drug - Stay around me. Get into verbal duels with me. Fight with me but give me attention and keep me entertained. Dayumn! You are not paying attention to me? Let me create circumstances to make you land straight into my lap - and that is how and why he sends Jodha to the royal baawarchikhaana , triggered by her own brother!
And Jodha? Her hatred for Jalaal is settling more into a personality and ego war with a dash of feminine cuteness. She is getting just as mentally occupied by Jalaal as he is with her. Ideally, Jodha should have forgotten Jalaal the moment she flew into Mainavati's arms - but even there , she takes out time to sulk that how Jalaal leaves no chance to put her in a tight spot. Ideally, she should have just rolled her eyes, given a WTBEEP look in the kitchen and just cook the food - but even there , while stirring cooking spoons , she is mentally fighting with Jalaal that how he is always putting her on barbecue. HATRED. Strong and violent emotion - one flip - and it turns into an equally obsessive love. So, just watch it, Jodha. Don't think that much about Jalaal. Aren't you supposed to be mechanical about him? Hmm?
Now, coming to the dramatic spice-heat scene and the aftermath. Did Jalaal really keep quiet and swallowed those heatballs because of his commitment to Jodha? Part yes and part no. Jalaal is not the kind to create scenes in public YET. If he would have screamed his lungs out at Jodha in the dining area , he would have appeared a commoner reprimanding his wife who could not even take a petty food mistake? How can JALAAL, SHAHENSHAH-E-HINDUSTAN do domestic squabbles in there? No way! Pride and that too an imperial one are Jalaal's ego-vault. Tarnish his image as the ideal damaad over a tray of food? No way.
Later, when the Jalaal-Jodha confrontation happens within four walls, keeping the world outside, guessing , you see two stark personality streaks. Jalaal's imperial pride and aggression in combat with Jodha's honest but very arrogant defiance. While Jalaal gives Jodha the verbal lashing of her life enveloped in words that speak nothing but hurt pride and betrayed trust; Jodha on the other hand, chooses a proud defiance where she basically says that even if she had to burn Jalaal's foodpipe , she wouldn't do that in her beloved parents' presence!
Phew! Did any of the two see the logic at the hinge of this situation? NO. Jalal was busy accusing Jodha and getting jealous of her parents and Jodha was busy defending herself with stonecold arrogance. Khaane mein koi poora spices ki dukaan bhi daal de , both the arrogant heads were least concerned about the actual culprit- at least today.
The biggest nosedive in Jalaal and Jodha's relationship is their pride , arrogance and their stubborn ego. People think from their brains, their hearts. But these two? They use their EGO to think and unless they form a ground of trust at least, anybody can come and build a wall between them and they would still be busy competing to win the EGO MONARCH AWARD. 🤣
P.S- Jodha, who tells an angry and burning ( literally ) man that you are not scared of him? And that too Jalaal? Was it even the right time to say it? Like, seriously? Baat hamesha jagah or halaat dekh kar kehni chaahiye. Rent some brains from Motibai for that - she has more circumstance maturity than you! Nakchadhee Rajkumari...Sorry, Begum!
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