Friends, yesterday's epsiode for me was all about three important scenes: the Jalal-Jodha bedroom scene, the mother-daughter scene with Mainavati, and finally the Jalal-Pratap face-off for the first time.
Some small scenes in-between that were also slightly important I'll cover as part of these major scenes. While most people on the Forum seem reasonably happy to have had the mother-daughter and Jalal-Pratap encounters, opinions seem divided on whether the bedroom scene was up to the mark.
As usual let me add to the confusion - and then await your thrown chappals:
The bedroom scene between Jalal and Jodha:
First of all, let me concede that the scene was a total surprise because none of us were expecting it! We had nothing to indicate the scene was on its way. Prior to that scene was the completely different scene of Adam and Sharif when Sharif was rueing Adam idiocy. But when the bedroom scene suddenly came, it threw me ... but there were lots of small juicy bits in it, even if there was no major hug or coochey-coo or physical contact as many were expecting, so I was happy in the end.
I am not as disappointed as some on this forum because overall I thought it was a cute scene and appropriate for this early stage of their relationship. I, who usually expects more, was satisfied with what was shown and did not crave more! That was mighty remarkable of me!
Regarding what was shown, yesterday Jyoti had made a remark that perhaps the Creatives were toying with alternatives here: whether to show the growing Jalal-Jodha love via "verbal non-jhoks" or via "physical slip-and-catch" type situations. She had suggested that the boat ride had a bit of both - perhaps as a test that the Creatives were doing to see which method works better. Well, if that was indeed the case, it looked like the Creatives had decided to go the "verbal nok-jhok way" for the bedroom scene, and thank God for that. Because I feel the "verbal nok-jhok" way is far more interesting to watch and enjoy as an intelligent sparring between two clever people than the "slip-and-catch" type romance alone which any ass of an actor can do!
Of course, I am not saying I don't want phsyical contact between Jodha-Jalal, and in fact I do want that very much, but I am merely saying I am satisfied with what I saw AT THIS STAGE OF THEIR RELATIONSHIP!
Today Kashi has done a whole post on why she is deeply disapointed that Jodha seemed untouchable even in yesterday's bedroom scene. But that was not Jodha's fault, I feel, it was probably the Creatives intention to keep the relationship here at "banter level" and not get into "physicality" yet. So I cannot fault Jodha too much (neither as an actor whose lines are given to her, nor because I think she is a married woman hesitating to do phsyically close scenes!).
The banter yesterday was different though from the boat ride banter - the barbs were not sharp nor unnecessary. Yesterday's banter seemed benign and more accommodative from both sides, and it seemed reasonably natural for Jodha to feel a bit hesitant to climb down from her ego to have to share his room, while he was first taken by pleasant surprise annd then started gently enjoying the fact that she has ventured into his lair! And the surprise was that he did not push his ego at hher either!
The scene itself was cute in its flow ... and if we are the type of viewers to place a lot of emphasis on the subtle meanings behind the dialogue then the part in red below should be very interesting as a sanket! The parts in blue are my own take-outs from the scene.
This is the scene as I saw it:
Jodha suddenly entered the khema and was looking a bit sheepish. He said "You here, Jodha Begum? Look around you, I think you've come to the wrong tent!" He has a bit of derision in his words and face at that point. She then says "No I have come to the right place!" and adds "For tonight, I will be staying in your tent". He smiles a bit, but instead of making her uncomfortable, he actually tries to put her at some ease by pretending she was ordering him: "Wow! Today someone has given an order to the Shahenshah!" She then confirms almost with aplomb (?) it was an "order that he could not refuse" (was she actually happy it was an order for them to get some closeness?) He then asks how that is so, and she replies: "It was Ammijaan ...she told me ..." to which he immediately pounces on the half sentence by saying "... and that's an order we cannot overrule, isn't it, or she will be feel bad!".
At this point I sensed that somehow both were very eager to take up Ammijaan's order. Not just he. Even she (albeit with ladylike hesitancy)! They were almost both pouncing on the chance created by Ammijaan!
Jodha then offers to take the sofa, but he says: "Oh no, Ammijaan will object to her daughter-in-law not getting the bed so you take the bed and I'll take the sofa". In the only surly sentence that Jodha uttered yesterday she then said: "No thanks for your upkaar, for I don't know what you'll ask for in return" (touche!) and he had the grace to smile for he knew she was right and he did have the habit of taking badle for upkaars! She added that she will sleep on the sofa, to which he said with a smile again: "Okay, but if something happens at night I won't be able to save you for I am tired of saving someone's life so often! Good night!" He then goes back ostensibly to sleep but all the while watching her. She has flashbacks of the snake scene and makes her way to the other corner of his bed and she plonks down on it, and his silent smile is wider. He then shows he knows she's there by waking and blowing out the light - an act that makes her even more self-conscious - but she decides it was no use telling him not to put out the light (Did she even try? Why not? Hmmm ... interesting!) He watches her from the corner of his eye and smiles again.
He has had a lot of reasons to keep smiling throughout this interchange, but there was kindness in his smile, and he came across as a very sensitive man, aware of her tentative first steps towards him..
(A lot has been written about why he was sleeping sitting up in bed, but I thought that may be because of his back injuries!)
Overall I'd give the Creatives a 70% for treating the scene with a light hand, for not overplaying the phsyical contact so soon in the relationship, and for creating a "starter scene" for more closeness and bedroom-sharing at Amer.
The mother-daughter scene:
I won't labour this one. It was emotional - both the way Jodha first ignored her mother but then later also when she couldn't help but embrace her mother. She knew even as she complained to her mother that Mainavati could not have done anything else at Agra but refuse to take Jodha home. But she seemed to need to hear it from her mother and also hear why her mother left Agra without a word to her. She needed to hear that her mother had saved the marriage and that she too would one day be a mother (to experience the same feelings). I thought Jodha liked hearing those two bits - about her marriage and her chances of motherhood having been saved.
The Pratap-Jalal face-off:
Well the Palace had so many convenient corridors that we were exposed to miles of walking by the two protagonists via these coorridors before they came face to face. What interested me most was the "open and direct stock-taking" by Pratap vs. the "calculated narrow-eyed stock-taking" by Jalal. It gave us the feeling that while Pratap would rather take things on the chin in his encounters at war, Jalal would use strategy as much as force! Interesting! Let's see what else is in store for this encounter between the two!
Let me end with three scenes that really stole my heart:
a. I loved the way Jalal followed Jodha in taking the prasad after Mainavati's aarti to welcome them both to the wedding. It was a repeat of the dargah scene in reverse. Very sweet!
b. That scene where Jalal looks over the ramparts of the city and identifies the mandir and other buildings and also, importantly the river where the women go to float their lamps during Gangaur was fantabulous! Even Bhagwan Das remarks that Jalal's sense of direction was good but his memory even better! Everybody was thinking back to the time Jalal had visited Amer in disguise, and seen Jodha for the first time, and it was very very touching for me that he remembered exactly where he and Jodha had "become an item" so to speak! Lovely. Lovely, lovely! I was over the moon when he showed he remembered, and that he seemed to savour the memory!
