Mar 13, 2004 09:13 PM
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(Updated Mar 13, 2004 09:13 PM)
Featuring ? Irfan Khan, Tabu, Pankaj Kapoor, Om Puri and Naseeruddin Shah
Directed by ? Vishal Bhardwaj
Produced by ? Bobby Bedi
Music by ? Vishal Bhardwaj
Lyrics by ? Gulzar
Based on a great tragedy ?Macbeth? which was penned by the great bard William Shakespeare, Maqbool is set in the backdrops of the Mumbai mafia. The central character of ?Maqbool? played by Irfan Khan is the right hand man of a biggest mafia don in Mumbai called ?Abbaji? played by Pankaj Kapoor. Everybody knows that Maqbool is the only deserving successor after Abbaji. Abbaji treats Maqbool as his own son and has a lot of trust in him.
Maqbool is a passionate, violent yet vulnerable, hungry for power young man who is also in love with Abbaji?s mistress Nimmi (Tabu) who loves Maqbool back with equal passion. Nimmi is not happy with her life with Abbaji and knows that only Maqbool could help her to get rid of her miseries.
Other important characters of the movie are Kaka (Abbaji?s long time faithful and Maqbool?s close friend), Guddu (Kaka?s son), Sameera (Abbaji?s daughter and Guddu?s fiancée) and the two corrupt police officers ? Pandit and Purohit played by Om Puri and Naseeruddin Shah respectively. Pandit and Purohit give a comic angle to the story. They keep predicting Maqbool?s and the future of the rest of the gang.
Nimmi and Maqbool desire to live with each other which is impossible as long as Abbaji is alive. So, Maqbool, blind in love and unable to differentiate between right & wrong, good & evil, kills Abbaji in the middle of the night. Maqbool then declares himself as the leader of the gang. The underworld is in a state of shock and knows that Maqbool is the killer of Abbaji. Now, Maqbool faces the dire threat to his life in the form of Kaka, Guddu and the rest of the gang who is against him. Meanwhile, Nimmi is suffering from a terribly difficult pregnancy and severe guilt feelings which make her lose her mental balance & eventually ? her life. Maqbool feels like he has lost the battle when he sees the death of the love of his life. Helpless, he gives up his gun and his life.
The performances in ?Maqbool? are absolutely mind-blowing. Be it Irfan Khan as Maqbool, Pankaj Kapoor as the sadistic Abbaji, Tabu as the lovelorn Nimmi or the two corrupt and jocular cops played by Naseer and Om Puri. Everybody is very real in this tragedy.
The music by Vishal Bhardwaj is melodious, specially the song ?Jhin Min Jhini? which features regularly in the Top10 Chartbusters. The lyrics by Gulzar are touching and the slick editing of the movie leaves a deep impact on the audience. There are some loopholes in the movie. The pace is slow and the audience might start feeling restless at one point of time.
Nevertheless, Maqbool is a definite ?one time? must-see on the big screen.
