Friends, as we all were expecting, the episode yesterday was violent ... but in my book it goes down as one of the most outstanding episodes of the serial so far! I thought the series of events that were picturised were done with great imagination and incredible cinematic perfection, supported by some of the finest acting I have seen from all the actors - notably Atga, Jalal, Maham and Adham.
Every word and every deed of the whole episode rings in my head like something I am unable to erase or forget. Every scene lingers in the memory washed with the red colour of blood. It was a gory, grisly, gruesome episode where we saw a huge man like Adham still refusing to give up the ghost even after three lethal throws from a great height ... till finally he was thrown vertically so that the weight of his head would smash down first on the ground and pulverise before the rest of his body went limp!
Where do I begin writing about what I saw, for every scene is jumping ahead of the rest in my mind as I churn it all around in my head! Let me go with the flow of the screen play ...
The long moments just before the death of Atga ...
Even after Adham had stabbed Atga with a vertical sword in the most macabre way - right in the middle of his solar plexus - to my utter amazement there was a wee bit of life left in Atga. Seeing Adham then running towards Jalal's hojra to kill Jalal, but getting delayed by the number of sipahis he had to annihilate on the way, Atga tried valiantly to stand up to reach Jalal's room himself.
But alas, he could barely move a step before he collapsed - in the arms of the khwaja sera supplier who had sprung to his help. "Tell Jalal he is in khatra from Adham who wants to kill him. Take the surang route to Jalal's room before Adham can reach there" Atga barely whispered to the khwaja sera supplier, before he gave up the ghost with Jalal's name on his lips and a prayer for God to save his King!
What a beautiful exposition of presence of mind in the fading moments of his life! Atga's loyalty to Jalal had withstood its final test and passed with flying colours. It was extremely fortuitous that someone like the khwaja sera supplier was to hand, because Atga could never have made it Jalal's hojra in his waning condition. But then "fortune favours the brave", even when they are at the mouth of death! Some good angel in the form of the khwaja sera supplier came to Atga's help and he was able to die the peaceful death of one who had done his duty to his King splendidly.
Even as his life got snuffed out he was praying to God for Jalal's safety and life. What a loss his passing was to Jalal ... even Jalal may never know the true depth of Atga's courage and sacrifice in the throes of his last breathing moments, as darkness enveloped his soul and carried it away. When people tell you later about someone's last heroic deed, it is often hard to feel its actual impact unless one has seen it with one's own eyes. Atga Khan, you were sensational! Your life was one long sacrifice for Jalal, but your end was the longest moment of all, when you dredged every inch of grit left in you to warn Jalal. What more could you have done? Go peacefully, dear man, for you did all you could have, and no regrets!
The fiercest battle of all for Adham and Jalal ...
Jalal, in his bed asleep was rudely woken by the signs and sounds of commotion as Adham slashed ruthlessly at sipahis all along the way to Jalal's hojra. But again, very fortunately, the khwaja sera supplier managed to reach Jalal just ahead of Adham - and in a broken and shaky voice he brought Jalal up to speed. "Adham has killed Atga and is now coming to kill you, Huzoor!" he managed to say to Jalal.
Within moments the trained soldier in Jalal just snatched his sword and stood in a state of readiness for the approaching danger ... but his mind was benumbed by the shock of hearing that Atga was dead. For a moment it looked strange that a man could be both physically alive and yet mentally dead - and that's what Jalal looked like. But there was not too much time to stay in that daze for danger entered in the form of Adham.
Jalal lurched at him, even as Adham was hurling abuses at Jalal and exhorting him to his imminent death. The two men fought fiercely and soon the fighting left the room to enter the terrace area just outside the room. By now the ladies of the Palace were all awake and watching like aghast spectators. Hamida was having a hard time preventing Jodha from going to Jalal, and Salima quickly covered the eyes of Rahim who came there to watch from behind the folds of his mother's skirt.
For a very long time the two men fought with everything at their command, when suddenly Adham's countermove rendered Jalal without his sword and he went off-balance to the ground. It looked like Adham had the advantage, but the quick-thinking Jalal then grabbed a brass pot and banged Adham's head with it so hard that Adham went woozy and fell to the ground. Sipahis then captured him from all sides and he was beaten.
