Jodha Akbar discussion corner! - Page 11

Originally posted by: sashashyam

Jodha Akbar 2: Violence tactical, violence strategic

L'affaire de jootis: The opening shot in this sequence, of Jalal and Bairam Khan riding thru the streets, is very well taken and decidedly striking. Jalal rides with easy grace, almost a part of his mount, shamsheer in his left hand while he controls the reins with his right.

The dear dear shamsheer that he ditched later on to apnaofy the cymbals for bhajan...🤣...okay...okay...no reference to the future...Khushi will request for my detention next.🤣

In the masjid, the stillness in his face as he does the namaz contrasts with his habitual, cynical, half sneer. He seems to be quite another man when communing with the Almighty.

Khan Baba could never touch or change that part of Jalal. And it was his protective charm that always helped him make the right choices.

Even as he emerges from the prayer hall and finds his jootis gone, the face is still, and the eyes are cold but clear. But it is the stillness of a rising anger that even the quips of his favourite Abdul (and what a special pleasure to see him again! Abdul, I have missed you so, far, far more than the original Motibai!) - Kehte hain ki jootiyon ke saath buri bhala chali jaati hai- fail to quell. Wo balaa bhi hamari hi thi. Koyi hamse hamari cheez bina pooche le jai, yeh humein manzoor nahin...phir chahe wo hamari jaan ho ya hamari joothi..

Abdul...it was wonderful seeing him back again.😃 His is a character that deserved to stay. Someone who could speak his mind to Jalal and clearly and cleverly so without sounding preachy.

Violence tactical

Be that as it may, Jalal sees the whole incident as part of a well thought out strategy, of undermining any and all opposition to him and his rule by spreading the khauf-e-Jalal as far and as fast as possible. He makes an example of the joothi chor not just to prevent further thefts, but to make the common folk in the areas he seeks to conquer, and their rulers, fear him as an article of faith.

So you see the advantages of this cleverly applied tactical and strategic violence - real and psychological - calculated to make Jalal feared to an inordinate degree. Whether all that is attributed to Jalal is true or not, whether he is really so omnipotent or not, is besides the point. All that counts is that he is believed to be so.

Even if he had to, this fear in the minds of his opponents was probably, as weapon against them, worth a whole lot of soldiers! This is psywar, circa the 16^th century.

Fear was indeed a very powerful weapon then. Even now. But more those days where there was no media for people to unite against the dreaded. It worked very well to break and make foray. But whether it could sustain power is questionable.

But it surely got Jalal the breakthroughs. Like in Chittor. The fear he created on the general populace elsewhere ( though the Chittor warriors never gave in to fear) plugged the necessity to fight another war of such magnitude.

But Akbar was smart. He knew that he couldn't sustain power with fear. He then adopted the policy of universal brotherhood. That is what makes the man amazing. He is a combination of Chankya and Alexander. ⭐️

Violence tactical: Sharifuddin: In this closing segment, everything that Jalal does is calculated to, firstly, make sure his subordinate is always kept off balance, never sure if he is trusted, and thus does not dare to take the slightest liberty with his lord and master. Ghulam sawaal nahin poochte, Sharifuddin, sirf baja farmate hain..At which Bairam Khan, normally distant and unreadable, casts an approving sideways glance at his pupil.

BK must have thought...95% marks Jalal...well, 100 only when Jalal follows BK's favorite hobby- Sar Kalamofy.😲

The whole spiel of forcing Sharifuddin to taste the meat personally before Jalal will eat it is meant to drive home the same point: Jalal trusts no one, and Jalal will ensure that he is both implicitly obeyed and feared. Hum hukum ki tameel chahte hain, tumhara jawab nahin...Bairam Khan looks on, amused and approving.

Then, Waqayi lazeez hai yeh (the grapes), par agar wo tumhare halak se nahin utarta, to tumhara halak abhi si waqt zameen par hota! One could hardly make a point more bluntly than this! No wonder Sharifuddin's face is ashen, even as Abdul smiles from the other side.

Sharifuddin looked like Lucius Malfoy in book 7. 🤣 with the 'slave ready to obey your commands master' looks and was struggling hard to impress and look loyal at the same time...something that Abdul was able to achieve effortlessly. That was perhaps Abdul WAS loyal and WAS impressive with his candour.

Finally, Hum Shahenshah se pehle ek yoddha hain. Aur ek yoddha kabhi apne dushman ko sambhalne ka mauka nahin deta.. Aur hum idhar isi tayyari ke saath aaye hain ki use tayyar hone ka mauka hi na mile..

