Maqbool

Maqbool
DVD Cover
Directed by	Vishal Bhardwaj
Produced by	Bobby Bedi
Screenplay by	Vishal Bhardwaj Abbas Tyrewala
Story by	Vishal Bhardwaj Abbas Tyrewala
Based on	Macbeth by William Shakespeare
Starring	Irfan Khan Tabu Pankaj Kapoor Om Puri Naseeruddin Shah
Music by	Vishal Bhardwaj
Cinematography	Hemant Chaturvedi
Editing by	Aarif Sheikh
Distributed by	Kaleidoscope Entertainment Pvt. Ltd.
Release date(s)	January 30, 2004
Running time	132 mins
Country	India
Language	Hindi Urdu
Budget	3,00,00,000

Maqbool (Hindi: मक़बूल, Urdu: مقبُول), a 2004 Indian film directed by Vishal Bhardwaj and starring Pankaj Kapoor, Irfan Khan, Tabu and Masumeh Makhija is an adaptation of the play Macbeth by Shakespeare.

The plot of the film faithfully follows that of Macbeth with regard to events, and characterisation. The film did not perform remarkably at the box office, but won director Vishal Bhardwaj international acclaim. Apart from directing it, he had also composed the background score and songs for the film. Bhardwaj then moved on to adapting William Shakespeare's Othello in his 2006 film Omkara which won him commercial as well as critical success. The critical success of which, was responsible for winning Francis Ford Coppola's attention.

The film had its North American premiere at the 2003 Toronto International Film Festival. Though the film failed to entice much of an audience during its theatrical run in India, critics were appreciative and Pankaj Kapoor went on to win a Filmfare Award for Best Actor (Critics) and a National Film Award for Best Supporting Actor.

Plot

The Film is based on William Shakespeare's Macbeth and in this movie the backdrop is Mumbai underworld. Maqbool (Irfan Khan) is a right hand man of Jahangir Khan (alias Abba Ji) (Pankaj Kapoor), a powerful underworld don. Maqbool is grateful and feels a close connection and personal indebtedness to Abba Ji. The movie gains pace with two corrupt police-men (played by Om Puri and Naseeruddin Shah) predicting that Maqbool would soon take over reins of Mumbai Underworld from Abba Ji. These two thus play a role akin to the three witches in the original play.

Nimmi (Tabu) is Abba Ji's mistress, but she secretly loves Maqbool. Maqbool loves Nimmi, too. Nimmi also encourages Maqbool's ambitions and persuades him to kill Abba Ji in order to take over as don. Maqbool is torn between his love for Nimmi and his loyalty to Abba Ji, but he begins to prepare the ground for becoming don by ensuring that others in the line of inheritance cannot interfere. Finally, in a dramatic scene, Maqbool murders Abba Ji in cold blood while he is bed at night, with Nimmi next to him. Maqbool gets away with it and takes over as don, just as planned; but both he and Nimmi are haunted by guilt, seeing Abbaji's ghosts and unable to wash the blood from their hands. There is also suspicion within the gang of Maqbool's role in the death of Abba Ji, and eventually the 2 lovers meet with tragic ends.

In addition to the portrayals of the three tragic heroes, the film offers performances by supporting cast members, in particular Om Puri and Naseeruddin Shah, who open the film in their roles as black comic relief corrupt police inspectors-cum-astrologers, who predict the fall of Abba Ji—who has them on his payroll—and the rise and fall of Maqbool. Contrary to the original play, the corrupt cops are not just passive soothsayers. In an effort to what they refer as "balancing forces," they also actively involve in shaping events, like aiding in providing information to Abba Ji's enforcers to wipe out a rival gang, using subtle nuances in coercing Maqbool to shift loyalties, deliberately botching an "encounter" attempt on Riyaz Boti (Macduff) and subsequently setting up an alliance between a rival politician (to the incumbent one, backed by Abba Ji) and a fleeing Guddu (Fleance) and Riyaz Boti against Maqbool.

Cast

Actor	Character in the movie	Character in the play
Irfan Khan	Miyan Maqbool	Macbeth
Tabu	Nimmi	Lady Macbeth
Pankaj Kapoor	Jahangir Khan (Abbaji)	Duncan I of Scotland
Om Puri	Inspector Pandit	Witch (Weird Sisters)
Naseeruddin Shah	Inspector Purohit	Witch (Weird Sisters)
Piyush Mishra	Kaka	Banquo
Ajay Gehi	Guddu	Fleance
Ankur Vikal	Riyaz Boti	Macduff
Shammi Narang	Mr. Bhosle	-
Masumeh Makhija	Sameera, Abbaji's daughter	-
Pubali Sanyal	Riyaz Boti's wife	Lady Macduff
Master Raj	Riyaz Boti's son	Macduff's son
Gyanchand Rikki	Mughal	Macdonwald

Crew

• Director: Vishal Bhardwaj
• Screenplay: Vishal Bhardwaj & Abbas Tyrewala
• Story: Vishal Bhardwaj & William Shakespeare
• Dialogue: Vishal Bhardwaj
• Producer: Bobby Bedi & Vishal Bhardwaj
• Music & Background Score: Vishal Bhardwaj
• Editing: Aarif Sheikh
• Cinematography: Hemant Chaturvedi
• Stunts: Ravi Shinde
• Costume Designer: Payal Saluja
• Choreography: Bhushan Lakhandri
• Lyrics: Gulzar

Reception

Maqbool received positive reviews from critics. Rediff described the movie as"a visual gallery that is an intelligent blend of dark, tragic overtones and comic, satirical undertones."^[1] Variety wrote that while the visuals are great, audiences might need an understanding of Macbeth to fully enjoy the movie.^[2]

Soundtrack

Maqbool
Soundtrack album by Vishal Bhardwaj
Released	2004
Recorded	Nirvana Studio
Genre	Film soundtrack
Label	Music Today

The soundtrack features eleven songs composed by Vishal Bhardwaj with lyrics by Gulzar.

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Jhin Min Jhini" (performed by Sadhana Sargam, Ustad Sultan Khan, Anuradha Sriram, Rakesh Pandit)	5:32
2.	"Ru-Ba-Ru" (performed by Daler Mehndi, Rakesh Pandit, Sabir Khan, Dominique)	5:53
3.	"Rone Do" (performed by Rekha Bhardwaj)	5:02
4.	"Dheemo Re" (performed by Ustad Sultan Khan)	3:18
5.	"Maqbool Theme" (instrumental)	1:34
6.	"Rukhe Naina" (performed by Sanjeev Abhyankar)	5:14
7.	"Chingari" (performed by Rekha Bhardwaj)	4:26
8.	"Killing" (instrumental)	1:36
9.	"Nirvana" (instrumental)	1:53
10.	"Shoonya" (instrumental)	1:58
11.	"Jhin Min Jhini (extended)" (performed by Sadhana Sargam, Ustad Sultan Khan, Anuradha Sriram, Rakesh Pandit)	6:24

See also

William Shakespeare's tragedy Macbeth

References

1. ^ http://in.rediff.com/movies/2004/jan/30maqbool.htm
2. ^ http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117922283.html?categoryid=31&cs=1&p=0

External links

• Maqbool at the Internet Movie Database
• Maqbool at AllRovi
• Review at Rediff.com
• Review at Variety.com
• The Hollywood Reporter review