I've seen Jalal fight battles before but I've never seen such a wild and feral look in his eyes as he grappled with every move that Adham made and then pounced on Adham with the sheer force of the violent tempest beating in his chest. He was like a man possessed. He was far smaller in size than his brutally big enemy, but nimbleness was always the hallmark of Jalal and it came to his rescue this time also.
I doubt if he even saw Adham, the man, in front of him. I think he just saw a bloodthirsty animal and he went for the kill with a savage hunger to cause death as fast as possible. The fight scene was spectacular simply because the acting of both actors was superb. It was not just the motions of their sword blades and their lunges and retreats that made the scene, but the maniacal look in both pairs of eyes was phenomenal!
Adham meets a fate worse than death ...
Having captured Adham, Jalal then gave vent to his entire ire by hurling a volley of abuse at Adham for killing Atga. Jalal's bloodshot eyes wanted nothing less than to see Adham meet the most cruel death a man could have. Nothing less than that would have assuaged Jalal's boiling blood. He ordered that Adham be defenestrated - thrown down from a height repeatedly until dead!
It took three tries. The first time Jalal just kicked Adham and sent him flying to the ground. But the man was still alive. Two more tries by the sipahis, each time pulling the bulk of his bloodied body up the stairs for another lethal throw, and yet Adham lived. Each time Jalal despatched him to the ground the throw was more barbarous, and Jalal recounted his past misdeeds one by one in revenge. But still Adham lived.
The fourth time around Jalal ordered that he be thrown vertically so that the weight of his head would itself ensure that it smashed the ground first and got pulverised. It was simply beastly, and this fourth time was for the avenging of Atga's death! Adham died on the spot for his skull must have been in pieces after this fiendish throw.
Jalal couldn't wait to go to the body himself and with the muscularity of his own body he lifted and held aloft Adham's body like a weightlifter would hoist weights. He took Adham thus to a balcony looking out on hordes of the praja waiting below in horrendous fascination. By now the blood from Adham's body was flowing down freely, drenching Jalal's face and hands and body - and the sight of Jalal thus soaked in the blood of his archenemy was like a moment when history stood still.
"This may brand me in history as the merciless murderer of my own brother," he said to the praja "but it had to be done for he has killed my atalik Atga Khan with pure malevolence. Time and again I have forgiven his crimes out of a "doodh ka karz" I owed his mother. But no more!" And with that Jalal threw Adham's lifeless body down from the balcony once more to land at the feet of a dumbfounded public.
What a scene that was as Jalal stood on the balcony holding aloft that dead body of Adham as blood flowed copiously from it over Jalal's face and hands and shoulders. Drenched in the blood of the murderous Adham, Jalal seemed to be holding aloft his sense of revenge. I think he knew that this one image, this one moment will always be the unforgettable motif of this disgusting day in the life of the Mughal Sultanate.
Jalal stood there almost for eternity before speaking his words to the public in explanation of his callous killing of Adham. After he finished his speech to the public he threw down the body with a final flourish of satisfaction and yet I wonder if that made him feel any closure.
Later there was an Akbar Ka Makabra scene between Jodha and Jalal where Jodha's soul appears to say with sadness "The people may always look on you thus as barbaric". But the soul of Jalal seems to reply "It can't be helped. It was a day meant to go down in history in the way it turned out and it turned me inside out". Those were not the actual words, but I've tried to capture the rueful sentiments of both Jodha and Jalal in hindsight.
Did Maham have to be told or did she already sense it all?
It then became time to tell Maham that Adham was no more. Maham herself in jail, troubled intensely by her uneasiness that Jalal's life was in danger from Adham, tried time and again to persuade the jail staff to let her go and warn Jalal. For some reason it worked only on the second desperate try - by which time Jalal has already finished Adham and was standing before a trembling Hamida who said "Son, only you can tell Maham about this and you must do so yourself!" Jalal would not have had it any other way himself, I think. As he walked towards Maham, Maham walked towards him - and they came face to face on the terrace.
What followed was a scene of the finest quality of acting I have seen in a long time. Seeing Jalal blood-soaked, Maham at first imagines that he has "had a fight" with Adham and she takes Jalal's eye view of it all. "He's done this to you? He deserves to be punished!"
