Hi Friends,
The Chittor war occurred some 2.5 years after the demise of the twins. But it seems to have been preponed to just after the twins' demise, using their deaths as justification for the war. How sick can the CVs get!?
As far as natakiya roopantars (NR) go, I understand that some leeway has to be made for creative liberties to be taken. But there are times and places for NR and there are times and places where NR must not be used as an excuse to blatantly and insensitively justify the unjustifiable by fabricating details, as per convenience. In the fact cum fiction conundrum of JA, the Chittor war undeniably happened. Either it should have been completely omitted. Or it should have been handled with extreme caution, so as not to hurt anyone's sentiments and to avoid tampering with history.
Personally, I do not agree that Akbar was turned into a jallad by the death of his twins and therefore went out to wage war in that frame of mind, to show God that he was still powerful, as we saw last night (Oct 17).
Many people are unaware of the significance of the Chittor war and treat it as just another war that Akbar fought. It is therefore even more critical to present this war in the proper light so that the vast majority of Indians can better understand what exactly happened in Chittor and how even a great emperor could massacre thousands of innocent people who had the temerity to resist his might for 4 months.
To simply suggest that Akbar was driven by the tragic death of his 2 innocent babies into a ruthless war-monger, who wanted to show God that he was still powerful by massacring innocent people, is gut-wrenchingly sickening. As it is, the poor babies lost their lives most sadly. To pin the blame for such a gruesome war on their death is just terrible!
I fail to understand this Jalal we are watching now. What are the CVs trying to show? That he is a ruthless expansionist? He seems more like a coward to me, who is unwilling to accept responsibility for his failure to protect his children and blaming his innocent wife and the mother of the babies instead of neglect leading to their death.
First and foremost, Akbar and MUZ did not have a fallout after the demise of their twins or any other child. People, who say it is fine to show the fallout as NR because in all shows, the leads keep falling out and reuniting, forget that this is not the fictional story of 2 imaginary characters. Some respect has to be maintained for the legends involved.
Even in the West, no dramatization ever exceeds its limits and shows false details as part of its creative license.
Even if the two had to be shown as growing apart, they could have been shown to be weighed down by guilt and remorse and drifting apart emotionally, without assassinating the character of Jodha.
Be that as it may, enough has been said about it elsewhere.
The CVs then applied their twisted logic to use the tragedy as an excuse to justify Akbar's war against the Rajputana stronghold of Mewar / Chittor.They showed that Akbar was openly going for the war, whereas he had approached Chittor quietly, using a hunting trip as a camouflage for his real intentions.
It was further shown that Akbar had tried to engage Rana Udai Singh in negotiations that had failed and was "forced" to fight the war. Nothing could be farther from the truth.
If watching the justification for Akbar's actions is not bad enough in itself, we have to bear the antics of Ruqaiyya, who seems to be becoming more powerful and more in-our-face (than even Akbar) by the day.
It is difficult to understand her constant tirade against Jodha even now, considering that Ruqaiyya's position now seems stronger whereas Jodha has been relegated to the far corners of the Agra fort by Jalal.
Hamida Bano and Salima Begum had a hard time, trying to explain Jodha's dilemma to Ruqaiyya to little success. Ruqaiyya has a closed mind that refuses to let in any ideas other than her own or those of people similar to her.
And it's equally difficult to see her smirking all the time, even when Jalal is going to wage a war and everyone else is downcast. Perhaps she feels that the heartless, ruthless Jalal is the Jalal she knows and can manipulate to her advantage and gain power. She may also be happy that this Jalal is not Jodha's Jalal and has distanced her from his life, seemingly forever.
Hamida Bano and Salima Begum are still hpeful that Jodha would be able to win over Jalal with her love. But shouldn't they also be concerned about how she has been unfairly blamed for a crime she didn't commit?
I can understand Jalal's impassioned pleas to his men and his cruel laughter before the war. I can imagine the real Akbar may have been in a somewhat similar mood before venturing out on the war trail.
Jodha tried her best to understand the reasons why Akbar was fighting this war.She impressed yesterday as the Rajput queen caught between her husband on one side and the Rajputs fighting for Mewar on the other side. As she said,whoever won the war, she and the Rajputs of Amer would be the losers. My heart went out to those Amer soldiers who had to fight their own people on behalf of the Mughals. It was an extremely challenging situation and, to their credit, they maintained the Rajput tradition of loyalty to their commander, Jalal.
