Friends, only two major things happened in yesterday's episode. I am very short of time today as I have hospital visits to make, but here's a small round up of yesterday's episode, plus a few questions, to get our discussions flowing ...
What happened yesterday ...
One, Jalal seemed sympathetic to the hidden sadness in Hakim and aside from trying to make him feel better and showing him a lot of TLC, Jalal also thought it best to engage his mind in warfare against a certain bhagawat to help him forget his sorrows. The cute Mansingh was sent as his deputy, whereupon Mansingh insisted on getting Jodha's blessings. Hamida even argued to Jalal against sending the too-young Hakim to war but Jalal said "At his age, was I not war-ready? He will be able to forget his love and pain if he is otherwise engaged." But in the precap, the war-ready Hakim belies Jalal's statement. He says "War cannot help erase love." He then turns around and asks Jalal outright "Now, who do you love?" I can't wait to hear the answer on Monday!
Two, the Ben issue was seen to be heading for its Sivaratri climax. Ben was first seen writhing in distress since her snakes were all run out and she couldn't get her daily poison fix. Added to which she had the urgency to bite Jalal as fast as possible now before her body became depleted in whatever poison was left in it. Meanhile Sharif in jail came to know that Ben was the assassin sent by Abul Mali and he promptly sent Jodha another paigam to meet him. Jodha, despite Moti's cautions, went to meet Sharif who revealed Ben's name to her. By the time Jodha came back she was in time to hear the writhings from Ben's room and get suspicious. Jodha tried talking to Jalal about it, but he was so busy despatching Hakim and Mansingh to war that she didn't get a chance. Meanwhile, of course, Maham was uksao-ing Ruq to use Ben against Jodha to separate Jodha and Jalal. Both Ruq and Maham were miffed that Bharmal had been so easily let off by Jalal. In another interesting aside, Maham refused all the Hindu baandhis a holiday for Sivaratri ... in a way I thought this was good, because if Ben planned to bite Jalal on Sivaratri, Jodha would not be short of help!
So much for what happened in the episode yesterday ...
What will happen next week?
These are my six big questions as we head into next week ...
1. If Ben is already running out of sufficient poison (as shown by the fact that she is acting like she has withdrawal symptoms from insufficient poison already and is craving a fix) then how will they show that her bite of Jalal will be lethal? Will it therefore mean that though she desperately tries to bite Jalal she is not able to kill him due to insifficiency of poison? Also it was shown earlier that there is a khatra to Ben's own life when she runs out of enough poison in her own system. She starts vomiting and goes apoplectic. Does that mean that there may not even be a bite situation and Ben may fall dead to the ground herself before she can do any harm, because she herself is unable to stay alive without enough poison in her system? And how come she has run out of snakes? Do you think Jalal has been clever enough to suspect her and has eliminated her sources of posion steadily as a way to save himself? In fact is the marriage proposal to ben another of Jalal's ways to delay the bite and thus deplete here of poison even more?
2. In all this fracas, when and why does Jalal declare his intention to marry Ben? Now that the Shivani issue is over somewhat, and he and Jodha seem partially on patched-up terms, why would he need to suggest a marriage to ben to make Jodha jealous? Jalal and Jodha look like they are on good terms at the moment, don't they? So if the bite is to happen this Sivaratri, which is imminent, then when does the marriage declaration happen and why? And how does that suit Ruq? Yesterday Maham was instigating Ruq to use Benazir against Jodha. Can it be that this whole idea of Jalal declaring marriage-readiness to Ben is Ruq's idea to miff Jodha? Would she do that? Or will Ruq be as surprised as Jodha to hear the announcement? I thought one spoiler said that both Ruq and Jodha will be astonished, so then it may not be Ruq's idea after all? Is it Maham's idea then? Or Jalal's own idea? And how does it fit into the time schedule before the Sivaratri-slated bite theory?
3. What is the significance of this Sivaratri to this whole Ben bite saga? I know that some people have predicted that this whole Sivaratri idea is symbolic - it's a night when Parvati saved Siiva from poison. But would Ekta use a Hindu mythology symbolism for a vishkanya bite in a Mughal household? It seems like a "mixed metaphor". Also, in this connection what is the significance of Maham not giving the Hindu baandhis a holiday for Sivaratri, especially when Jodha is planning a Sivaratri puja? Are the Creatives planning to show that while Jodha does the puja on one side, Ben runs out of poison on the other side (thanks to Siva's divine intervention) and thus is unable to harm Jalal? Or are they planning to show Jodha directly saving Jalal from poison by taking Ben bite herself or else moving Ben away from Jalal in the nick of time.
4. Is Sharif in any position to blackmail Jodha for telling her this information about Ben? So far it looks like Sharif has no other handle on Jodha! While he has been telling her there is danger to Jalal's life and then also told her to beware of Ben, he has not directly gained any leverage from these "tellings". Will he later extract a release from prison from Jodha for this telling? But how and why would Jalal or Jodha facilitate that? I am not able to see how Sharif could blackmail Jodha by saying "She met me in jail secretly" because Jodha has been telling Hakim openly that she has been seeing Sharif with a view to helping save Jalal's life! I am not clear on this Sharif connection and what he hopes to gain from conveying information to Jodha. This part of the story remains unclear.
5. Is there any connection again between Hakim and Mansingh going off on war together? History tells us that later they may become enemies, but as with all other historical facts, Ekta seems in no hurry to bring in those story directions yet. So instead could we see an initial bonding between Hakim and Mansingh after this war that makes them deep friends first - so that later when there is enmity it looks more sudden and surprising? If there is to be some bonding, does that mean that by the time Hakim and Mansingh return from war, this Ben bite issue would be solved by Jodha? So the remaining issue would be the Jodha paigam to Jalal, where maybe Hakim, Mansingh and Rahim would help reveal to Jalal the innocence of Jodha as per her paigam? Already before going to war Hakim seems to be asking Jalal who he loves ... maybe this question will get partially answered for Jalal when Jodha saves him from Ben, and then also partially solved again when the Jodha paigam is read? Thus by the time the Ben and the Jodha paigam tracks are over, Jalal may well know he loves Jodha and acknowldge it at least to himself?
6. What is to happen to Maham? Will she get caught finally? How? Ela's news from Zee seems to suggest the return of Shivani and Tejwant. Could it be that Shivani tells Jodha and jalal about Maham''s hand in her elopment? Added to that Jalal may himself also realise that Maham had embroidered the Jodha paigam and created mischief between himself and Jodha. This growing disenchantment of Jalal with Maham may thus culminate - and by then if Adham also does something stupid like seeking revenge on Jalal for sending Hakim to war instead of himself, the Maham-Adham combine may have difficult times ahead from jalal being on their case?
These are just six questions that I am toying with over the weekend. Any predictions from anyone?
Bigg Boss 19
Iss Pyaar Ko Kya Naam Doon
Kabhi Neem Neem Kabhi Shahad Shahad
Bade Achhe Lagte Hain
