E-Paper
Maqbool
Maqbool isn't an attempt to simply retell the story of Macbeth but to rediscover it in our times and conditions. Set in the mafia world of Mumbai, Maqbool is a story of a man (Khan) by the same name.
Director: Vishal Bhardwaj
Cast: Pankaj Kapoor, Naseeruddin Shah, Om Puri, Tabu, Irrfan Khan
India/colour/2003
Maqbool isn't an attempt to simply retell the story of Macbeth but to rediscover it in our times and conditions. Set in the mafia world of Mumbai, Maqbool is a story of a man (Khan) by the same name.
He is the right hand man of Mafia don Abbaji (Kapoor) who has been ruling the crime world since long. Nimmi (Tabu) is Abbaji's mistress who hates her situation and sees Maqbool as the only ray of hope.
Abbaji is the lord who presides over the chorus of associates tat include Kaka, Guddu, Boti and others. Maqbool is his trusted lieutenant and an able warhorse, who worships Abbaji blindly. That is until his own ambition is tickled and an element of love generated jealousy steps in. Nimmi forments this jealousy further.
The central act of crime is the murder of Abbaji. As in Macbeth this is the symbolic disruption of peace in the universe of the narrative. Nothing remains the same thereafter. The equibilirium is broken, internally as well as externally.
Nimmi's guilt assumes a life of its own, in the form of the baby in her womb. Her womanhood succumbs to the enormity of the crime she has instigated.
Two corrupt policemen who are a part of Abbaji's world keep making correct predictions about the future course.
Credits
Production: Kaleidoscope Entertainment Pvt. Ltd.
Screenplay: Abbas Tyrewala, Vishal Bhardwaj
Sound: K J Singh
Music: Vishal Bhardwaj
Read a review of the film
