Friends, yesterday's episode was a departure from the expected for many on the Forum who had imagined an "outdoorsy wound-nursing situation" between Jodha and Jalal after the tiger fight. I know all through the afternoon yesterday people were longing for a scene where Jodha and Jalal would be entirely alone in the forest, and Jalal would have a few strategic scratches by the tiger on his face and chest that Jodha would lovingly tend to - and suddenly the sun would appear from behind the clouds signalling the start of a deep and iconic love affair ...
Eventually, the wounds on Jalal were almost mortal and he was lacerated and almost torn to ribbons, to put it mildly, by the tiger, and there was no other option but to rush him back to Agra, whatever that might take, for their was risk of him dying leaving the Sultanate without an heir. It was a situation dire from every which way you saw it - personally or politically.
Now, there are many ways to look at what happened, but I am interested in highlighting here three points about Jodha, and three points about Jalal that stood out for me. You can call these the faults and good points of Jodha and Jalal (if you are judgemental ) or you can call it an understanding of Jodha and Jalal. I prefer the latter way of looking things, and I would like to take yesterday's episode as an eye-opener on the true personalities of Jodha and Jalal emerging as the story proceeds.
My thoughts on Jodha:
Quintessential Jodha with her "rigid points of view"
If there is a "fault" in Jodha, it was underscored strongly yesterday as her "rigidity of point of view". She has always demonstrated, throughout this serial that she not only has "rigid points of view" but that she is also "inflexible" about upholding these, to the extent of looking "pig-headed" at times. Whether she has a "ghrna" for Jalal, or a "ghrna" for killing animals, or even a "ghrna" for telling untruths, when she has a "ghrna" for something she goes whole hog at it, not waiting to assess the consequences of it for herself or others.
Yesterday Jodha showed her "rigidity of principle" in both spectacular and less-than-spectacular ways. She took the bullets out of the gun on "steely principles" (not needed at all), she then tried phsyically carrying Jalal on horseback to safety on the strength of her "steely determination" (bravo!), and again when she had to face the family, she did not think twice about "her steely sense of truth" in telling the key players that it was she who took the bullets out of Jalal's gun and put him in "khatra" (sheer stupidity).
Can we fault Jodha for "having principles about everything and "holding her principles about everything"? I notice on this forum that there is often a lot of Jodha-bashing as her character seems too weak to some people, too pig-headed to some others, and too rigid to yet some others. Jalal, who has enough blatant faults of his own seems relatively to escape the wrath of viewers (probabbly because he has already softened a fair bit towards Jodha), while Jodha keeps repeatedly getting the short end of the stick (because she is slow to get there!). But by now, after so many episodes of the serial, it is to be hoped that we viewers will begin to accept that these are the two "faulty but interesting" personalities of the two protagonists we are faced with. Jodha's "rigidity of view points" are both her downfall and her stupidity at times, but also her greatness at other times. Likewise for Jalal, his faults (notably his out-of-control temper) are sometimes brash-looking and even crude, but at other times they seem like the hallmark of an emperor who upholds authority by brooking no mistakes.
The short point I want to make is that we all will enjoy the serial more if we accepted that both the hero and the heroine do have faults, which from one side look like faults but from another side also look like their best character attributes! And both of them have faults, not just one of them!
Jodha comes face to face with Jalal and his baggage
One other point that came home to me yesterday, and no doubt came home to Jodha also in a forceful way, is that when women marry, they get not just the husband but his entire baggage (i.e. his family). In Jalal's case the baggage is extensive. Not only did Jodha have visions of facing the wrath of this "baggage" when she thought Jalal has died, but Jalal himself in his pre-unconsciousness stage had told her of how his mother and Ruqauaiya would all collapse if he died, and he never wanted them to writhe in agony looking at him in this state.
My mother has often told me that no matter even if a marriage is "arranged" and the bride knows she has to enter a "family" and not just a "marriage with her man", the actual moment of having to take the man along with his whole baggage of relatives is something every woman faces with some surprise and shock. Even a lot of us viewers, who wanted exclusive time between Jalal and Jodha in the forest came to realise that we cannot ever have Jalal with Jodha (without his family in attendance somewhere in the background).
So this is something else, we (especially I) have to accept. Jodha-Jalal exclusive moments in this serial may be few and far in between. Most of the time, this romance will have to happen with an audience of the family somewhere in the context. Jodha (or rather Paridhi, in interviews) keeps saying she has not married Jalal she has married "museebat". I think that's not fully true. The bigger truth is that she has not married "Jalal" she has married "Agra"!) Okay, so I resign myself to their love scenes in future being more than cozy twosomes. I am ready for "love in a traffic jam".
Jodha's physical strengths are not be scoffed at
It's also very interesting to me that while Jodha is shown as a woman with a naturally-female soft side sometimes, there are no two questions that she is portrayed as having extreme physical strength. She is an almost sipahi-class swordswoman, Jalal himself has remarked that her "nishani" at shikar is lauded, and yesterday the way she heaved that bulk of a man to the river to wash his wounds, then pulled him back to the horse, then put him on the horse's back and rode with him tied to her, and then again after he fell, she again heaved him a fair distance to softer ground and then back onto the horse ... boy, that was a female Hercules in action, even if we didn't always see the exact shots when she pulled over the body onto the horse.
