Ishq..junoon hai ki havas, khuda jaane
Dil namaazi hai ki kaafir, khuda jaane
With these words, Pankaj Kapoor puts a resounding stamp on his astonishing portrayal of Abbaji, the benevolent don, in Vishal Bhardwaj?s Maqbool. The tragedy is that Maqbool is not the story of Abbaji, but that Miyan Maqbool (played by the elsewhere accomplished Irfan Khan, whose only change of expression in this movie is closing his eyes for half a minute and opening them again).
Vishal Bhardwaj is an artist of some repute. With one of the most gifted men of our times, Gulzar, as his mentor Vishal has done some wonderful work as both composer and director. After directing the utterly adorable Makdee he has gone on to make a more challenging film, both for the director and the viewer. The result, however, is not so endearing.
Before proceeding with my dissent, I?d like to register a little hunch. I think the critics will rate Maqbool as above average while the review-writing and movie-talking public will rave about it.
Jehangir alias Abbaji is a compassionate don of the underworld. People fear just a little more than they love him. He controls his empire through his most trusted lieutenant, Maqbool. Quiet, aggressive and observant, Maqbool is everything that Abbaji is. But Abbaji is ageing while Maqbool is in his prime. This precisely is the problem of the sensitive but ambitious and dissatisfied Nimmi, Abbaji?s mistress. Other influential characters include Abbaji?s other lieutenant Kaka, who is less impulsive but more emotional than his comrades.
If you don?t know already, Maqbool is Macbeth set in Mumbai. In weaving a story of the underworld with the thread of Shakespeare?s Macbeth, the script impresses you with its finely carved characters. It impresses you as much with some skillfully crafted scenes and mostly restrained, realistic and stark cinematography. Hemant Chaturvedi?s camera does not turn stylish for the sake of being stylish (a la Company). Not far behind is the impulse-laden, fittingly harsh dialogue.
However, there?s not much else to look forward to. Pankaj Kapoor?s portrayal of Abbaji is the life of the movie. Shortly after the interval, Abbaji dies, and with him the movie dies too. What was till now a story shaped in a strikingly perceptive manner spirals downwards into a bland drama of murder and neurosis. The action and the criminal conflicts are boringly monotonous. Bhardwaj?s attempts at being bizarre are awfully tedious. Starting as an insightful portrait of gangland, Maqbool ends up wearisome and ineffectual.
One reviewer wrote that many sequences of the movie linger in your memory. The only thing that lingered in my memory was Pankaj Kapoor?s performance. Nobody has ever played the underworld king better. Not even Marlon Brando in The Godfather. Then there is Piyush Mishra, who played Kaka amazingly well. One wonders why we haven?t seen more of this obviously brilliant actor. Tabu again showcases her immense talent. It is the embodiment of Maqbool by Irfan Khan than disappoints. His poker-faced, intense look is just perfect. But the dilemma is that it almost never changes. One could blame the scriptwriters for not coming up with situations which would let the character visibly go through a trajectory, rather than remain fixated on that look. Naseeruddin Shah and Om Puri as the corrupt cops are pleasing.
I liked the characterisations, but after 2 hours, I came out not caring about what happened to Maqbool. Disappointing it is, but I do wish that Maqbool does well to pave the path for films that think beyond fashion and discotheques.
On a scale of 1-5, I would give this movie 2.5.