Much has been said about the sword-fighting sequence. From intense emotions and electrifying chemistry to matching fervor and skill, the scene had everything. I would go so far as to say that this particular sequence was far more impactful here than it was in the movie.
Jodha Akbar is a great show with brilliant dialogues, great acting and strong characters. However, another thing that stands in this show is the use of parallel themes, foreshadowing and symbolism. Infact it was one of the primary reasons I got hooked. The scene where Jodha stands in the balcony and cheekily points out that the future is always ahead and not behind while Jalal stares up at her undetected and Suryabhan waits for her to turn back was sheer brilliance.
There have been many many such sequences and during the sword-fighting scene too, I notice a combination of all three.
One of the first things that is striking about this scene is Jodha with a sword in her hand. The last time Jalal saw Jodha with one was when she held it against his throat.
Jalal is a skilled swordsman, a fearless warrior but above all a Mughal Shehanshah. He has very clear and set ideas about respect and honour. Or rather, the respect and honour he believes he should be shown. He has no qualms with punishing anyone he believes has disrespected him in the slightest. Drawing a sword against him while knocking down his own (even if he was in disguise) would then, of course leave a lasting impression, one Jalal has clearly not forgotten.
This is made evident the moment he backs her up against a wall, and draws his own sword against her throat. There is a change in proximity but not in the gesture. Last time it was him against the cell bars, this time its her. Not to forget the last time he saw her with a sword, she was vying for his head.
Keep in mind, she has never explicitly told him she wants his head. He had only gathered that when he was in disguise in Amer. To bring that up now, to say she could have asked for his head, not wanted him dead but to use those exact words is a throwback to Amer and a nod to their very first mutual encounter.
It was also then that Jalal had for the first time witnessed how much she truly hated him. In fact, he had also taken joy in the fact that even through hate he had an effect on her. This time too, he has an effect on her - but of a different kind.
For Jalal, Jodha had always been a conquest, a jeet ka tohfa as he informed her himself. For Jodha, Jalal was just a means to save her kingdom and her family. Their marriage was a mutually beneficial political alliance. But on a personal level, she has always abhorred him. He knows this, which is why he wonders why she didn't want her freedom back. There are no shams between them. He knows she knows hes trapped her here. There is no fake sugarcoating of words. It is as it is. Therefore, logically, there would then appear to be no need to signify this alliance.
The minute Jodhas spins and points the shamsheer back at Jalal, the niqaab falls off her head. The only colour on her then is red. Red of the sindoor, the bindi and the anger in her eyes. Jalal stands there staring at her as she points his sword at him. He looks more confused than shocked. Because even when all covered, even when there appears to be no need to do so, she still wear the symbol of their alliance. Something that catches him off guard.
Jalal has grown up in a Muslim household. All his begums have converted to his faith after marriage. In fact, before Jodha, he hadn't even been shown to have any personal involvement with any Hindu customs and rituals. That is not to say that he isn't aware of them but he hadn't been an active part of any. The only reason he had let Jodha keep her faith was because he didn't want her to win - as he had pointed out to Maham Anga. In other words, in his eyes it was a small condition to accept for acquiring her.
However, he does understand how significant the ritual, traditions and customs are for Jodha. It was one of the reasons he went ahead with a Hindu ritual wedding. He even took a keen interest in all the proceedings and seemed particularly gleeful during the sindoor ceremony and the wedding vows and pheras. For him, it was a way to bind her to him by her very customs.
But to see her standing there wearing sindoor would undoubtedly appear to him an acknowledgement of his value in her life. He may often remind her about him being her shohar and his haq on her but the sindoor in her maang is her silent but loud validation of the same. I love the way she stands there pointing the sword at him even as she wears his sindoor. She belongs with him even as she fights him.
But I think the most telling, the most significant moment of the entire sword fight was when Jodha points Jalals own shamsheer at him. Since the start of the show, we have seen and been reminded time and again that the shamsheer is Jalals most prized possession. So much so that that, he doesn't trust anyone with it. He fights wars with it, holds court with it, prays with it; in fact, as Khan Baba pointed out, he even sleeps with it.
So far, it seem to be the only thing he constantly keeps with himself - closer in fact than even the people around him, be they his faithful and most trusted companions, his childhood friend and wife, or the parental figures that raised him. The shamsheer is clearly held in a higher regard than all of them.In fact, the only time he has ever let go of it was when he disguised himself to go to Amer to see Jodha.
How ironic then that the second time he lets go of it or rather loses it, is again due to Jodha - and to Jodha. Theyre equal in all ways during the sword fight - be it in swiftness, strength, skill or banter. But in the end, it is Jalals experience that disarms Jodha and yet it is Jodhas persona that defeats Jalal.
In those moments when he stands there having voiced his thoughts after backing her up against a wall, its almost as if he is trying to unravel the mysterious workings of her mind. In that moment, while Jalal stands there puzzled, Jodha seems to have listened to everything he says because the very next moment, she acts on his advice.
Its actually funny because not a moment ago he was telling her how foolish it is to lose sight in a battle and even more so to lose an opportunity. And yet here he stands completely enthralled by her. Not just her beauty - beauty Jalal is accustomed to - but the challenge she poses. Why she chose to do the thing she felt was right, when she could have conveniently picked the things that were logical. Why - its a question he cant seem to fathom an answer to when it comes to her. So lost is he in the enigma that she is that he is completely caught off guard.
She grabs his shamsheer, he grabs her niqaab. I love the moment she looks down consciously at her open hair. It seems like Jalal isn't the only one that lost something dear, that felt disoriented in that moment.
Even more symbolic is the way she points the sword, his shamsheer, directly at his heart. His shamsheer, his heart. She pulled one away from his own hands when he was lost in her and it seems now shes well on her way to steal the other even if she consciously doesn't know it yet.
Anupamaa
