Folks,
I have been giving some thought to how to approach this triptych - linearly, in terms of the characters, or thematically. In the end, I have plumped for the last, the theme being the same as my title for this post. The baptism by blood, and trial by fire, of Chandra, at the very beginning of his long, arduous, and dangerous journey from anonymity to the very pinnacle of power as Samrat Chandragupta Maurya.
So, for now, I am setting aside a whole host of minor players: Avantika, Mura, the truly beauteous Vaishali, the perky Durdhara. Also the saccharine laden interludes between Padmanand and his darling daughter - if I have to sit thru many more of these, I shall soon get the one ailment that has as yet spared me, diabetes!😉 - and Mura's realization that Vaishali is Chhaya.
I am not even going to touch on the departure of Alexander as depicted here. His shade, undoubtedly enthroned in the hall of heroes in Valhalla, would have been deeply dismayed, indeed furious, to see this pathetic account of his exit from India. Anyone wanting to recover from this scripting disaster is advised to watch the corresponding passage in the 1990 Chanakya, episode 13 , which, backed by translations from Greek and Roman historians, shows how things actually transpired.
Nor on the stormy scene between the aggressive and disastrously candid Helena and her furious father Seleucus, ending in a resounding slap on the fair lady's cheek. One could see from where Helena has inherited the forearm action that she deployed to such good effect on Malayaketu!😉
And of course the post battle stuff between a Padmanand, recovered from his scare with astonishing celerity and now strutting around again like a cock of the walk, Nandini, Avantika, Malayaketu, and the rest of the hangers on, including Amatyas Rakshas and "Gollum" Shaktar .
I am going, for most of this post, to focus on the decisive battle for Magadha that took up more than half an hour on the field alone, split between episodes 19 & 20: the buildup to it, the preparations, and what transpired on the battlefield and why.
Unexpected treat: Before we get to the build up, I must share with you my surprise and delight at the marvellous depiction of the actual fighting. Whoever the action choreographer was, he did a splendid job. The numbers deployed were substantial by TV standards, and the magic of television, which can make six look like a crowd, was exploited to the fullest. I have not seen Prithviraj Chauhan, but compared to similar scenes in Jodha Akbar and Maharana Pratap, this one was truly and unexpectedly impressive.
There was the feel of an actual battle in the air - the blood, the dust, the fear, the confusion, the panic, the anger, and the adrenaline rush that accompanies and energises the cut and thrust of the fighting. The camera, concentrating on tight fields of action, was wisely focussed for the most part on Chandra's derring do: against the Magadha senapati and Vakranaas, then against Dhananand, his other brothers, and finally against Padmanand himself.
To the battle born: To say that Rajat's Chandra is superb in these bouts would be a masterpiece of understatement. And the best of it is that none of the action is marred by ludicrous bits of VFX. For one thing, Chandra does not jump seven feet in the air over the heads of his opponents! It is all good, solid, honest swordfighting, blade against blade, with skill alone deciding who would win.
When he rises after touching his guru's feet before the battle, and receives the maati ka tilak from him, Chandra's profile looks as pure and remote as that of a warrior going into a dharmayuddha.
But in his black battle armour, his whole face keen and drawn, his eyes gleaming with anticipation, at times with teeth bared in a furious grimace or letting out a full throated roar, Chandra is like a cross between a Viking warrior and Kartikeya, the senapati of the gods. Perhaps more of the latter, for like Kartikeya, Chandra too was raised and trained by his guru for battle, to destroy evil, and he is now at the beginning of his crusade.
His pep talk to his forces - his voice strained and hoarse in an effort to make himself heard by his men over the din - focusses on the evil deeds of their enemies and on their own duty to fight as one to restore the lost honour of their motherland. It was par for the course, though when he is cantering up and down in front of his forces, Chandra looks like a wolf on the prowl, his face alight with the joy of going into battle at long last.
NB: I saw a thread somewhere in the forum calling for Rajat's voice in this sequence to be dubbed, complaining that it was weak sounding and the words were not clear! This reminded me of a similar criticism - that time that he was stiff in his demeanour- made in the early days of Jodha Akbar in June 2013. It was only when I pointed out, in a post specially requested by young Disha, that the great Dilip Kumar had the same stance in Mughal-e-Azam that the carping ceased. As for this one, here is a general, not equipped with a megaphone, having to make himself heard by his soldiers amidst the din of the battlefield. And they use sync sound. So how could poor Rajat's voice be anything but hoarse? Still, one could make out every single word, which is not always the case with him, with Padmanand and several others.
