Friends, I thought we had another supremely beautiful episode yesterday. It was all about the aftermath of the war. Those who heinously started the war fled with their lives, alas, but those who were left wounded but standing learnt many key lessons in their lives about what was important and close to them. The loyal ones reinforced their steadfastness, the miserable wiped their tears and bore their wounds as best as they could, and the lovers found each other again as greater people than when they had left each other.
I could not but help admire the way the camera yesterday followed the fate of everyone involved and showed us how their fate was sealed as the war came to a close. Mali fled thrice after fierce skirmishes with Jodha, Mansingh and Todarmal. Nigar fled after realising that her own side had been overwhelmed and her hopes were burning to ashes like the battlefield outside the harem. Jalal found that days of torture had not even dented his ferocity and he emerged a wounded but supremely empowered lion. He also realised that in his absence Team Jalal was a fantastic fighting force.
Mansingh grew up before Jalal's eyes from a young boy into an incredibly reliable and trustworthy sipahi of the highest calibre. Todarmal showed that despite his years he could hold his own in a fight, and that tenderness was always in him no matter what other physical powers were leaving his body with age. Atga was the rock-solid man he had always been and more so now that he had done his bit in the war with aplomb, never looking for praise.
Raja Bharmal had turned up for Jalal like his own father would have, and his concern for his "son" was obvious. His sons too were there for their "brother Jalal". Hamida learnt that her "other son" Hakim needed a mother more than Jalal did - and she was there for him. Jalal saw that he had a brother left with him at least even if the sister he wanted - Nigar - was not what he thought she would be.
Ruqaiaya found herself chastened by the war and with her eyes newly opened to the truths of this world, she eschewed her own audha to place the crown of praise on Jodha's head in front of all, even leading the group in saluting Jodha. Adham learnt that he couldn't shift allegiances even if he wanted to unless fate was on his side. And Maham realised she was no closer to Jalal after the war than she was before it.
And in the midst of all this Jodha carried inside her a baby that she had not yet told Jalal about - but yet some premonition still made him say to her in praise "The next Shahenshah of this Sultanate will be so proud that you are his mother." She had learnt that even if she were ever to be separated from Jalal again, their babies would always keep them connected.
A lot can be asked about why the scriptwriters chose to so glorify Jodha that even Jalal bowed his head and saluted her in the precap, while he erroneously played himself into enemy hands and rendered himself unavailable when the most bitter parts of the battle were being fought by others. I personally think that by showing Jalal as captured and therefore diminished in his capacity to do much in this war, the Creatives eventually gave us a very good glimpse of not just Jodha but all the people surrounding Jalal and their sterling capabilities.
Doubtless there will be many wars in a King's life and in the next one we may see an "all-out Jalal campaign" of a much higher order than we have seen in this war, for Jalal is head and shoulders above everyone else as a warrior and strategist. But had Jalal steered this current war for the large part and done all the heroics himself, we would never have known the true talents, mettle and temperaments of the people in his nearest circle. By keeping Jalal away from the battle, and by showing us the myriad cameos of all the other warriors in his establishment, including Jodha, we were exposed to Team Jalal and its multifaceted talents - and that is something unique to this particular war.
In yesterday's episode I thought it was therefore a brilliant touch for the Creatives to then free Jalal and make him walk up to his people one by one in the midst of all the devastation. He helped us see the roles of all his people through his own eyes as he saw them in the aftermath of the war and got to know what had happened in his absence ... who had done what, and who had changed for better and how. We got to see the episode yesterday for the most part with Jalal's eye-view. We thus saw how he felt about each one of his people, and we felt all his feelings as he took in each one's contribution.
Why then did he single out Jodha for that salute in the precap? What had she done that his many other team members had not? I think he saw "leadership qualities" in Jodha for the first time, for she had taken a bunch of non-sipahis and converted them into a fighting force. She had also ensured that her team had the least casualties. The women were all wounded but still alive and standing, every one of them. Jodha had also stood at the turning point of the war and helped steer its course away from a potential loss to a win. Think what would have happened if she had not decided to fight Mali and his men. The harem would have been a walkover, and Jalal's incarceration would have ended with his assassination.