She then gets emotional and tries to lessen her son's crimes in Jalal's eyes "We cannot fault him. The fault is mine. I gave you so much attention that he resented me for it, as he resented you too for taking me away from him. He always wanted whatever you had - even your takht and taaj!" Maham looks shaky and as if she has tried hard to explain Adham's motivations with the right inflexion. All the while Jalal remains silent, for what could he say to the mother that still thinks her son is forgiveable and not at fault ever!
It is only after such ramblings that Maham suddenly remembers that she should ask what exactly Adham has done. Jalal replies with a stony cold voice that he has killed Atga Khan. Even then the mother in Maham refuses to swallow the magnitude of the crime. "And what punishment have you given him?" she asks with the expectation of one who thinks her son will be only regularly punished.
Jalal, unable to answer that one in words, hugs Maham. But looking over Jalal's shoulder, Maham sees Javeeda approaching in widow's white! The message begins to sink in slowly as she lets go of Jalal and tries to form words in her mouth but fails. She succumbs to her blanking out mind and faints. Bandhis then carry her away as Jalal still silently watches. He is in a stupefied daze, a zombie, as he watches the taking away of a pathetic limp version of that scheming and conniving woman he used to think of once as a formidable mother.
I think I saw some of the finest acting in this last scene between Maham and Jalal. How beautifully Maham showed her inability to swallow the truth, though it was staring her in the face from the moment she saw the blood-soaked Jalal ! She knew inside of her that Adham was no more. She must have sensed it. But her words showed her hope to hear the opposite. She was fighting the truth and desperately clinging to the wish to hear that her inkling was wrong.
And how silently Jalal conveyed the truth to her, not in words but by the hug that he found he could spare despite hating her intensely. The past was vanishing before the two of them and could never be called back. Yet in their own individual ways they were saying goodbye to the past in the best way they knew.
The precap and its strange reactions ...
Now coming to the precap, there have been a lot of discussions I believe on whether Jodha should have balked at seeing the bloodied face and hands of Jalal standing in her hojra before her. But what exactly is that emotion that has taken Jodha aback? That is not clear in a precap of a few seconds, and if opinions are given on just based on this precap, it would be extremely foolhardy!
What was that emotion of Jodha's? Was it revulsion at the sight of so much blood on Jalal? Was it revulsion that she has seen an extremely cruel side of Jalal that she had never even imagined before? Was it fear that he hadn't yet lost his cruelty and was still unsatiated with all that had happened? Was it just plain queasiness in a woman who was pregnant, for feelings are always heightened in the throes of pregnancy?
How can we say we know what she feels and how can we then condemn her for her feelings that we have not even taken time to understand. After all we just have to wait till 8 pm this evening to know exactly what she felt and why she was compelled to move away from Jalal as he approached her.
For those who want it, here's what all happened in yesterday's episode:
After stabbing Atga, Adham runs towards Jalal's hojra ready to kill Jalal. But there's a wee bit of life left in Atga. He tries to stand but collapses in the arms of the khwaja sera supplier who comes there and helps him. Atga tells him to take the faster surang route to Jalal's room and warn Jalal that Adham is on the way to kill him. Then Atga falls dead with words of loyalty and prayers for Jalal on his lips.
Due to Adham's commotion, loudly exhorting and killing every sipahi in his path, Jalal wakes up ... but luckily the khwaja sera supplier reaches Jalal faster than Adham and tells Jalal Adham has killed Atga and is on the way to kill Jalal. Jalal is ready with sword ... but stunned beyond words regarding Atga's death. Adham then enters Jalal's room and there is a huge and very vicious fight from both.
The fight then moves out of the room to the terrace outside. The ladies hear the noise and come out of their hojras in shock. Hamida prevents Jodha from going near Jalal and Salima covers Rahim's eyes. Suddenly, as it were, Adham manages to remove Jalal's sword from his hand and throws Jalal off-balance and seems has the advantage ... but Jalal then picks up a huge brass pot and bangs it on Adham's head and Adham falls down woozy.
