Review of Maqbool (2003) by Brock B — 07 Dec 2010

In "Maqbool," things are looking up for Miyan Maqbool(Irrfan Khan), a henchman of Abbaji(Pankaj Kapur), a crime lord in Mumbai, after he helps out in an attack against a rival gang in retaliation for the murder of Abbaji's brother. For his services, Maqbool is promoted to overseeing the gang's interests in Bollywood. The corrupt Inspector Pandit(Om Puri) predicts that this is only the beginning of his rise and his partner Purohit(Naseeruddin Shah) confirms that he is never wrong. Anyway, Maqbool is dissatisfied at his latest assignment which matches the unhappiness of Abbaji's mistress Nimmi(Tabu) who is starting to come on to him, saying how tired she is of Abbaji...

"Maqbool" is a satisfactory take on Shakespeare's Macbeth that is stolen by Om Puri and Naseeruddin Shah playing a combination comic relief/Greek chorus. The movie is rather slowly paced for its first half(And Maqbool should not be freaking out until the deed is done.), taking too much time to set up the events of the second half. In other words, what comes around, goes around. Abbaji knows this but does Maqbool? Despite my lacking much knowledge of Indian traditions, I would say that this version's moral is centered around loyalty and that there are certain lines that should never be crossed.

(Originally reviewed in the blog section on July 28, 2009.).