It was when Jodha started putting up the fight that Mali became preoccupied at the harem, and was unable to return to Jalal fast ... and Nigar also followed Mali to the harem on not finding Mali coming back. The removal of Mali and Nigar from Jalal's vicinity helped Mansingh grab the advantage and free Jalal, and the rest is history. In sports it's common for the player who creates the turning point of the match to be named Man of the Match. What Jalal was doing in the precap was not that he was lessening the value of other contributors or reducing himself ... but he was simply picking and saluting Jodha as the Man of the Match.
If I were to anticipate audience reactions to this whole war I think the question that would vex most minds is "Why did Jalal play into the hands of the enemy so foolishly? Why was he thus portrayed as dumb?" Many of us were actually hoping against hope that it would turn out that Jalal will be shown as having strategically handed himself over to the enemy as part of the execution of some masterstroke. But it now turns out that he didn't really have a plan and he had "followed his heart" as far as Nigar was concerned and thus found himself literally in "hot water". Okay, that may not be very palatable to an audience that craves the hero to be a winner all the time and never wants to see him as a "loser". But then it strikes me that we do even Jalal an injustice by wanting him to be more than he is all the time.
As a 22-year old boy thrust into the role of a Shahenshah he has shown moments of maturity above his age at times ... but he also has shown moments of immature haste quite often so far. Doubtless, his own lessons in the aftermath of this war will be that he should value his "dil", yes - but at the same time he should never again let his "dil" put him foolishly in jeopardy. If he is in jeopardy, so is his whole kingdom and his whole inherited legacy that he wishes to pass on to the next generation.
Everybody grew from this war, including Jodha, Jalal, the people around them - and I myself too.
I am now chastened by this war experience myself, and hereafter prepared to see Jalal as an "evolving and maturing" man rather than an "already matured and complete" man, if that is what the Creatives want to tell us. In hindsight, my own lessons from this war are to cut Jalal some slack and not boil myself if he isn't the ever-winning hero all the time. Also I am glad that yesterday I saw the whole match replay through his eyes, and if he adjudged Jodha to be the Man of the Match for this war, I do not resent that or think of it as his "bowing and scraping to her" - for, to be truthful, she did turn the match around at the tipping point, and if he is honest about it, why think of him as reducing himself?
I think I have learnt that we have to look at our heroes and heroines with compassion. I should not be expecting the hero to be faultless and I should not resent the heroine for playing a good leadership hand in the absence of the hero from the spot of action. It is no wonder that in history it is said that Akbar always took Jodha on all wars after he had seen her leadership and fighting qualities. He learnt more about her, she learnt more about him, and if I am not mistaken, maybe this whole story is not just about their love, it's also about the continuous journey of learning in the life of a young king and his young queen on their way to becoming great.
Now that I've understood how to temper my own expectations better, I am a happier person. What about all of you? Has this war changed you too?
For those who want to know what all happened in the episode yesterday ...
The episode begins with Jodha leaning over the body of Abul Mali lying flat on the ground at her feet. She is about to give him one more slash with her sword, when suddenly Jodha spots Nigar now among the crowds fighting with the harem ladies using her sword. Jodha is temporarily stunned to see Nigar here. But the moment she takes her eyes off Abul Mali, he quickly grabs a dagger close to his outstretched hand. Jodha sees him do this and trieds to give him another blow of the sword, but he grabs some mud this time and flings it in her eyes. By the time she recovers from this cloud of dust, he has vanished.
Jodha then urgently turns back towards Nigar to go and tackle her. Meanwhile the sipahis of Abul Mali are bent on destruction. They set fire to all the khemas of the harem. Jodha is aghast at this and runs quickly to tackle Nigar who is felling some bandhis to the ground. She clashes swords with Nigar saying "Till today you've been forgiven as a sister of the Shahenshah. But now I am going to use my sword against you because you are in cahoots with an army that ransacked our harem and insulted the dignity of our women. What kind of woman are you who tolerates the insult of other women? You are not worthy of pity." Jodha then lands such a heavy blow on Nigar that Nigar collapses to the ground.
