Friends, I think because our expectations were so low yesterday - after the previous few episodes giving us a huge unwanted dose of Ben-Jalal seductions and the stalemated relationship of Jodha and Jalal - yesterday's episode seemed to look far better than we expected. I must stress here that it "looked better than before" because of two nice nok-jhok interactions of Jodha and Jalal ... but whether the episode was really a step forward in the "epic love story" of Jodha and Jalal is debatable. If you scrutinise the episode carefully there was no real progress in the Jodha-Jalal relationship, their discovery of Jodha's paigam contents or their making up after the spurning fight. Since that is the whole crux of the matter, from which every other track has emanated, the main story seems stuck. The Jodha-Jalal love saga stands where it has been for the last ten episodes.
But the Hakim-Shivani marriage talks gathered steam, and thereby Jodha and Jalal got to to talk not only of the marriage of their brother and sister respectively, but also started comparing it all with the situation during their own marriage, and that provided a lot of hindsights and insights to us viewers (and to Jodha and Jalal themselves, no doubt). We could see how they were different people then, how things have changed now, and what has changed and what has not changed in their lives and their perceptions and feelings about each other. The interactions of Jodha and Jalal happened twice yesterday and I loved them both, so they are detailed below.
The episode however was certainly a step forward in the the area of more arrivals into Agra and one more paigam to add to the existing paigam-surplus. And of all the paigam so far two are in the hands of the Paigam-Chor-cum-Collector, Maham! So let's see what she does with her inbox!
I've detailed below some of these Agra arrivals and also some other sidelights of the episode yesterday as they ocurred to me ... so here goes:
Jalal-Jodha 1: She comes to tell him of Shivani and Hakim!
The episode opens with Jalal in his room, when Jodha stands there hoping to talk to him. But as we saw in the previous episode's end, Jalal was busy summoning Ben! Jodha insinuates that Jalal has called Ben just to thwart her from opening any topic with him, and Jalal in turn thinks "How does Jodha read my mind so easily?"
Jalal then says "No that's not the reason why I called Ben..." but Jodha readily replies "Oh yes, I forgot, it is for the morning-after talks with her after what you did to her last night, right?" Again Jalal is nonplussed. "How does Jodha know I never touched Benazir last night" he wonders.
But then he gets all stiff and starchy and says "I have no need to account to anyone for my actions in the night. And you needn't tell me one more time of your fear for my life, I know aboit it enough already". She says "Yes I am sure you can take care of yourself, but surely you'd like to hear about your brother Hakim? Hakim has fallen for my sister Shivani and I have no objection to their alliance. I have sent word to my father and when he arrives I wish my father and you would take the happy decision."
Jalal is initially caught by surprise, but then gets a bit sarcastic "Oh, so you, who hated marrying me, do not mind your sister marrying into the Mughal family?" Jodha says sweetly "Hakim is a nice guy, smart, intelligent, caring ..." Jalal is rattled and asks "Why have I not got all those qualities?" Jodha says smartly "Hakim knows how to treat women with respect! Unlike some others who barge into women's rooms at night and try to do things ..." Jalal looks at the ground!
Jodha then adds "Hakim truly loves Shivani. I like his qualities annd think he would be great for Shivani!" Jalal then looks at Jodha slyly and says "Oh, Jodha Begum, do you not see these same qualities in any other male in our Mughal family?" She gives him an emphatic "No!" and starts walking off ... when he grabs her hand and holds her back.
He says "I have not given you permission to leave. Remember this Jodha Begum, we Mughal men are no lesser or greater than each other. We all have our own ways ... but we sure know how to keep our relationships." Jodha then says "But you have no need for maintaining relationships. Your one call brings loads of women to your feet any time - like see now how Ben has arrived? I think now you'll have no call to refuse me permmission to leave?" And wiith that she flounces off, as he wears a smile.