Whatever his personal equation with Jodha, Jalal trusted Raja Bharmal enough to leave him in charge of the Agra fort and its harem. This had really happened too, I believe, during some war. The absence of Raja Bhagwandas was sorely felt yesterday. Can't the PH find one decent actor for this role????
After many days, Bakshi Bano came out of her hojra to bid her brother farewell.She was conspicuously missing when everyone was mourning the death of the twins. Even now, though Bakshi is visible, her husband is missing. Has he gone to his new posting already, leaving his wife and daughter behind?
One last point: The wives of the Rajput soldiers were giving their jewelry to their hsubands going to war. Jodha commented that there was no one to take care of the Rajputs who fell during the course of the battle and needed money to survive. This is my doubt. Didn't Akbar take care of his Rajput soldiers, when he used them to strengthen his army?
Precap:
The precap is alarming. The war took around 4 months to conclude. But it seems the CVs wish to wind up the war in just one episode.? Why is Akbar already walking among the dead? Let's see.
Jodha's sensitive soul is stirred by the red skies and she knows from her childhood that red skies can only mean one thing - Jauhar of innocent women and children. 
Let's see what the CVs have in store for us on Monday. Fingers crossed!
You all are welcome to share your views, and discuss the episode...
***Important***
history_geek has updated the historical information related to this track here.>
You can also refer to the historical update of history_geek on the twins of Akbar and MUZ here.>
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Hi Radhika, I am usually a silent reader and love everything you and Abhay write about. Loved your above post especially the lines
ReplyDelete" But there are times and places for NR and there are times and places where NR must not be used as an excuse to blatantly and insensitively justify the unjustifiable by fabricating details, as per convenience. Either it should have been completely omitted. Or it should have been handled with extreme caution, so as not to hurt anyone's sentiments and to avoid tampering with history"
I won't bother to comment about the episode as you and many others have perfectly summed up how worthless and offensive it was. ....however I am disturbed by some of the careless comments made in the IF by some regular and respected members there.
Akbar is my hero and I do believe he was great and far far ahead of his times....but I find it very hard to reconcile to the Chittore battle which places him among the likes of Ghori and Timur . It was definitely a black spot in an otherwise illustrious life.
Some members have suggested it was his right to wage wars and expand his territories. I will grant them that....BUT it is the aftermath and the complete genocide of civilians especially women that Makes this war so different. After 450 yrs it still brings out strong emotions in people especially of Rajput heritage. We have to be sensitive to to both points of view and tread carefully. For some to suggest that Jodha should have supported her husband for this War as It was her duty as his wife is mind bogglingly insensitive. Some have also suggested that the ameris / Rajputs also waged brutal wars against each other so what's the difference? And that her own relatives were fighting for Jalal so what was her problem. I have to say I find this POV very insensitive. If MUZ was as principled and pious as some have said she was then this Chittore incident must have broken her heart. I cannot imagine she was not repulsed by the these events especially against her very own People. I normally find Jodha's moral posturing and lectures very annoying....BUT Chittore was very different. There is no way she could have supported Jallal when her went out with the professed intention of slaughtering innocents.
Sent from my iPad
DeleteHi Coolpree
About Friday's episode, i wrote in my post already, that, none of the dialogues of ANYONE made COMPLETE sense. If anyone made sense, it was MP > Crisp and clear dialogues. Jodha's dialogue should have been more refined and specific . Though, one could understand the essence if wanted to be, it was not tough.
I wrote this in my post..>>
"Jodha did not come to Man Singh ONLY BECAUSE Udai Singh is a Rajvanshi, but ALSO because she can SEE his anger and the WRATH which Jalal is going to inflict on Chittor. She has seen him turning into uncontrollable BEING.
Precap is an indication of same where she senses something WORSE has happened in Chittor.. Jodha only came here to Man Singh as it was clear Akbar is going to satisfy his thirst for BLOOD at Chittor...!!!!.
"
The party which was under consideration was a Rajvanshi, hence she was saying those words harping on Rajvanshis..+..She asked Bharmal if he will fight a Rajvanshi , which in my opinion was a weak argument BUT she tried Best,her last ditch attempt to stop Jalal as she could sense the BEAST on Jalal's eyes which was going to unleash horror in Chittor..