It is when the action starts that Chandra literally explodes across the screen, his arms moving like those of a windmill as they unleash a frenzy of powerful sword strokes. He literally scythes his way thru the enemy ranks, using first one , and then two swords, with his mount then mostly on autopilot.
The arrogant senapati and Vakranaas are sent tumbling to the ground with blows from the flat of his blade, and I was only sorry, very sorry, that Chandra did not kill at least these two, instead of behaving like the Hindi film hero of old and leaving them to get up and walk off.😡
Nor could I understand why he decides to give Dhananand, who is by now lolling in the dust, another chance , and actually comes down from his horse to fight him. However, that encounter was marvellous, with Chandra pirouetting around the tumbling Dhananand with almost balletic grace, as he slashes at him again and again. So perhaps this second instance of folly on the part of Chandra was worth it!
Now on to the piece de resistance, the duel with a raging Padmanand on horseback, furious at having seen all his other sons laid low by Chandra with one fell sweep of his sword, on a circular trajectory, from a crouching position that magnifies the power of the blow.
I simply loved this one. There is Chandra, on the ground, both arms wielding swords, slashing up at Padmanand on horseback. Cut, thrust, parry, and cut again. The clang clang of the blades is like music, as Chandra literally dances around the horse like a dervish, his eyes gleaming with the anticipation of humbling Padmanand.
But it ends all too soon, with Padmanand, exactly like his son and the two others earlier, being knocked off his mount and dropping his weapon. He recovers his footing and the duel continues, with Chandra now attacking ferociously like a lithe tiger out for the kill as Padmanand retreats step by step. A kick finally sends Padmanand reeling, and he is flat on his back, totally exposed to his opponent.
Well, I did not expect a coup de grace for Padmanand in episode 20 itself, with perhaps another 100 or so to go before he is finally disposed of. So I was not surprised when a bunch of soldiers grabbed hold of Chandra at this point and held him fast, as he struggled, with eventual success, to free himself.
But at that very moment, Malayaketu and his forces appear. With that, for the furious, rebellious Chandra, the bottom drops out of the battle, as his Acharya literally drags him, and their remaining forces away from the battlefield. But not until the end of a furious argument that sees Chandra, for the first time ever, stand up to and oppose his guru's judgment.
For the fire of the battle is raging in his veins, and he is like a lion thwarted of his prey. There is no logic to such fury, and I was not surprised that not only does the red flag not work, but Chanakya, for all his hitherto iron control over his shishya, has to struggle desperately to get Chandra to obey him at long last.
As for me, I was so very sorry to see the action thus abruptly terminated. If I could have found a way to do it, I would have, like Oliver Twist, pleaded with the CVs: Please Sirs, could I have some more?😉
Unwarranted criticism: There might be those who criticise Chandra for not being a good enough general, and for not knowing when to retreat, and a whole lot else. In effect, they want him to be a combination of Mars, the Greek god of war, and the greatest of human generals: Shivaji Maharaj, Akbar, Napoleon, or Hannibal of Carthage.
But he is not any of these greats right now, nor even the mature Chandragupta Maurya that he will become. He is only an incredibly brave youngster on his first battle, with the adrenaline coursing thru his veins, its drumming in his blood deafening him to all else but the cut and thrust of his sword and the tantalizing prospect of victory. It is thus unfair and illogical to blame this Chandra for refusing to abandon the fight, and the men who had fought for him, and in effect to run away from the battlefield like a coward.
In due course, he will learn to swallow a bitter pill when necessary, but his core will always stay the same: a reckless, valiant, never say die warrior. He is the spearhead who will win battles for his guru, and it is for Chanakya to train him in when to tone down his responses and curb his recklessness. To teach him to accept that Haar hamare jeevan ka mahatvapoorna mod hai, us se hi agli jeet ka marg jaata hai!