As fierce fighting then ensues between Nigar and Jodha, suddenly they hear the whinny of horses, and Jodha gladly finds that Atga has arrived with a sizeable contingent of horse-mounted men and is joining the fight against Mali's men. Nigar gets flustered as more and more troops of Jalal arrive and start slicing Mali's men into halves. She catches an unguarded moment and flees the battle. Atga shouts "Catch her, she is trying to flee" and sends soldiers after Nigar.
Meanwhile Abul Mali who has fled the battle is seen entering the cavern where Jalal has been tied and incarcerated. "Enough" he shouts at Jalal, "Your 30 hours are over, I have now come to kill you!" But suddenly a rain of arrows rents the air in the cavern and starts bringing down the sipahis who have come with Mali. Mali is stunned for the place from where these arrows have arrived is not visible in the dark edges of the cavern. Jalal too is surprised at this sudden help. "Whoever you are, come on out and stop your filthy peet ke peeche se war", shouts Mali, and a voice answers from a dark corner of the same cavern "Just because you can't see me,, doesn't mean I am hiding!".
More arrows keep raining, as Jalal's face lightens up with happiness. It is Mansingh who has brought with him the intention to free Jalal and he's doing a spectacular job of it. In the flurry of the arrival of Mansingh's soldiers, Mali again flees.
Mansingh swiftly cuts the chains tethering Jalal and says "Shahenshah you are badly wounded. Let me go and organise a horse for you." But Jalal says to Mansingh "What? Do you think I am unfit for more war? Remember a wounded tiger gets even more dangerous." And with that, Jalal decimates the few remaining soldiers of Mali standing around him with ferocious blows. "I must admit you are capable of bringing down another thousand men" says Mansingh in awe.
But Jalal meanwhile has questions to ask of Mansingh. "How did you get to know I was here?" he asks. Mansingh replies"On my way back from a successful campaign at Rewa, I was returning via a forest when I got word of your capture and the attack on you. On the way, fortunately, I came across a gang of Abul Mali sipahis and I caught one of them and managed to get the full details from him on what had happened and where you were being kept. I arrived here much earlier but I was biding time till it would be right to show myself and free you. Shahenshah, I have other good news to give you too ... that Ghazi Khan has also been killed in the Rewa War".Jalal is very impressed. "Bahut khoob Mansingh, tum hamare fauj ka nagina ho" says Jalal to him, and then they both decide to leave the avern and get to Abul Mali and kill him in revenge.
Mewnhile Abul Mali fleeing on his horse comes across Todarmal also on his horse - and a heavy battle ensues between them both. Being ahead in years, Todarmal is not as nimble as Mali and gets entrapped by Mali who starts going for the kill. But just in time, Jalal and Mansingh appearing there and save Todarmal. Unfortunately Mali flees yet again. Todarmal hugs Jalal in thanks and then says sorry for taking liberties. But Jalal reassures him that if he can't hug him, who can? Then the three of them - Jalal, Mansingh and Todarmal set their sights on rescuing the women at the harem, for Jalal realises that Todarmal has been away from the harem in search of himself, and the harem may be unattended. In his mind Jalal swears revenge on Mali and Mahchuchak and Nigar if anyone at the harem has been killed or wounded.
As Jalal reaches the harem encampment area, signs of devastation and destruction hit him from all sides. Tents are burning, dead bodies are strewn all around, and there is no sign of his people, his family, anywhere. With an utter sense of dejection and desolation Jalal limps around the area, himself very wounded to even walk straight. A man about to die holds onto him, and Jalal, being the born sipahi that he is, immediately carries the man to the nearest stretcher and puts him on it for urgent medical aid. He then continues to trek through the ravaged grounds still looking for signs of his people. "What has Abul Mali done to my harem? I just hope and pray my mother and my Begums are all salaamat!" says Jalal to himself in a defeated voice.