About why his relatives fought against Udai Singh along with Akbar, here is what I posted > " I can understand where Man Singh and Bharmal come from. They have sworn their loyalty to Jalal and will fight to their last drop of blood for him."
About the rest of your comment, as a friend, i would advice that, just read the threads you find comfortable with. I myself, restrict it to 2-3 threads, where I comment, unless made to read something' via a message. Here we have a phenomena of justifying ALL the acts of Akbar. Till now it was REEL, now it is REAL also as you see Akbar(REAL) is ALWAYS correct, and he can NEVER be wrong, even for the worst genocides. Latest justification is the horrible soul-shaking massacre of Chittor, which I was caught up in some messages after Friday's episode. You can understand, if this can be justified then anything can be justified as well. Don't be surprised if you get a reason for Jallianwala as well, coz British were also expanding their stronghold in India, hence you may hear that, the massacre was right.!!!!.
And you don't need to prove anything. At least I am clear about what Akbar ordered in Chittor, that too "after" WINNING the battle. Not to mention the consequent fate of commoners which included ladies. I won't stoop to the level of explaining the dastardly acts commited thereafter, just to prove my point, along with the Farman which he issued after the conquest, the language of which leaves a BITTER taste about him in my mind. I will post it on the Blog, not here. No doubt he was GREAT, BUT this act was BLACKEST Spot on him..!!!!. Reading from some BOOKS by his flatterers is one thing, and reading ALL his accounts is another..
Leave Jodha, his mother did NOT support him. TodarMal and Man S. tried to cool him down, but of no avail. No doubt the Ameri Clan, mediated the peace deal with the Hada Chief of Ranthambore, after the Chittor event.
I respect your sentiment, and I know why Jodha and Akbar(BOTH), so uniquely matter to you, perhaps that may not be the case for anyone of us here. I end now, and say just read what you are fine with. You will feel better. Otherwise the Blog is always open for any discussion, as here we can NOT have history discussions on topics unrelated to the show Jodha Akbar..
For me it's sensitive, i have many friends from Rajasthan itself, and made a single post aiming at the CV's of Jodha Akbar, to respect some events and not play with it..
ReplyDeleteHi Radhika,
Thanks for this Post.
I want to write a general comment on the ETHICS and MORALITY of the CV's of Jodha AKbar...
Yesterday, after the episode I was bombarded for questions about "Chittor from Akbar's POV", which does not exist at all, because even the Court chroniclers of Akbar could not give a justification for that gruesome event. They have LIFElessly given the account of one of the worst genocides of modern times.. I was caught up in various discussions. Mentioning some parts from that...
ReplyDeleteDuties of a King:
It is the duty of all kings to expand their empire. > True..
They fight wars for the same. > True..
But I want to know, what about the protocols of the wars.?.
Is it also a DUTY of a king to order massacre the "unarmed civilians" after his army exhausts the army of his enemy.?. Tell me.?. Sorry. In my opinion, this does not holds any explanation. This is sheer barbarism, no matter who does it.. And, I don't think this horrible deed deserves a defence, or even asks for a defence...
Wars can be justified, BUT NOT the MASSACRES of "unarmed civilians" ...!!!.
ReplyDeleteComing to Ekta Kapoor's "SICK" Natkiya Rupanter of this War:
Since she had nothing to offer as the explanation of Chittor, she used this route of Kids Death, and turned Jalal into Demon. And, she is showing the viewers that, the Kids death led him to wage this brutal war. Sheer lunacy. Way to go Ekta. I hope someone takes you to task.
I will not give the description of the brutality unleashed on the Civilians of Mewar, as it sends shivers down my spines.. This track is ONLY her own failed attempt to justify Chittor. Akbar marched with the avowed intention of ONLY hunting and NOT to have a war with Chittor, but Ekta Mam's NR is always to justify Akbar, and she has showed it as OPEN WAR.
Wow CV's, you used the death of those "two unique pearls of ocean of holiness" to justify a merciless massacre. No ethics and NO morality at play.. Kudos to you.. For you, those two innocent souls may be a source of business but not for many of us...