Sipahis immediately grab Adham - and he is defeated. Then Jalal ,in utter rage, shouts a volley of abuses at Adham for Atga's death and orders that Adham should get a fate worse than death. He decrees that Adham should be repeatedly thrown down from a height till he dies. Three times the sipahis throw Adham. Each time Jalal mentions a couple of his past misdeeds and throws him in revenge mercilessly. But despite each throw, Adham still has life. The process of dragging Adham back bleeding and broken, ready for yet another throw disgusts the ladies who are watching as the process is rather merciless and barbaric.
The fourth time round, Jalal orders Adham be thrown vertically so that his head blasts the ground first - and this time it is to avenge Atga. Landing on his skull, Adham dies finally.
In jail, Maham is still begging the sipahis "Please let me go to Jalal and warn him against Adham. He has real danger from Adham." ... but to no avail.
Seeing that Adham is finally dead, Jalal is washed over with relief and yet he doesn't seem done with Adham's unforgiveable murder of his atalik Atga. Jalal himself lifts Adham's body aloft and Adham's blood runs down copiously drenching Jalal's face and hands. Jalal carries Adham thus onto a balcony overlooking the hordes of praja gathered. Standing on the balcony Jalal tells the people that even if history judges him as merciless he had to do this to this murderer Adham, who took Atga's life - and indeed for ages he has been pardoning Adham his many heinous crimes just for the "doodh ka karz" he owed to his mother. But enough is enough and there will be such treachery no more. Jalal throws Adham one last time from that balcony down to the feet of the praja.
There is then an Akbar ka Makabra scene where Jodha's soul says it was an ugly day and that people will say Jalal was cruel. But Jalal's soul says it can't be helped and people will talk of this day when they remember history.
Later Salima feels sad for Javeeda - especially as she tried to warn Jalal. All the women are shaken by all that has happened and seem to huddle together for mutual comfort.
Maham finally persuades the jail sipahis to please let her meet Jalal just once to warn him of khatra to him from Adham. The jailer allows her finally ... to go to Jalal along with many sipahis. Meanwhile Hamida tells Jalal he should be the one to tell Maham the news of Adham's death, for no one celse can do it. Jalal and Maham thus come face to face on the terrace.
A very very emotive scene ensues. Maham seeing so much blood on Jalal at first thinks Adham has hurt Jalal and says "Look at what he has done to you. You should punish him." And then maham adds "It is not his fault if he has been bad - it is my fault that he became jealous of you and wanted whatever you had ... even your takht and taaj." Maham says she was uneasy and came to warn Jalal about khatra from Adam, but perhaps she was a bit too late and Adham had already misbehaved..
Jalal just stays ominously silent ... but then it finally strikes Maham to ask exactly what gunah Adham did. Jalal says in a spaced out voice that he kilked Atga Khan. Maham shivers but there's still hope left in her that yet again Adham will get off lightly. She then asks what punishment Jalal gave Adham. Jalal, unable to answer that, just hugs Maham ... but then over his shoulder she sees Javeeda in white widow clothes and gets the ghastly and unbelievable message. She tries to digest Adham's death as she let's go of Jalal's hug ... but faints. Bandhis take her away for attention. Jalal just stands there like a zombie, having been through what seems like the worst chapter of his life.
In the precap, Jalal enters Jodha's hojra with his bloodied face and body - and jodha is so taken aback at the sight of him that she moves away from him. Why exactly she reacts this way we will know only after the next episode!
I look forward to the next episode, folks, because I want to see how Jalal reconciles to all that has happened and how Jodha helps him do that. I also want to see what happens to Maham, and what happens to Javeeda ... and whether Javeeda is in any state to tell Jalal all that she knows.
I further want to see how Todarmal takes on the role of paternal figure to Jalal at this stage when he has as good as lost a father. I want to see how Todarmal helps Jalal out of the morass of self-pity. I want to see how Hamida takes on the role of making Jalal feel less guilty and more confirmed that he has done the right thing by the kingdom even if it all drained him personally.
Lots to look forward to this evening! I expect us all to be continue to be very moved with what we see!
Jaane Anjaane Hum Mile
Fan Fictions
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
Iss Pyaar Ko Kya Naam Doon
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