Ben is troubled that Jodha time and again manages to steal Jalal's mind and heart despite her own trying so hard. She tries seducing Jalal again, caresssing his hand ... but Jalal, after a peremptory allusion to the previous night's unintended misdemeanour with her, dismisses her - and is left with the pleasant reverie of Hakim's marriage with Shivani - a surprise that has left him inordinately happy!
I though there was a lot of naughtiness in Jalal's eyes as he spoke to Jodha, and I loved the way his face lit up when she was near him. She is of course her usual guileless self, and she seemed so kicked with the idea of her sister's marriage to Hakim that a lot of Jalal's sarcasm seemed to not even touch her. But he was full of mischief - in his eyes, his expressions, his smirks and his silent happiness that he tried to hide behind his sarcasm! But boy, was he glad!
Jalal-Jodha 2: He has doubts over Shivani's choice!
In the second encounter between Jodha and Jalal, he is sitting in the garden when he summmons her. This is after the families have got together at the Diwan-e-Khhas to give their seal of approval to the Hakim-Shivani marriage. But Jalal its seems has his doubts!
He tells Jodha "I think we need to ask Shivani her views before we proceed with the marriage plans". Jodha says "But I don't think that's necessary. My father has agreed and we Rajvanshis do as our fathers dictate." Jalal counters that by saying "But we Mughals make it a point to check with the consent of both the boy and the girl! But there's another reason also ... I don't want this alliance, like ours, to be considered just a "samjhauta". Also the fact that Rajvanshis want to willingly marry into Mughals still confounds me." Jodha replies "But Hakim was so nice that when he brought his idea to me I thought I would take it forward. What's wrong with that?"
Jalal says "Okay, so that's all OK from Hakim's side, but does Shivani like him?" Jodha replies "Shivani cannot but like him, for which girl does not want a man who loves her so much?". Jalal then says "OK, in that case let this marriage follow our Mughal nikaah traditions, tell your father that." Jodha says "Yes of course, if she's marrying into the Mughal family, we will have to follow Mughal traditions".
Jalal is silent for a moment and then asks "In that case why was our own marriage in the Rajvanshi tradition?" Jodha too is momentarily silent before she replies "Because that time was different. I didn't want to marry you and my consent was not there. Though my father consented in both these situtions, our marriage was in a different circumstance. I didn't even know my father had fixed my marriage with someone I so hated." Jalal looks rattled and says "I never forced you to marry me. You kept so many conditions which I fully fulfilled. Your father brought the alliance to me." Jodha quickly replies "Yes, and I know why my father was forced to do what he did. But now the situation is not under any duress. And I have myself brought this proposition to you. And what's more the bridegroom this time is a whole lot better than the last one!" With that Jodha fllounces off, but leaves Jalal in deep thought.
I simply loved this whole scene because although they were talking of the Hakim-Shivani marriage, it seemed as if both were lost in the memories of their own marriage. Jalal, especially, seemed very keen to not repeat again the mistakes that had happened when he married Jodha - by pressurising her father and her. It shows a greatly changed Jalal. It also shows a greatly changed Jodha. Here she was admitting how when she married Jalal, she hated him, but now she herself was advocating a love marriage between Hakim and Shivani.
The only sentence that grated was the last one, where Jodha tells Jalal "This time the bridgeroom is a whole lot better than last time". I thought it hurt Jalal a lot to hear that, but then I guess, his sarcasm at their earlier meeting (and especially his constant throwing of Ben in her face) hurt her ... so he was being given a biting answer in subtle revenge.
Apart from the Jodha-Jalal encounters we had a series of arrivals of sightseers at Agra ...
1. The arrival of Abul Mali in Agra:
The anticipated arrival of Abul Malli at Agra was first told to us via a sipahi in the jail mentioning it to Sharif. Sharif seemed super-thrilled to hear that his "mentor-cum-comrade-in-evil" had personally arrived.