In her NR, she has shown the shelter given to fugitives as the reason for attack. Wah re Wah..IF You don't have the guts to show the actual reasons of war , then at least do not play with them.. If you can not show the reality then DO NOT TOUCH this sensitive issue.. Also, Never Akbar tried to avoid this war by sending TodarMal to MP , but according to your "Nautanki Rupanter" it appears as if, Akbar TRIED his LEVEL BEST to avoid the war and he haD to wage this war in DIRE circumstances,Stern Smile which is another example of how you don't care for anything when it comes to your HERO justification..!!!!..It is nothing but height of IMMORALITY and UNETHICAL behavior.You are insulting all those who were massacred for the EGO of a King 100's of years back.!!!!...Thumbs Down...If the CV's visit this Forum and reading this Post, kindly understand the seriousness of this Issue..!!!.
ReplyDeleteREEL Jalal
Actually, since the starting Ekta has shown him as a saint, and I always wrote that this is not Jalal, this was not Akbar. She was very "generous" in his portrayal , so much so that, it looked like an Empire ruled by a Non-Violence activist...Sorry but empires are not ruled by winning ONLY & ONLY hearts, but by Sword also.. Plz note that I mentioned above that kings expand empire, wage wars which is what they are supposed to do, but THIS DOES NOT gives any right to slaughter unarmed civilians" and surely NOT a clause to justify a Slaughter..
She has experimented on Chittor and I expect the same with Ranthambor, I don't expect her to show the heart wrenching Jauhar of Ranthambor, before the end of siege, otherwise how will she justify her lead.??????...
REEL JALAL's trademark dialogue -> "Hamaari Awaam' ke liye" and "Mughal Sultanate mein 1000 Gunehgaar chutt jaye par ek begunaah ko saza nahi honi chahiye."...Lately, I became dissociated with it, as all culprits roam free and the ones who are innocents are put to task.. Of course, this is very nice for ones who see him as a "BORN PERFECT MAN" , who could do no wrong. But, sorry this is NOT true..!!!. I BELIEVE it, and many of us KNOW it, though not all of us ACCEPT it...
ReplyDeleteMockery of MotherHood and Human Emotions:
This track made mockery of motherhood. Isn't it.?. Jodha became mother and was subjected to extreme traumatic situation. She lost her kids, and after that, the implicit blame of the demise is conveniently put on her.
I want to know, Jalal DID you SHUT UP RUQS while she was lodging allegations against Jodha.?. I did not see it. Perhaps, my television set does not shows me "Jalal's POV"..??..
On the other hand, she was ignored by you. A state when she needed you the most, that time she was left out. Wow.!!!..IS This your POV.?. Then this is horrible and this amounts to breach of trust..!!!!!!!!.
I don't buy the theory that you are alienating yourself from Jodha, and making yourself suffer also due to guilt. Dude..If You want to make yourself suffer that DO IT and confine it to yourself.. BUT you have NO right to MAKE THE OTHER one suffer bitterly ALONG with you, rather DUE to you... Learn to respect her, at least respect her devotion if not Love to you.. You lost faith in Lord and Love.. But did you loose faith in her Devotion also.?.She has NO ONE except you and what are you trying to PROVE to her.?. Agreed that you also lost Kids, but she has ALSO Lost her Flesh, she kept in her womb for 9 months. Do you think she can kill her own kids due to jealousy.?. Where was your wrath that time when she was accused by your another wife of this heinous crime.?. Tell me why always you subject ONLY her to your vitriolic outbursts.?. Why the bias.?. Where is your sense of justice.?. I think the legal practitioners know what you will be termed in Legal language..Sorry , but you failed this time..I am thinking putting myself at your place, but really I would have not subjected someone I profess to Love to such a horrible treatment... You failed in many respects and instead of accepting the mistakes/loopholes you resort to playing blame game...
I won't go on writing a thesis on this subject , because I have a clear cut understanding of relationS, as I know and what I have learnt from the society I live in, till now.. I will only write what I perceive and what I have understood about the relation of a husband-wife...
This is one single line>>If you are in Love then you need to become the support of your partner, NOT to leave her Alone..Tough times call for going beyond your capabilities to heal your beloved..They are not the times to show your anger, or unleash your burden of guilt on anyone else..""