The buildup 1: The Introduction: I cannot top Lashy's eloquent description of the Chandra who is presented by Chanakya to the motley conglomeration of fighting men who constitute his army. My own take on this in my last post, describing the precap, called it an instant of dramatic revelation, when the Messiah that Chanakya has been promising his reluctant and skeptical royal recruits finally emerged from the shadows, looking for all the world like a young warrior prince and a nirmohi yogi rolled into one. And was introduced by his guru with all the panache and flourish of an experienced master of ceremonies: I give you, CHANDRA!!!
But now, after watching the whole scene in episode 18, what struck me was something quite different. For one thing, I was not sure how such a motley bunch of only half believers would come on board after just one look at a young man they have not seen in action at all. I suppose that is the magic of Chandra's charisma, but such readiness in so many to depend on one unknown warrior in such a life and death gamble? Not a single thought to what they stand to lose if he fails?
What was queerer was that no one seems to have the slightest objection to having their target switched suddenly from Alexander to Padmanand and Magadha, given that all of Chanakya's pep talk till then was focussed on the Unani enemy. In terms of the scripting, it was even more abrupt than the earlier scene of Chanakya bullying that king into joining Chandra. Like an abbreviated version of even Pitman's shorthand!😉
OK, let that pass as cinematic licence, and let us concentrate instead on Chandra's face. He looks neither animated, nor eager to enthuse these new followers of his to do or die at his side. There is nothing of the kind of pep talk he produces on the actual battlefield. There is not even the slightest hint of a smile, of appreciation, of welcome.
His face looks like that of a statue, the brows drawn together into one straight line, the mouth taut and unsmiling, the gaze level, measuring, assessing. Wonder of wonders, the ever obedient, vinamra shishya does not even turn to face his guru when Chanakya is telling him that the moment for which they had been waiting for years is here, the time for him to retie his shikha has come. He continues to stare straight ahead at the multitude facing him, as if his eyes were trying to weigh them in some inner balance of his, and make sure that they would not be found wanting.
It was an extraordinary expression, and Rajat held it for a long, long moment as the camera zoomed in and his face morphed into the multitude.
The buildup 2: The night before the battle:This is one of the most striking guru shishya scenes shown thus far, especially because it marks the first time that Chandra questions his mentor's pronouncements, as also the first time that Chanakya's technique for handling his brahmastra seems less than perfect, in fact downright counterproductive.
Even before that, Chandra's face is neither relaxed nor full of anticipation. It is withdrawn, worried, his brows knit, his eyes troubled. For all his talk of not being worried about the battle but only about his ability to secure the gurudakshina Chanakya wants, it resembles nothing so much as a case of stage fright, of the kind that even the most experienced actors go thru at the beginning of every performance. Chanakya can see that, and I would have expected him to say part of what he does say, that Chandra should not think too much about the battle, but only do his duty and leave the rest to fate.
What I did not expect was to see him launch into to a demoralizing spiel about how they could not be sure of how the varied kinds of fighting men assembled under their banner would perform on the actual field of battle., adding for good measure: Kal kuch bhi ho sakta hai!
What a thing to tell a boy who is already tense about his own performance! No wonder then that Chandra, his eyes now full of dismay and almost angry, comes out with an anguished query: Acharya, kal yuddh hai, aur aap abhi yeh prashna mere samaksh rakh rahe hain??
I do not know how far Chanakya's 4 colour flag scheme reassured Chandra, but he looks for one long moment into his guru's eyes before his own drop. He does not look confident or convinced, but still doubtful. Maybe it was this that, over and above his innate reluctance to run away from the battle, makes Chandra jib so badly when Chanakya insists that they have to abandon the fight when Malayaketu appears, and beat a retreat.
Rajat was subtle and superb in his handling of this whole sequence. And this scene made one thing clear: Chanakya is not infallible, he is merely far, far wiser than the rest of mankind.
The preparations: Rann neeti: I am afraid I was downright unimpressed by the confused, at times self-contradictory, and disjointed strategizing on both sides, and this more on the Magadha side than on Chanakya's. Let me just flag the main howlers.
In the beginning, Amatya Rakshas proposes, sensibly, that they should let the enemy come close to the border of Magadha, from where they would not be able to get away, and then attack and destroy them. But when the time comes, this neat plan seems to have been summarily ditched, and instead, our girl wonder takes centre stage as the chief tactician and strategist for Magadha, with her doting dad's total approval.
