The Battles | The Great Maratha | Hindi TV Serial On DVD | Views and reviews

The Maratha army segment lead by Dattaji and co-lead by Jankoji, Tukoji and Mahadji was stuck at the place. There is no news for the army sent by Peshwa from Pune, help from none can be expected from Delhi as the situation there is itself vulnerable, Jaat king Surajmal’s favor is still undecided and the count of Avadh has confirmed nothing so far. . On the other hand Abdali and his army now merged with Najib’s army is coming near and near to the place where the Maratha platoon is stayed. The situations are getting deadlier for them. Let us what happenned from this point foward…

All four brothers Dattaji, Jankoji, Tukoji and Mahadji met to decide further plans. Well, there are no more choices left for them. They decided a strategic move from the place so can avoid a clash with the bigger armies till their powers are reinforced by the armies sent by Peshwa come and merge with them. But they all are ready to fight Abdali, Najib and their armies if the situation forces. They remember the tradition of Maratha to not to show back at war. When the war is there, the only motto a true Maratha follow is kill the opponent or get killed. They all agree to follow the tradition. They disperse with the decision to leave the place early next morning.

In the first light of the next morning we found Dattji paying his rituals and Mahadji came to meet him. This scene is very important in the TV Serial not only for the key point it played for the coming incidents but also, it shows the love, affection, care and moral of a traditional Indian family and it the values for the same. It shows how younger members of family respects the elders and well-wish for them and on the other hand how the elders do the things to care for the younger fellows of the family. It also shows how all the members of a family consider themselves as a single unit. These values and feelings are rare to find over the globe. The scene is best to watch on screen. It also shows how a dedicated actor forget his religion and express the feelings with all genuineness towards the other. The TV serial has many such examples, just take two for reference, Mukesh Khanna, playing the noted commandant of the canon artillery division, Ibrahim Khan Gardi and Shahbaaz Khan playing the protagonist Mahadji Shinde. All their act, efforts and so dedicated and genuine that you will see the characters on the screen rather then theirselves. The stuff is correct for many other actors. And these points balances some poor act for the actors playing some minor characters. We can also see how animals play important role not only in the wars but also in the life of a family and how the human-animal bonds are. See the behavior of the fellows with Jawahar Gaj – an elephant belongs to them since the time of their father Ranoji.

Suddenly the Maratha platoon was attacked. The opponent army under the command of Najib-Ud-Daula was much larger than the Maratha platoon. Maratha started fighting bravely and brutally with full intensity but they were hugely outnumbered. We also see that the Maratha warriors used swords and Najib’s army have soldiers with guns (these soldiers actually belongs to Abdali’s army). A gun can hurt (or kill) one from the distance without the shooter even being involved in the dual which Sword cannot. This factor played a vital role in deciding the result of the war. A lesson to learn is, not only good intentions, bravery and power are good enough to win a war, you must be compatible at technologies as well! Will we learn this lesson?

The small set of dialogs Dattaji delivered to Najib when then came face-to-face have the flair and quality needed for such scene. See the act of seasoned actor Irfan (playing Najib-Ud-Daula) and you will realize why he is considered as a brilliant actor.

When the northern India was being ruined by the armies of Abdali, the large amount of Peshwa’s soldiers were busy fighting in South India. There was a battle against Nawab Salamat Jang of Hyderabad. The Maratha army was lead by Sadashivrao Bhau there. Sadashivr rao was not the only hero in the war, the commandant of Nizam of Hyderabad’s Canon division, Ibrahim Khan Gardi also played a significant role in the battle. He fought so bravely that even Sadashivrao Bhau (Pankaj Dheer) took name of Ibrahim Khan Gardi (Mukesh Khanna) with respect. This segment again shows the qualities of a genuine fellow. Who respects the abilities and skills of an opponent also. The one who knows the skills and weaknesses of the opponent neutrally, can only won the battle. If one thinks of himself as a superior person and try avoid looking at the strong factors of the opponent, it may be fatal for him.

What was the result of war between Najib-Ud-Daula’s army against small Maratha platoon lead by Dattaji and his brothers?
What was the result of the battle between armies of Nizam of Hyderabad and Maratha?
These are the two major questions came to one’s mind now. Well, some stuff is better to watch on screen and some will be discussed later. We must mention that the picturization of the war scenes, is really good considering the technology and resources available at the time the shooting took place. The background music is top-notch.