^^^ I believe in this NO NONSENSE doctrine and those who differ from me then my salutes, as I really do not know what it is called then..For me Love is ONLY and ONLY Love..I don't believe in Conditional and Unconditional theories of Love..It is just one thing - "Love" and it is IMPLICITLY UNCONDITIONAL, and you don't need any adjective to prefix to it, coz then it is not Love, but it is illusion...Call it anything BUT Love...
ReplyDeleteAbout Friday's Episode:
I can understand where Man Singh and Bharmal come from. They have sworn their loyalty to Jalal and will fight to their last drop of blood for him..Only the dialogues of MP made sense PERFECTLY. Rest all the dialogues of EVERYONE had glitches in them. Though, we could connect to it, if we want. If understanding dialogues of Jalal when he IMPLICITLY laid the blame on Jodha could be worked out then yesterday also the dialogues could be understood as well...!!!
Jodha did not come to Man Singh ONLY BECAUSE Udai Singh is a Rajvanshi, but because she can SEE his anger and the WRATH which Jalal is going to inflict on Chittor. She has seen him turning into uncontrollable BEING.
Precap is an indication of same where she senses something WORSE has happened in Chittor.. Jodha only came here to Man Singh as she knew Akbar is going to satisfy his thirst for BLOOD at Chittor...!!!!.
ReplyDeleteNote ::
I hope before drawing conclusions about this topic of present track of Chittor, one reads many contemporary accounts, not the ones of Self proclaimed historians...
PS:
1. This writeup of mine may appear different from my writing style, may appear BITTER, but yes, this is what was in my mind, and I could not connect with Jalal.. He failed BIG TIME..It is not BIG to be understood..!!.
2. And, more than anything, Ekta Kapoor CV's failed, as they experimented with such a sensitive issue of bloodiest chapter of medieval times and FORCING it WRONGLY on the viewers, amounting to sheer blasphemy...!!
Hats off to u Abhay, fr unwinding urself, n showing clarity in thought.:-h.Ther is no way, one can support Jalal on this heinous act, which is a blot in history.I was really wondering what would be ur post? Ekta's team has done something even Abu'l Fazl cud not do :-O i.e giving excuse fr Chittod massacre, his kids death! Here is a king who was backstabbed by his own people, which he cud not forsee, n puts complete blame on his beloved wife who gave him heir s-)Don't the CVs know history is there open fr all to see.
ReplyDeleteHistory- geek, long back on IF I had asked u' was Akbar really ruthless in the earlier days ?' Now I hv the answer. Can u please clarify the following things?
1.What was the real reason fr Akbar to wage war against Mewad? Was it because Maharana Pratap did not bow down to him n his ego was hurt?
2.All that good governance Akbar did ,i.e removing Zajiya tax, abolishing child marraige, etc, came along before Chittor massacre or after?Because, now I cannot believe in the serial timeline anymore.I want to know what exactly the history is. If hassan- Hussain died in 1564 n then Chittor war took place in 1567, then really Jo-Ak were seperated fr 3 years?
3. Was there any invader in our history, or any king fr that matter, whose kingdom expansion has so many thousands killed? Even Chandragupta's empire was also vast, I hav not come accross such a brutality in his history.
Hi Geeta,
DeleteNice summation. Ekta has made a mockery of Chittor War. Moreover, laying the blame on wife for death of her OWN children is unheard of.
I am replying to your queries point wise.
1. You have given the reason yourself. It was more for subjugating Mewar under him. And the brutality unleashed is a proof of the same, for which even Abul Fazl has no explanation.
2. The timeline is as follows::
Removal of pilgrim tax - 1563
Removal of Jaziya - 1564
Hussain and Hassan death - October/November1564
Chittor War - 23 October 1567 to 23 February 1568
There was no separation of Jo-Ja, as i posted earlier, that this time, they both visited the Dargahs and supported each other, but Ekta Kapoor has massacred history and created her own version..!!!!..
3. Akbar won't be called an invader. He was born in Hindustan itself. In precise terms, we can call him imperialist but not an invader. This is my personal opinion. :)
It was ONLY the Kalinga War of Ashoka where many people perished, more than Chittor, but Ashoka's case was different. After Kalinga War, he reformed and gave up violence, but Akbar continued expansion and wars even after Chittor war. :)