Walking around, Jalal then has the luck of seeing Atga with a small group of soldiers to whom he is giving post-battle instructions. Jalal approaches the group and finds a familiar voice saying "You are badly wounded Shahenshah!" Jalal looks up to see his father-in-law Raja Bharmal there in armour and realises that he and his two sons beside him too have been in the active fight. He thanks Raja Bharmal, even as Atga says "Thank God you are alive and well Shahenshah!". But Jalal's eyes are still faraway and searching and he looks disoriented. Bharmal realises he will not rest till he finds his family.
In another safe area of the same encampment, away from the devastated field of battle, the ladies of the harem are safe and helping each other tend their wounds with bandages and succour. Suddenly a young bandhi comes to tell Jodha, "Madam, there's good news. The Shahenshah is alive and well and is coming this way." Jodha's eyes for the first time light up with quiet joy and hope. Hamida, Ruq and Salima start smiling.
Jalal then limps into their group and his mother is the first to hug and kiss him. Jodha's eyes are stuck on him, and he finally turns towards her compelled by the steady look of relief and entreaty in her eyes. There is a long moment of mutual thankfulness between them both as they look at each other. It's almost as if their eyes are saying "I am okay, and I think you are too. It's all over!" Jodha clutches her stomach, her baby, and thinks "Thank you God for answering my prayers. I knew he would come back to me safe. For the sake of our child he had to come."
Hamida breaks into tears unable to contain her emotionality. "We all gave up hope, you know, but Jodha refused to let us quit without a fight" she says to Jalal tremulously. "How could I not keep my promise and how could I have not returned here?" Jalal tells her. Salima then says to him "Shahenshah, you are very wounded. Your wounds need treatment." But Jalal says to her "We are all in the same condition, aren't we? But thank God you are all safe."
Ruqiaya can conatin herself no longer. A sudden pride comes into her voice as she tells Jalal, "Yes we are all safe here today because we had one Rajvanshi Begum amongst us here. It's all thanks to her that we are here, because we were about to drink poison thinking you were killed. But she refused to believe that, she wouldn't leave us till we agreed to battle it out. For the first time today I saw what woman power can be. She is a "sher-dil" Shahenshah. She just took the lead and marshalled all of us to war. Today, for the first time, I salute this Rajvanshi, her blood and her bravery." And with that not just Ruq but all the women standing there bent their heads in salute and raised their hands to their heads. Jodha folded her hands in thanks as humility in that moment of exaltation overtook her. Jalal despite his extremely tired face had a bright light in his eyes as he looked at her as if to say "I am not surprised at what you did. Fantastic Jodha Begum".
Maham was the lone person with chagrin and disgust in her eyes. Jalal was alive, Jodha was getting kudos from people like Ruq who were her enemies. What was the world coming to?
In another extremely poignant moment a lone man stood far away from the group with his head hung in shame and tears just brimming out of his eyes. It was Hakim Mirza, distraught at the thought of the sheer havoc his mother had caused and how she had almost taken the Shahenshah's life. Hamida, the benevolent mother that she is, saw him as her "other son" in distress. She went up to Hakim and consoled him. "How can I even look Jalal in the eye after what my mother has done?" Hakim lamented as he bent his head to the ground and his shoulders stooped in despair. Hamida said to him "Mirza, you are a very important person in this Mughal Sultanate, and I am proud of you, my son. Jalal is your brother and loves you. Go congratulate Jalal." But Jalal didn't wait for Hakim to come to him. He went running to Hakim instead. "I am immensely proud of you Mirza" said Jalal as he embraced his brother.
In that moment Maham saw her chance to get a word in for herself. "Fateh mubarak ho Shahenshah" she said hoping to be noticed by Jalal. But Jalal looked at the ground and barely nodded. He pointedly ignored her.