But if there's ever a fire at the Agra palace, or a calamity requiring "nothing short of the ablest firemen", you can bet Jodha will be in the forefront of action, matching Jalal pace for pace in the rescue efforts!
I have a feeling here that the characterisation of Jodha as "steely" by the Creatives is deliberate. She is shown as "phsyically steely" as well as "steely on her principles" (whether she is right or wrong in her principles). While there have been many such physicallly strong Rajput women in history, and it is to be expected that Jodha's upbringing would have ensured that she has some practical skills in attack-and-defence, not many of the women in her family seem to have the same degree of physical prowess, so we can assume that Jodha was a sort of "tomboy" growing up and has developed into a fine woman with "strong bones". Whether the Creatives will further use her physical strengths in new situations going forward is to be seen.
My thoughts on Jalal:
Jalal and his true priorities in the face of near death
Like all dying declarations are believed to be the truest statements of people in the last throes of life, the words of Jalal as he thought he was dying seemed a true pointer to where his true priorities were. He mentioned Hamida among those most likely to be devastated by his death. He then mentioned Ruqaiaya as one of those not only to be devastated by his death but also as one cheated by him of the child she so longed for.
Jalal even tantalisingly kept saying "Begum Jodha, Begum Jodha" as if he had another very high priority in Jodha, but he never finished the sentence. However it was enough for me that he mentioned Jodha in that same "dying breath". Since he will not die so soon, I have great hopes of finding out why he called her name twice and with such a wealth of feeling!
But, notice this point, folks, he never mmentioned his Badi Ammi! (Did I miss it?) Not one word about her in that "dying declaration". What does that say about him and his true priorities? If Jodha is astute, or thinks about it all later, I am sure the point will hit her strongly, as it hit me! So much for Badi Ammi taking over the reins of the state during the time Jalal is unconscious. She is holding the reins of nothing in his innermost psyche!
Jalal and his physical qualities in the fight with the tiger
Showing Jalal's phsyical prowess with the tiger was no surpirise. History has already documented the fact that Jalal fought a tiger with his bare hands, although not quite in the same story context. But I'll not labour the point here. We all already know - and we actually expect - that the hero will always be superhuman!
But given that both Jalal and Jodha are being shown as phsyically fit and trained people, I have a feeling that this love story is also going to see a lot of action scenes in the future! Seatbelts on, people. Dishum-dishum may well be periodic fare!
Okay, one more point of pure whimsy! If the hero is so physical all the time, what else does he like to get physical at? Hmm ... deliious thoughts assail me! Jalal certainly will not be the "romantic-speeches" hero, he may well be the "I'll show you what I can do" type of hero". I'm waiting ...
Jalal and his reading of Jodha's role yesterday
Here I am going to put together all the spoilers and the press conference of Ekta and everything that we have heard in the last week together, to see if I can try to make out how Jalal will see the role played by Jodha yesterday.
In her press conference, Ekta has clearly said the banter between Jalal and Jodha will continue but this banter hereafter will have a different quality than the banter that went before. Earlier it was about enmity and bitterness, whereas after this tiger incident there will be a breakthrough of sorts and a truce of a kind. They will still continue to banter, both of them, because by now we all know that banter is their way of life for both of the protagonists. He will try to instigate her, provoke her, and she will retaliate. She will then poke his ribs, and he will yowl. We cannot escape that, and neither should we berate them for being themselves. Jodha will continue to be self-opinionated and self-righteous and Jalal will continue to be a Grade A Impulsive Shouter. But what may be different is how these slanging matches end.
Like the snake scene, there may be a common joke or an injection of humour that makes both smile rather than snarl. They may "enjoy" their sparring rather than "rueing" it. They may like sparking each other off, and they may see their mutual exchanges as a game rather than a serious sort of enmity.That will be a nice phase to watch when we know they are trying to best each other but not in a spirit of "kill" but in a spirit of "let's play, shall we?". Ekta said that the truce would allow them to be like any typical husband and wife, bickering but not spitting bile. I am looking forward to this phase.
Judging also by what the Head of Zee has said in his interview, this incident will spark off that "eternal romance" so we can all feel safe that despite Jalal's on-and-off consciousness during the forest scenes, he will have "memories and dreams" (as one spoiler has said) of the way Jodha tried everything she could to get him to safety and care, and this will make him want to give her the right to tend his wounds! He will not hold a grudge against her for taking out the bullets, and in fact (as the spoiler said again) he will show her some fake wounds just to get more of her loving attention.
This shows that some divergence is going to take place between Jalal and his family. The family may perceive Jodha as "the-accused-of the-bullet-removal-sin", while Jalal will see Jodha as "the-girl-that-went-to-great-lengths-to-try-and-save-me". By now Jalal has clearly seen that while his silly little wife is a "mad nut for principles" she is also a very well-meaning mad nut! He will learn to look at her faults fondly and smile at them! Jodha will be just grateful, I guess, that he is giving her a chance to work off her guilt! And she may genuinely care too that he is hurt. She is obstinate but she is not uncaring! And finally, the fact that Jalal will be giving Jodha so much forgiveness, attention and space, after what she did, is going to stick in everyone's craw!
I am happy though, because I have always wanted a love story, where the two protagonists are not always fighting with each other, but they are as a team fighting with the "unpleasant others". If this kind of thing happens, my dreams will come true!
Kumkum Bhagya
Tu Dhadkan Main Dil
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
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