Later Ben was seen tiptoeing around in the market place, her head covered in a shawl, when a barely-hiding and fully undisguised Abul Mali pulled her aside. He scolded her for being an ineffectual agent ... and she said perhaps because of the prayers of Ruq and Jodha , this Jalal was escaping from her bite every time. The conversation ended by Abul Mali telling Ben that soon he would be Emperor of Hinndustan, and she Ben would be his Mallika-e-Hindustan if she did her required job well.
Some of us yesterday who were afraid that Ben may fall for Jalal and want to become his Begum, or that Jalal would add Ben to his harem after seeing her as a helpless pawn of Abul Mali, must have heaved a sigh of relief that Ben's ambitions are actually to become Abul Mali's Begum after he gets the takht from Jalal!
2. The arrival of the whole Bharmal family on an outing to Agra!
Everyone of every size from the Bharmal family was there in the Diwan-e-Khas, talking animatedly to an attentive Jalal and a fullsomely happy Hamida about the Hakim-Shivani alliance! Between them all they did the completely idiotic thing of assuming the consent of the bridegroom (Hakim) and bride (Shivani) and congratulated one another that the shaadi was a pucca issue now. Bharmal said he would love for one more Rajvanshi daughter to marry a Mughal and Hamida loved the idea.
Now I have a dooubt here. Not only did they all not consult Shivani (as Jalal later realised) but they did not even think it fit to consult Hakim's mother? As Jodha told Jalal, the Rajvanshis never asked their daughters' consent, they just assumed that the writ of the father would be followed by the daughters. However as Jalal told Jodha, the Mughals did ask their daughters their preferences before fixing a marriage. But in all this to leave out the bridegroom's mother, especiallly when the Bharmal and Agra families were in full attendance seemed a bit odd.
When so many characters have all congregrated at Agra (to our chagrin) why not one more nyauta to the bridegroom's mother? I have for long wanting to see who this crafty woman is - the mother of Hakim - who got her dauhter married to Abul Mali just to cock a snook at Jalal. I wanted her to be at the Diwan-e-Khas yesterday just to get a measure of her!
3. The arrival of the handsome and ambitious Tejwant at Agra!
Among the other arrivals at Agra yesterday was young and handsome Tejwant, who fortunately got entry into the Agra palace even in his homely artiisan clothes, thanks to some other known worker vouching for him. No sooner had Tejwant entered the palace, than he somehow made his way right into Shivani's room! For persistence and ingenuity in achieiving this, I have to accept he is a smart and worthy husband-material for Shivani!
Anyway he then spent a bit of time with Shivani, coochey-cooing and hand-holding and swearing by his promises to elope with her, but soon Jodha was in the room and he had to go back behind the curtains to overhear the sisters. Here Jodha let slip that Shivani's marriage to Hakim was being considered, which made the two young lovers distraught. Tejwant then left with a slight rustle of the curtain (that alerted Jodha) ...
... but then he againn made his appearance later at Shivani's window. He was upset over hearing of her marriage plans with Hakim and wanted to know if she had changed her mind about who she wanted to marry. In true young-lovers style, Shivani swore it was Tejwant she wanted, and she shooed him off saying she would give him more info soon on how they could arrange an elopement. Later, in almost the last scene, poor dear Shivani was seen writing a paigam to Tejwant asking him to come near the Ambe Ma temple in the city from where they could both elope.
Too many paigams and Agra sightseers!
Yes, folks we have now yet anoother paigam, and as can be expected this paigam too has fallen into the hands of "Agra's Biggest Paigam Chor and Paigam Misreader" Mahamanga! In an utterly ill-dignified fashion, Maham stood outside Shivani's window hearing her read out every word of the paigam she wrote (how babyish!) and then stashed away in her favourite paigam-box under the bed.
As soon as Shivani was out of the room, Maham entered (they didn't show her doing hurdles over the window, but I think that's how she may have come in!) and she then extracted not only this paigam but many previous paigams between Shivani and Tejwant as well ... and is now in possession of enough information to throw the whole set of Bharmal and Agra families in disarray - and again fiddle with the relationship between Jodha and Jalal via Shivani and her love-twist!