In the cozy ambience of her room Jodha was later seen with the hakima who had examined her and her baby. "The baby is well despite all the risk you took, Begum Jodha" said the hakima. Jodha bade her say no more about the risks to the child. "It's not just my duty to give the Shahenshah a waaris, its now become imperative," she said, "and the Shahenshah is going to be very happy to hear about it." Just then Jalal walked into the room asking what he was going to be so happy about. The hakima with a lot of presence of mind deftly turned the topic away from the baby saying "Jodha Begum is well but for a few scratches. That is the good news". She and Moti then took leave, leaving Jalal alone with Jodha. Jalal went to sit next to Jodha on the bed.
The minute he was there with her, the tears she had been holding back for days came into her eyes and poured out on her cheeks. She couldn't bear the relief of seeing him there, and neither could she bear the thought of the hours she'd spent away from him in such hardship and tension. She just leaned on him as she continued crying. "What is this Jodha Begum?" he said, "When I am not there you rain blows on the enemy with fortitude and you start crying the minute you see me? You know I can't bear to see tears in your eyes?" She said to him "Abul Mali said you were dead but I refused to believe him for you had promised to return to me". "Yes", he replied, "even if death had come to me, I would have told death, I cannot go with you without Jodha's permission".
Jodha could not bear to hear the word "death" from his lips and warned him through her tears never to say that again. "I am sorry, I won't say that again, " Jalal acceded. But he continued "I am also sorry for my decision to bring the whole harem to the battlefield and then not being there myself for your protection. If something had happened to you Jodha Begum, I'd never have forgiven myself. But on the other hand, it's a matter of immense pride for me that you changed the course of this war from loss to victory. If you had not done what you did, we may have lost this war. But what risks you took. If something had happened to you ...?" Jodha cut in with a smile forming through her tears, "How can anything happen to me when you have made me the brave one?".Jalal then looked at Jodha with a new light in his eyes. "This battle will always be known for your contribution to it. Future generations will point out your bravery from this battle. The next Shahenshah of this Sultanate will be proud that you are his mother and he is related to you ..." he said to her.
Jodha then remembered to tell Jalal about Nigar. "I saw to it that in the fight not a drop of her blood got spilled", she said. "That was your generosity" Jalal replied."You are not just a dangerous sipahi but also a Sufi!"
Jodha then noticed the wounds on him and got concerned. "Shahenshah you have got too many wounds!" she said. He lifted her bruised hand and replied "What about you? You too have wounds ..." But she adroitly changed the subject "I am a Rajvanshi so please don't worry about me" she said and he smiled. "There you have cleverly avoided answering me" he replied. Both of them were filling the space between them with too many words it seemed, for suddenly silence reigned again, and she looked into his love-filled eyes with her own limpid ones. He pulled her to himself and into his embrace.
In the precap, Jalal is seen amidst all his family at a newly constructed khema. Bharmal and his sons and Mansingh are there - as are the royal ladies and all the key courtiers. Jalal then announces before all "Jodha Begum has helped tip this battle into a victory from a loss. That why I, Jalaluddin Mohammed Akbar bend my head to her and salute her." He gives her a deep bow and holds his hand to his head in salute. Jodha is both stunned and blissfully happy. She folds her hands to him in thanks felt from the bottom of her heart. He looks at her and smiles.
A note about the Ameri clan ... and the immediate next storyline
Many of us yesterday missed seeing that next to Bharmal, Jodha's brothers were also standing in the group. So the prediction that some of us were making that the Ameris still had to come to the war is wrong. There were already there with Bharmal.
Therefore I guess the next steps will be to trace Nigar and bring out Chand Begum and to have that big bhandaphod between mother and daughter that sets Nigar's head straight and nails Maham as the culprit-captor of Chand Begum.
I also think that Jodha's revelation to Jalal that she is pregnant will happen soon now, and that may change Ruq back into the jealous person she used to be. We now have to see if Maham gets caught and punished - and whether Maham embroils Ruq in some miscarriage attempt on Jodha and thus gets Ruq also caught.
Lots to look forward to!
comment:
p_commentcount