-Nandini's airheaded strategy: So far so good. But what does Nandini actually propose? I quote her verbatim:
Shatru hamare mahal ko chaaron or se gherkar hamare upar aakraman karenge.(Why let them surround the palace in the first place? Especially when you have such a huge army at your disposal? Unless it is so that the royal ladies can have front row balcony seats for watching the proceedings, with Tun Tun bhabhi doing a Harsha Bhogle and providing the running commentary ?😉) .
Unke uttar mein hamari sainik tukdiyaan baahar unke swaagat ke liy taayar rahengi ( ie, on the inside, between the enemy and the palace). Jaise hi wo hamare mahal ko chaaron or se gherna prarambh karenge, hamari sainik tukdiyaan un par aakraman kar dengi (from the palace side, as explained above).
Donon taraf se aakraman se hamare shatru dar jaayenge, aur hum bina kisi bhaari haani ke un par vijay paa lenge.
But how on earth can the Magadha army attack the enemy donon taraf se? They can only try to repulse them from the inside, from the palace side. This whole scheme, which is praised so fulsomely by Padmanand, who silences any possible and valid objection from Dhananand, makes no sense at all.
As for Amatya Rakshas, he is obviously too prudent to advance any objections of his own.
The sole compensation here is a very beautiful shot of Nandini at the end of the strategy session. She looks neither brash nor over confident, and her face is still and thoughtful.
-Chandra's confusion: Chandra has clearly anticipated the first part of Nandini's tactics, for he warns his troops that as they attacked, unki bhi ek tukdi hamari prateeksha karegi. But then he adds his own dollop of confused thinking. He talks of tab hum un par peeche se vaar karenge, poori shakti ke saath. Unhein gherkar unka anth kar denge. But which peeche is he talking about, when the palace would be standing four square in the middle?
-Chanakya's contradictions: OK, he perceives, from his position on high, that Chandra is being deliberately allowed to advance so fast because he is being lured into a vrushchika vyuh, the scorpion formation, by Rakshas and Nand, and will be trapped and killed, and so he has to be got to retreat at once. But Chanakya does not wave the red flag at once, nor does he send anyone down to get Chandra to retreat .
Instead, as soon as Nandini's stree sainik descend on the scene, he seems to have forgotten all about the vrushchika vyuh, and instead gets busy waving the green flag for Chandra to attack these pesky females without any hesitation. To the considerable relief of Chandra, who has been glaring helplessly at these pseudo-Amazons.😉
A little later, as Chandra is getting set to duel with Padmanand, Chanakya actually sends word hamare shesh sena ko aage badhane ka. The vrushchika vyuh has clearly been consigned to the dustbin. Talk of contradictions!😕
-Nandini's Plan B: How does Nandini conclude that Chandra is advancing too fast and shatru hum par haavi ho gaya hai? Is she not in the know of the vrushchika vyuh?
If not, and if she thus concludes that the stree sena is the only possible Plan B, and she has trained all these 20 odd palace daasis to fight on the battlefield, why does she waste so much time pontificating about Annapoorna and Durga and the like, instead of shoving them into their protective gear and into the battlefield at once?
Lastly, after having boasted to Chandra once about the military prowess of the women of Magadha, how is she now sure that he will spare the stree sena? Women can claim immunity from attack only if they are non-combatants. In the event, he does not spare them, and the unintentionally funniest shot - an instance of abysmal editing - is of Nandini, Avantika and the rest chortling away on the balcony while the stree sena is being slaughtered below!
By the time Chandra has got her pitamaharaj flat on his back, Nandini, though she exclaims that he is in trouble and mujhe kuch karna chahiye, has run out of steam. So we are spared the spectacle of her charging out in that samurai style body armour and taking Chandra on in single combat. He would have written finis to their hate-to-love story right there!
The gherao obsession: Everyone on both sides seems curiously obsessed with the fear of being surrounded, or gheraoed by the enemy. Nandini talks of the enemy gheraoing their palace. Chandra's lieutenant informs him, in alarmed tones, that Nandini's ( 20 0dd!) stree sena ne hamari sena ko chaaron or se gher liya hai!?!
