Folks,
Here is a treat for all of you, a really short one.Yes, yes, I can hear you saying to yourselves Short? This I have got to see!😉 But it is so, for once, and all the credit for that goes to the screenplay.
There were only 4 main points that emerged today.
1) Jalal, even he rightly cuts short Jodha's vigorous argument with Adham Khan and shooes her back to the palace, admires her unhesitating readiness to stand up for what she believes is right, and to fight for it with anyone, any place, any time. That can be seen, firstly, from the relatively gentle way in which he dismisses her, as compared to the harshness with which he snubbed Ruqaiya over the Zaheer affair, almost yelling at her.
And secondly, from his imagining Jodha, almost involuntarily, amidst the Amer dancers at the jashan, bearing the Aner flag with pride, and in an utterly natural way, devoid of any arrogance or self-righteousness. It is revealing that he is not just dreaming of her, but that this is how he perceives her. He regards his vision of Jodha with no trace of either anger or sarcasm. For once, he genuinely approves of her and her ways.
It is the same when Jodha announces her readiness to compete against Ruqaiya, citing her Rajvanshi heritage of never backing down before a challenge. For a brief instant, Jalal looks benign and even admiring.
2) Jalal handles the pancham matter to perfection. He investigates it swiftly and effectively, and then does justice to the poor banjaras - truly a Solomon come to judgement (with apologies to Shylock an to Shakespeare!). He next puts Adham Khan in his place (or as near to that as possible given Adham's temperament), and finally, also seizes the opportunity to organize a delightful surprise for Bharmal & Co. (who, incidentally, seem to hav given the go by to their beti ke ghar paani bhi nahin peete rule, as they are now enjoying their javaisa's hospitality without any qualms) .
Jalal has now come into his own, and is fast maturing into a just and decisive monarch, who can put his absolute power to use for the good of the awaam .
3) Jodha is still in the same Shahenshah bahut bure hain... zaroor mujhe peedha pahunchane ke liye kuch karenge groove, like an LP stuck in one place. So much so that even when she sees that the banjaras, whose cause she was advocating so vigorously that morning, have not not only been freed but have been invited to perform at the jashan, she does not think even for an instant that it was well done of Jalal. Instead she is off at once looking around for clues to what he might be planning next against her.
As things stand, he is looking forward to showing her up as being no match for Ruqaiya at chess, but I am sure that even if there had been no chess match, Jodha would still have been on edge, fearing a booby trap set by her (un)beloved patidev. In that sense. Jalal has won, for Jodha does his job for him, as she herself makes sure that she never has a moment's peace of mind!
4) Jodha's sotto voce remark to herself, when she decides to take the plunge and face Ruqaiya at chess, is very curious. It is not, as would be natural in a proud Rajput princess, that she wants to uphold Rajput honour.
Instead, what she wants is to block Ruqaiya from getting that one time blank cheque, so to speak, from Jalal. Agar Ruqaiya jeet gayi, toh ne jaane who Shahenshah se kya mangegi! The unstated part is: Mujhe use rokna hoga, aur uske liye mujhe jeetna hoga!.
But what is it that Jodha does not want Ruqaiya to ask of Jalal if she wins, and then get it? I cannot think of any thing that the generally detached Jodha would resent Ruqaiya getting. So is it that she has begun to resent Ruqaiya per se, and is making this excuse to herself to explain away this resentment? Because of Ruqaiya's much tomtommed hold on Jalal? A teeny weeny stab of the green-eyed monster- good old jealousy?
Not consciously as yet, but perhaps sub-consciously, just like the subconscious longing in her eyes as she looked at Salima and Rahim in the morning. How else can one explain what she says to herself ? If this is indeed so, what a contrast with her reaction in the scene with Ruqaiya, in her bedroom!
Hamida Banu: The scene between Jodha and her mother-in-law was utterly charming and touching. I loved Jodha bending to touch Hamida Banu's feet and calling her Ammijaan, gracefully adopting part of the Mughal tehzeeb. It would be interesting to see Jalal's reaction if she were to call Hamida Banu Ammijaan in his presence! 😉
Hamida Banu obviously does not care for Ruqaiya, very likely seeing her as one of the elements making sure that Jalal's khoya hua dil stays khoya hua. So she roots unabashedly for Jodha at the chess match, just as much as the Amer lot.
The chess match: Ruqaiya, true to her brash, over-confident and arrogant temperament, plays a very aggressive game, capturing as many of Jodha's pieces as she can in quick order. Jodha, on the other hand, keeps her head, and continues to play a waiting game, looking out for a mistake from her opponent. I could not see the whole board at the end, but I bet that Ruqaiya , while advancing to surround Jodha's King, has left her own open to a swift pouncing move by Jodha's queen.
The CVs seem to believe in ending on a cliffhanging note on Friday evenings, but a Jodha victory is a no brainer, so we can all relax!
Shyamala B.Cowsik
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