Yoddha????? Jalal and Shuddha Hindi...It should have been sipahi na?

The tactical code of action for Jalaluddin Muhammad could not have been put more succinctly, and the gleam in Jalal's eyes is matched by that in his Khan Baba's.

There are two curious points. One, Mynavati calls one of the ladies standing around her jethani, which means the wife of Bharmal's elder brother. But she is not in white and is all decked up, so she cannot be a widow. If so , how come it is not her husband who is the Raja of Amer?

Maybe Tea...er...Bharmal's elder bro was sick or blind like Dhrithrashtra. 🤔

Caveat: I am going to do all these early posts as if I was still at the beginning of the show, without the foreknowledge that comes from a second viewing. Without this mental discipline, one cannot possibly enjoy them, as one would be overcome by depression at the thought of what is to come halfway down the tale. I hope you agree with me. Sandhya, Khushi, are you listening?

Yes Ma'am.😳

Ok, folks, this is it for today. It was not so bad after all, was it, Lavanya? And even if Jalal's sneer does not please you now, possess your soul in patience. Soon, very soon, he will be a D'Artagnan, face alight with bold, rakish glee as he catches his first glimpse of his Nemesis!😉

😳

Originally posted by: Sandhya.A

Jalal's soldier clearly tells him in Episode 3 that ' hum mandir lootne ke liye pahunch hi gaye the jab...'

Then why does Jalal pretend amnesia in episode 90 at Amer at the Kali Mandir and later on with with his soldiers in his convo with Atgah...he seemed only interested in the Registan ki Gulab and was more concerned that his 7 soldiers killed only 16 instead of 70...

And the other soldier was a total nutcase praising the desert rose repeatedly. For once i felt that Khan Baba's sar kalamfy act was apt for him.

And what was it that i witnessed - Dr.Jodha asking Vaidhya ji to cure Moti? What happened to her ultra famous all in one lep which she could conjure from anywhere and which could cure/heal anything and everything.

Khan Baba's strategy was chilling.

Originally posted by: Coolpree

Hello Shyamala, thanks for the pm. So glad to see that you are well enough to write again.

I had no intention of re watching all the previous episodes. However your lovely description of the "soul talk" sent me right back to my computer and I watched the beginning "soul talk" which was mesmerizing. Jalal's voice was amazingly tender. Sorry I could not muster enough interest to watch the rest of the episode because I really did not find the first week or so of JA that interesting. My interest really peaked after Jalal goes to Amer in disguise.

Even I did the same - Those 5 minutes I watched again after seeing the post. 😃

About the comment about Jodha and Jalal not being shown as soul mates in this show...I have to agree with both you and sp108. However the only time in this show where I felt they were soul mates was during their soul talks and the episode after Hassan's death.

Yes - Very few soul talks and the episodes shot after HH death are the ones - You are bang on. That to me is the biggest biggest disappointment. I was waiting to be blown away by the epicness of it but went totally kaput that too in a 180 Deg. That's another story.

Shyamala , you must go to Sikandra. Akbar's tomb exemplifies what he stood for: it is a wonderful amalgamation of Islamic, Hindu, and Buddhist design. In fact the multiple chattri's in the rear of his tomb resemble a fort in the Rajputana rather than a Mughal Emperor's tomb. It saddens me that more people visit Itmatudaulah's tomb due to its proximity to the Taj than the resting place of one of the greatest monarchs of India.

Thanks - My desire has increased.

I would like to add a small snippet to what Ela said about MUZ tomb. It lies exactly 1km south-west of Akbar's tomb. What's interesting is that Nur Jehan also positioned her tomb exactly 1 km south west of Jehangir's tomb exactly like the location of MUZ's tomb w.r.t Akbar's tomb. These are the only two examples in Mughal architecture where the Emperor and his chief consort are buried in this relationship each other. The tombs were intended to be connected by gardens. Sadly the gardens around Nur Jehan's tomb have dissapeared due to encroachement and her tomb now lies in ruins😭. Muz tomb has a surviving garden, but her tomb was used as a printing press by British missionaries and has also it's former splendour😭

Extremely interesting - SO NOOR Jahan tried to prove a point for posterity. That makes me believe that Jodha or HK was indeed special for Akbar and it was a known fact in Agra Palace circle. We can deduce that much.

Originally posted by: jayaks02

Very nice post -Enjoyed reading this.