Finally, while Malayaketu is riding up to the battlefield from the right side, Chanakya frantically informs Chandra that, what else, usne hamari sena ko gher liya hai! One does not know whether to laugh or to weep in frustration.😆
In short, while the action director deserves a gold medal, the CVs should get a varsha of rotten tomatoes. 😡
On safe ground: But there is one point for which Chanakya cannot be blamed, for not providing for the eventuality of Magadha seeking help from its allies for this battle. For one thing, the Magadha Samrat would never have sought help from any allies, for that would have been a blow to his pride, and Chanakya would know that.
Nor would Amatya Rakshas think this motley ragtag bunch of attackers so dangerous that outside assistance would be needed to tackle them. Even if Rakshas did think Magadha needed help, he would never have dared to go behind Padmanand's back in this matter. Padmanand would have had him executed for insurbodination. This too is what Chanakya is banking on.
Nor could Chanakya have possibly anticipated that Malayaketu would turn up when he did. Malayaketu arrives there fortuitously; they are coming for the sagai, and land up in the last stages of the battle. He does not come there to help Magadha.
Pot pourri: Well, folks, this is enough of the heavy stuff. Let us move on to some halka phulka tadka.
-The deafening silence of the praja of Magadha, which does not cheer at the announcement of Nandini's engagement. Their glum lack of reaction was very revealing, and the bunch on the balcony looked like the cast of a play with no one in the auditorium to watch them. 😉
- Shweta is reportedly planning to file a police complaint about her mislaid acting talent😉. For her Nandini - right from her odd grimaces in the court when the impending attack is being discussed, presumably meant to convey patriotic anger at the invader, up to the very end - seemed incapable of anything more than the most standard issue expressions. This was most in evidence while she was on the balcony watching the battle.
-The easily assertive Durdhara - a very pleasant change from the Pataliputra variety of female - is a welcome addition to our boy wonder's future harem. She looks mischievous and mature, and handles him with delightful camaraderie and casual ease. It was amazing to see the change in Chandra when he is with her; the ultra serious young man is suddenly transformed into a normal boy. One could even catch a glimpse of his tongue tucked into his cheek when he is discussing Durdhara's matrimonial plans.😉 And I loved the old Hindi film style comedy snippet, with Chandra bolting out of the house while the Mukri-clone chases him cane in hand!
Durdhara is of course set to be bumped off when Bindusara is born, or rather birthed, but that is a long way off, and for now, a quadrilateral arrangement with no platonic undertones should be fun.😉 But she will be at best a BFF whom Chandra marries for whatever reason, nothing more, and her notions of the ideal spouse will hardly match his persona.
What I want to know is who precisely she is, for her father clearly does not know about Chandra's royal lineage.
Matrimonial sequencing: One wild guess, just for our collective amusement.
I think Nandini will be the Third Wife, with Durdhara the first and Helena the second, and the history timeline be damned! Wo jiske peeche koyi aur nahin aayi!
Par uske paavan padchchinna Chandragupta ke jeevan mein padhein, uske pehle yeh do aur istreeyan udhar vidhyamaan hongi. Aur in teenon ke saath phanskar, bechara, niyati ka maara Chandragupta kisi chauthe vivah ke vishay mein soch bhi nahin saka hoga!😆😆
- The second best looker in the female contingent, after Avantika, that is, is Vaishali aka Chhaya. With her strong, well etched features and her porcelain complexion, she looks so lovely that she is a standing advert for the no silks and no jewellery look.
-The precap produces another mystery: that of Chandra's missing commonsense.😉 If he intends not to let that bleeding wound on his right, ie sword hand, heal till he has conquered Magadha, how on earth will he fight at all? Maybe with the left one, like the savyasaachi Arjuna. Not to speak of the danger of sepsis in between, though, seeing the regularity with which these folk cut their thumb to produce a rakta tilak, they must be constitutionally immune to blood poisoning!😉
I shall sign off now, folks, undoubtedly to your considerable relief!😉 Please do not forget to hit the Like button if you think that is warranted.
My apologies to those who had posted very interesting comments on my last thread, to which I have unfortunately been unable to respond. I nourish little hope of being able to do it now, given the state of my right arm.
See you on Wednesday next. Hasta la vista!
Shyamala/Aunty/Akka/Di
PS: All the photos used to illustrate this post are courtesy my dearest Anjali. Thanks a million, kid!🤗
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