Chandra Nandini 18-20: Baptism by blood - Page 2

My dear Cinderella Aunty 😉,

Aunty the title of your post was very apt. I loved it. I grant that I was expecting Chandra to come out with flying colors as an excellent general in his first battle itself. I know it is a bit too much. But I had reasons for it as well. He was specially trained by Chanakya for many many years. This boy was a prodigy even as a child. He achieved several feats much beyond his age even when he was small. He was an Eka Santhagrahi or one who learns and masters things in a single attempt. He was able to master a very difficult vidhya like the Santaram Vidya at one go.

So I was expecting some really fantastic things out of him as a general too. But I know for certain that one setback is enough for this guru shisya Jodi to learn and reassess where they went wrong. Both of them are sure to come out with flying colors from their next attempts onwards. Perhaps I was wrong in expecting Chandra to be a matchless and unequalled general from his first battle itself just as he is a warrior sans pareil.

Chandra's warrior aspect was reiterated throughout the war scenes where he runs amuck in the enemy ranks like a raging forest fire. It knew only one thing. To blaze and raze the enemy to ashes. Rajat was so very effective in these scenes. His eyes were literally burning like red hot coals, the fire of his rage was literally streaming from his nostril and the resulting smoke was emanating from his ears. I did not speak of this in my previous posts because I wanted to express all this in my reply to your comprehensive analysis of the episodes. I was saving up my admiration for this post just like a Carnatic singer saves his/her breath for the main piece.

What we saw was one of the best shot and best executed war scenes I had the opportunity of recently watching on Indian television. Kudos to the team! A simply brilliant performance and the cherry on the top was Rajat swishing and whistling past the enemy at rocket speed with two swords in each hand. I hardly think any of his opponents would even have a vague memory of what actually hit them.

I never saw that post on dialogue delivery or dubbing. I can only assume that the person must have been lacking in imagination to think how it would have been to address a huge army in an open battlefield full of noises without the aid or benefit of a mike. So the speaker had the only option of shouting himself hoarse to reach and motivate even the farthermost soldier in the very last row.

I remember once when a seminar was in progress in our university, there was a power failure. It was a medium sized hall with very good acoustics. And in all we must have numbered around 300 in number inside the hall. It was not as if Chandra was going to record his speech in a recording studio, mix it with special effects and play it out to his men on the best of the best sound systems.

It was an extempore, impromptu speech delivered to motivate and rouse his soldiers to action on a war field. I assure you the speaker in that seminar I spoke of sounded much worse than Chandra's address to his army. If there were negative comments on Rajat's dialogue delivery or the dubbing, it is just the inability of this person to be able to visualize this scenario or simple nitpicking just for the sake of it. Thank you Aunty for this post.

There are times when while we discuss or argue things we lose perspective of what we are really trying to say. This post set back things in their true places. I loved the performances of Rajat, Manoj ki, and Arpit throughout these war scenes. Everything was bang on.

I thank heavens nobody among the CVs were reminded of a thing called VFX. It was true, honest, sincere blood, gore, and adrenaline thumping action. I have seen the ludicrous levels to which VFX was taken in CAS where even the four odd runaway soldiers in a might army bereft of its leader were VFXed. If at all they had to VFX a running army, why not hundred men instead of four odd VFXed men. It is purely lazy and shoddy work.

I am happy that these war scenes were nothing of that sort. Moreover none of the men in the battlefield, even the extras and junior artistes playing common foot soldiers were playing Dandiya. It looked as though two armies were really battling it out on the field. The numbers on the field were really good. So no gripes on that count. If I lumped down CAS one man rampages in an unquestioning manner, this was certainly a remarkable effort in comparison to that.

Now since we are discussing loopholes in war strategy, I have several points with regard to discuss. I initially thought of just letting it go and accepting the version we were given on the show as the ultimate authority. But if we are discussing everything in such an intricate manner, how can we let such red herrings pass by even without at least observing and acknowledging them. Since I am running out of battery and time, I will come back some time tomorrow and make that post.

PS: I am still in splits on that Harsha Bogle commentary bit.

