JALANDHAR REBOOTED
I was mesmerized by the born again Jalandhar in the last 2 episodes, when he rises from the sea after his jalasamadhi, for all the world like Poseidon striding across his kingdom, or an Emperor of the seas riding the waves in a chariot drawn by foam horses. The visual was mindblowing, and so was the new look Jalandhar after he reaches terra firma. And it was not just the as-different-as-can-be looks.
Mohit is an actor of nearly infinite resource. Today, as the rebooted Jalandhar, so to speak, he looked so different from the former avatar that I was amazed. The physique seemed leaner and more supple. The new hairdo, with the high forehead exposed, and the narrowed face, with the prominent, high cheekbones emphasised, all made him look like a pureblood greyhound, elegant, sleek, fast and dangerous. I never liked the dress for the earlier Jalandhar, with those raggedy gauzy lungis hanging unevenly, over blue dhotis, and the new black on black costume came as a relief!
It was not just the physique. It was his eager, aquiline face lighting up by degrees when he asks Acharya, astra?, and Shukracharya nods affirmatively. It was the deep set, slanting, kohl lined eyes glowing like embers in the dark while he is coaxing his guru, with fervent assurances, to endow him with the powers of the new astra, and even more so when he is receiving it from Shukracharya.
It was the long supple mouth curving upwards in amused contempt or impish glee at the discomfiture of his enemies. Head thrown back in full throated laughter of the kind never seen before. The whole face miming a question or simulating surprise when Shukracharya is arguing with him, only to shift to steely defiance when his guru wants to nullify his plans and take Parvati back to Mahadev.
At times the sharp planes of the face and the lambent, slanting eyes conspire to produce an almost demented look. Arrogant, over confident, over the top, but he hits one in the solar plexus, an eagle visage and an eagle’s temperament.
Jalandhar is clearly rushing headlong to his doom, but from his point of view ‘ which Narayan confirms and validates ‘ he is acting mostly in self-preservation.For once Parasurama had (totally unnecessarily) made it clear to him what fate awaited him once Parvati regained her Adi Shakti persona, there was for him, as he tells his horrified guru today, no other vikalp at all. If he does not attack, he will be bereft of any defence, and he has no intention of letting himself be killed so easily.
This, however, is but one part of the explanation for Jalandhar’s monomania wrt Mahadev and his obsession with becoming his vikalp, and replacing him. It has, I think, to do with proving, to himself and to everyone else, ki woh tuchch nahin hai. That he will not be humiliated and treated as inferior, and of no worth but for his being a shivansh, whether by Parasurama, by Rishi Markandeya or by others.
It is in some ways like an illegitimate child seeking revenge on his father for condemning him to lifelong humiliation.
It is this chip on the shoulder that makes his face light up with a fierce joy when he describes how he has comprehensively outwitted the devas, and Narayan and Brahma as well, thru Shukracharya’s maya astra. He is wrong in his conclusions and in what he does as a result of those, but one can understand where he is coming from.
On a different note,I loved the curiously gentle scene yesterday, where Jalandhar, having just surfaced after his jalasamadhi, holds Vrinda’s eyes with his own and, without naming her, nonetheless gives her full credit for having made his transformation possible thru her wise counsel. The same sentiment was evident in his sotto voce remarks during the jalasamadhi. The glow in her eyes, of satisfaction and pleasure at his acknowledging her value, mirrors the more muted one in his. It was a strange kind of love scene, but then they are a most unlikely pair!
But the piece de resistance in the last two episodes was not the flashy new Jalandhar, or the fascinating astra transfer, or even Jalandhar’s stormy (verbal) passage of arms with Shukracharya. It was the scene between Vrinda and Shukracharya, just before Jalandhar emerges from the ocean.
When Shukracharya asks her whether, in all these days of standing on the seashore awaiting her husband’s return, she had been at all conscious of the passage of time, she replies ” Jis kshan we mujhse alag ho jaate hain, samay ka chakra tham sa jaata hai. Unke wapas lautne tak, viyog aur milan ke do kshanon ke madhya, beethte hue samay ka aabhaas kaise hoga Acharya?” (The moment he leaves me, the wheel of time seems to stop. Till he returns, between the two instants, of separation and of reunion, how, Acharya, can (I) be conscious of the passage of time?.
There can be no simpler statement of the depth of her love for Jalandhar, and none more eloquent. The writer deserves not just one, but several rounds of applause for this incredibly touching scene, which is as well acted as it is written.
In the precap, when he senses that Mahadev has emerged from his samadhi, Jalandhar seems to back in his old palace. It is puzzling; has he left his insurance policy back in that mayalok that he has created? Let us wait and watch.
For now, I am happy and relieved that they have carefully avoided even a hint of Jalandhar showing any interest in Parvati for her own sake. As I wrote here yesterday, that would have been too much to take.
Shyamala B.Cowsik
Everything Mohit Raina 