Now as regards paigams I have a feeling of being overwhelmed myself. We have too many paigams floating around already. We also have too many people of various levels of goood and evil now stationed in Agra. In all this traffic of ambitious humans and revealing paigams, where is the possibility of the Jodha paigam to Jalal being read by Rahim, and the big misunderstanding being unravelled? Where is the possibility of Ben and Mali and Sharif being unmasked? Where is the possibility of Hakim turning enemy after Jalal (and Jodha) decide that Shivani must marry Tejwant and not Hakim? The Creatives have tied themselves in knots and need Houdini to help them untangle what they have done unto themselves!
Meanwhile ... are these the potential battle lines and teams?
Will we soon have the entire folk at Agra arrayed like this?
Team Agra: Jodha and Jalal, Bharmal Family, Hamida and her ladies gang, Atga and his men's gang, Shivani and Tejwant
Vs.
Team Kabul: Abul Mali himself, Sharif, Ben, Hakim, ... plus some potential enrollees like Adham and Maham - and maybe a little later this Ammaji (ie. Hakim's scheming mom).
In all this folks, has it occurred to any of us that Ruqaiaya is totally gaayab?
Salima is also gaayab, but between the two - Salima and Ruq - I am wondering at the way the Craetives have totally disnmissed Ruq from the scene! Ever since Ben made an appearance and Maham tried to get Ruq to react to that, and Ruq decided to just sit on the sidelines and watch the fun, she has gone MIA!
It has always been my feeling that if Jalal wanted to make Jodha truly jealous, the Creatives could have made a proper triangular fight of Ruq-Jalal-Jodha. Instead they have chosen to paint Ruq as ambivalent, and brought in Ben with her more colourful "vishkanyaness" probably to spice up the story as Ruq may never have been able to do.
A friend of mine who is close to Balaji has told me they are hell-bent on getting the number 1 TRP spot now beaing Diya Bati. So I guess Ruq who was relatively colourless was thrown over for the voluptuous and more colorful and more highly paid Ben in a bid to hit the highest TRP spot ... and in the process many of us viewers are also going gaayab like Ruq or else getting ready to be admitted to mental asylums!
Jalal and Hakim exchanging notes on Rajvanshi women as wives!
That was a cute bit of banter in the precap where Jalal is seen advising Hakim on how to handle a temperamental Rajvanshi wife - especially one that hates shikar and removes bullets from guns just before a tiger is about to pounce! Though the scene was sweet, I had some sadness in my heart for poor Hakim. All this is building up his hopes so much, that the poor round baby-faced fellow is going to have his heart broken soon, and he's going to be so angry with the Agra-ites and the Rajvanshis that he is going to sign up with Abul Mali! How sad! Hell hath no fury like a "baby" scorned?
But I hope life will teach Hakim a few important lessons!
Even though Hakim's love will be bhujao-ed, I hope this will all make him introspect a bit. One, he needs to get fitter and leaner, the dear boy. See Tejwant with all his muscles built by using cold sweat and a hammer and chisel. Hakim baby, you can't be a puppy-face and hope to win a princess, however small. You've got to look like a man and demonstrate more than just "paigam-remembering power" and engage in more than just "casual saunters in the garden" with Jodha, identifying snakes that are already dead!
You've also got to sharpen your swordfighting skills. What was that dandiya you showed us the other day? You moves need groove, baby! And what's more, you've got to stop asking Jodha to cook you more food. Too much eating and too less exercise makes Hakim a cutely plump boy but not a match for an "on-the-ball-kaarigar" with loads of temerity and resourcefulness. Tejwant has shown the guts to love a princess and then find his way into her room in the palace and have a conversatiion with her from behind a curtain! Can you hide behind a curtain if your body is not lean? No you can't, baby! Take it from me!
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