Res
Aunt first I will read it with a thesaurus and then will bring my two cents 😊
But yeah... Chandra rose like a Phoenix and this battle should be a boost to the morale of the Kings and his forces..
He became what Weber says.. A charismatic authority for his forces
And an enigma for the opponents.
And yeah time for rain check for guru and shishya
Will be back with rest

Aunty, the pics which you've inserted, (thanks to Anjali ), make your post look like a professional write-up in some leading daily or magazine 👏...

Originally posted by: Sandhya.A

First things first...🤓

Celerity😔

Piece de resistance 🤔

Pirouette 😲

And it is already more than 4 hrs past Wee Willie Winki's inspection time.😆

A lovely lively post aunty. Yes. Rajat's celerity and warring style was the piece de resistance of the entire proceeds last week. His swishes and slashes, pirouettes and pace were all sans pareil.😃🤪

And aunty, you must admit that it is not easy to let go of Jalal.😉

Chandra's harem????😲 😆

Today is a double treat - Anjali's pictures of Chandra's war scenes and your description of the action, that was nothing less than a painting with words.👏

Rest in next, tomorrow. Good Night.😊

In short, while the action director deserves a gold medal, the CVs should get a varsha of rotten tomatoes. 😡

Masterfully crafted 👏 Mazaa aa gaya! I checked my PMs four times in the past two days (a record for me😆), while Karma sniggered in the background😆.

I should admit... the mention of Prithviraj Chauhan - the only historical fiction show that I followed religiously at least for a few months - brought back great memories. I'm fairly confident such a show will not be made again. The Sagars themselves might not be able to repeat the feat. The show's writing clearly and consistently revealed a genuine, almost reverential, love and respect for the legendary king. And I'm saying this as a person who has been in love with Prithviraj Chauhan's saga since the age of twelve😆. These days, production houses have neither affection nor respect for the historical figures they make grandiose shows on. If I say anything more, I will probably be sued by them for outrageous slander 😆😆

So now I shall stop digressing and announce the Dil Khush Kar Diya' lines, or more appropriately - 'Hriday Ko Praffullit Karne Waali Panktiyaan'😆, of this post (Disclaimer: I would ideally like to paste your entire write-up in this section😆).

The title - Baptism by blood - ❤️

..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.

...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. Powerful 👏

...pirouetting around the tumbling Dhananand with almost balletic grace, as he slashes at him again and again.

...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. Your sentences throb with life...⭐️

... 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? So cute! 😆

...but such readiness in so many to depend on one unknown warrior in such a life and death gamble?

...Like an abbreviated version of even Pitman's shorthand! 😆😆

...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.

...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?

...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! Niceee.. 😆

Aunty, please take care of your health. RA is quite fond of my family😆, so I know how difficult it must be for you to draft these long posts. Give your fingers as much rest as you can. They possess invaluable magic 🤗

Originally posted by: sashashyam

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.

Chankya supposed to have baptised Chandragupta the minute he identified him as his protege and took him under his care..

Another apt take of yours is the title "baptism by blood" which gives the meaning martyrdom , that is sacrificing one's life for the country. Towards that aim Chanakya propels CG.

By "trial by fire", a soldier's strength, strategic move to face the opponent, and his fortitude are put to test.. Can this be compared to the Tami analogy, "Pudam potta Thangam"? i.e., gold purified by fire?

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.

The photography gives a night effect to the battle scene, which adds to the above .

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.

????

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!

These are the words of Thiruvalluvar, on "The knowledge of Resources" ( Ch: 48)

" Vinai valiyum than valiyum maatraan valiyum

ThuNai valiyum thooki cheyal."

-which means"Let (a king) weigh well with the strength of the deed (he purposes to do), (let him consider) his own strength, the strength of his enemy and the strength of the allies and then act.

What Chanakya did was a haphazard act..( avasara kolam aLLi theLithathu Pola). CG entered Nand's palace in disguise to spy on the security arrangements, but got caught. Later again he went in disguise to learn about the Greek warfare , and there also he was caught. Apart from these two occasions, what efforts did Chanakya take to know about the enemy's strategy or plan of action? Didn't he know that attacking an enemy on his own ground wouldn't be that easy?

Shyamala/Aunty/Akka/Di

PS: All the photos used to illustrate this post are courtesy my dearest Anjali. Thanks a million, kid!🤗