Maqbool (Bharadwaj, 2003)

[shariqq]

Give Vishal Bharadwaj a solid pat on the back, and sit back waiting for his next movie. This man seethes brilliance in his film-making. His dialogues, his script, his music, and his direction - all are top-notch, and as I said, this movie proves that Makdi was no fluke.

The movie is based on Macbeth; and oh does it stay faithful to the story. For setting, Vishal trades the Lord & Lady for 'Bhai' (Gangster) and Mistress in today's Mumbai underworld complete with corrupt cops, loads of handguns and conniving politicians.

The story follows Maqbool (Macbeth: Irfan Khan), the right-hand man of Abbaji (King Duncan: Pankaj Kapoor) - the most powerful and influential ganglord in Mumbai. Abbaji's mistress Nimmi (Lady Macbeth: Tabu) falls in love with Maqbool & inspires him to kill Abbaji and take-over his empire. What they did not expect was the surfacing of guilt, and loyals to Abbaji.

Vishal projects the story from inside the crime-family, playing with the loyalties of the viewer. Every character is built deep; you can't find yourself rooting for or against anyone, so justified is each in his/her actions. Add to that the wonderful dialogues & screenplay hiding a mock to reality, society and movies. Watching this movie alone at home, I applauded on a regular basis - so fulfilling was the experience.

The best 'character translation' of the play for me was morphing the three witches that haunt Macbeth into the two corrupt cops, as played by the brilliant-to-a-fault Naseeruddin Shah & Om Puri. The two actors signed up for the smaller roles just to have a chance to work with each other after a long time, and oh are there sparks on screen. If this was Hollywood, we would see a spin-off on their characters. Most of the hum-our-draped satire comes from these two, and it is the kind of hum-our you shake your head at, not roll laughing at. Although I like Naseer more, Om gets and does the better part here.

Irfan Khan IS the successor of these two actors. He again portrays a character as if he was born to play it. From his matter-of-fact way of delivering lines to the screamingly clear eyes, he is a treat to watch. Tabu plays Lady Macbeth as her usual self. Nothing beyond competent, but nothing below either.

And Pankaj Kapoor: He again proves how under-rated he is. From the tormented scientist in Ek Doctor ki Maut to the hilarious possessive father in Chameli ki Shaadi, this guy has done all of the variety and is as good as the best, but never got the recognition that Naseer & Om got. Indeed, Kapoor redefines the Indian gang lord, and surpasses all previous attempts at such a role. His Abbaji is the most captivating character in the movie, yet the most firmly rooted in reality. It defines: If Mumbai has a Godfather, this is he or how he should be.

Each of the actors that have portrayed their respective characters, I can't think of even one major character being replaced by any other in Bollywood.

My Rating --> 5 of 5

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Trivia: -

• The first scene of the movie shows a minion with Naseer & Om Puri. This thin faced bald actor is the co-screen-writer Abbas Tyrewala putting in a cameo.
• Naseeruddin Shah conducted a workshop for all actors in the movie for a few days before start of filming, to get everyone in character and for natural interactions.
• Macbeth is Vishal's favourite play. He wanted to make a movie for mature audiences after his debut with the children's movie Makdee (Shabana Azmi played the witch for free in that one!)

[kaytee]

Excellent stuff Shariq, I found this film to be better than Omkara. It was dark, not a lot of song and dance, brilliant acting from everyone especially Pankaj Kapoor who stole the movie. I hope he continues to make movies based on Shakespeare, would love to see his take on Romeo and Juliet.

[shariqq]

I agree, it IS better than Omkara.

Vishal Bharadwaj will complete his trilogy, although he hasn't announced with which one. I guess the natural progression after MACBETH and OTHELLO is HAMLET...

[shariqq]

<Bump>

Fizz: For Your Consideration.

[shariqq]

From madali's "Salam Cinema" blog:




Maqbool (Bhardwaj, 2003)
IMDB Link

I fell in love with the film very early on. Its depiction of the life of gangsters was dark, gritty, and without any of the glamour and shininess we are used to. The film is an adaptation of “Macbeth” set in India’s gritty criminal underbelly and on the surface and the characters are people we might have seen in other gangster films. But it never feels second-rate, it has the confidence not to feel like a bad imitation of other movies.

In that sense, it reminds me of some of South Korean gangster films that were released few years back. They had familiar settings and characters, but it was purely their own. “Maqbool” is like that.

I like the brutality of it, the violence in it is not cool or romantic, it is vicious, fired on people that blabber and cry, and it ends fast. The characters are not good in any sense of the word, we know they are criminals, and through watching them, we don’t want to be like them. Their world is dark and filthy, and full of corruption and misery.

The acting is really good all around. I was mostly impressed by Pankaj Kapur, the actor playing the “Don” character. He brought a sense of power to his line deliveries and one could easily understand why characters would tremble in front of him, even when he was not threatening anyone.

Strangely, I felt the movie was being held back by being an adaptation of “Macbeth”. The film was strong enough to be its own creation, being guided by the events of “Macbeth” felt, to me, like it was harming the film. Otherwise, a great film, and should be brought up when gangster films are mentioned.

4/5

[ayaa1977]

If anyone of you guys have not seen Maqbool yet (Yeah Fizz I mean you), do yourself a favor and do it fast, it is an excellent film. If Bollywood can pop a handful such a film a year, it will be in an excellent shape, alas that is not the case. With such powerful performances across the board and such a great and fresh adaptation for that classic Shakespearian play that makes the story almost feel original.

Mr. Bharadwag get the most of his cast and whenever anyone is in the frame he or she is giving 100%. Also the plot is tight so there is no fat or excess scenes, even during songs the camera is busy capturing important shots that moves the story forward.

I won't spend much talking about the supporting cast, suffice to say I disliked none, and really Shariq's review gave them justice. However Tabu and Irfan Khan are just ridiculously amazing, and I thought they were solid in The Namesake. I always thought Irfan Khan is an excellent actor but I never really cared for Tabu, or may be I haven't seen here in that many roles, so The Namesake was where I first noticed her, but my God was she an amazing Lady Macbeth. She was really the catalyst for everything that happened in the film and she did it with a brilliant subtlety.

So much I loved about the film and I really didn't have that many complaints about it, except it didn't have that many memorable songs, for all the songs in the film are quite good as a part of the narrative, but Unlike Omkara or Kaminey's, they aren't songs that you'd listen to on your iPod over and over. One of my favorite Hindi films ever and it gets 4.5/5.