Maqbool (2003)
The Bollywood adaptation of William Shakespeare’s Macbeth
Directed by Vishal Bharadwaj
Key Players:
Irfan Khan: Maqbool (as Irfan)
Tabu: Nimmi
Pankaj Kapur: Jahangir Khan (Abbaji)
Naseeruddin Shah: Inspector Purohit
Om Puri: Inspector Pandit
Piyush Mishra : Kaka
Masumeh Makhija: Sameera (Abbaji's Daughter)
Ajay Gehi: Guddu (Kaka's son)
Ankur Vikal: Riyaz Boti
Shakespearian tragedy meets the Godfather in this Indianized adaptation of Macbeth. Jahangir Khan (Abbaji) is a powerful gangster wanted by the government for his involvement in underworld crime. Adopted by Abbaji at a young age, Maqbool has grown-up in the dark underbelly of Bombay’s Mafia. At the onset of the film, two corrupt police inspectors/astrologists predict Maqbool’s increasing power among the gang, even though he is already Abbaji’s right hand man. The soothsayer’s predictions come true after a rival gang is overtaken. One of this gang’s members, Riyaz Boti, is taken into Abbaji’s gang by force. Maqbool is having a secret affair with Abbaji’s mistress Nimmi and they begin to plot Abbaji’s murder so Maqbool can take his place as don, and most importantly, as Nimmi’s husband. As the Vito Corleone-like Abbaji continues to gain power he arranges the marriage of his daughter, Sameera to Guddu, the son of one of his men, Kaka. On the night of the engagement, Maqbool shoots Abbaji in his bed. Nimmi looks on as their pre-planned murder unfolds. After his death, Maqbool takes Abbaji’s place in the gang and in Nimmi’s bed. Nimmi and Maqbool are haunted by their crime, especially after learning that Nimmi is pregnant with Abbaji’s child. Maqbool’s wild desire for the family he never had ignores that the baby is Abbaji’s heir. Paranoid and haunted by his bloody misdeed, Maqbool systematically eliminates anyone else who might usurp his power and claim to Nimmi and the baby. He organizes Kaka’s murder, alienating Guddu and sparking a war between the two gangs. An attack on their compound causes Nimmi to go into premature labor. In a fit of paranoid insanity, Maqbool takes Nimmi from the hospital to their home where she dies after feverish and guilt-ridden hallucinations. Maqbool returns to the hospital to claim “his” son, only to be shot dead at the entrance by Riyaz Boti, who has harbored a grudge since his family’s murder. Like Macbeth, Maqbool ends with the death of its main players, and like any Bollywood film their love is undying to the very end. -Eve Neiger
The film “Chandni Bar” is the story of a young girl called Mumtaz. After a fire burned down her Bombay with her uncle. After her uncle’s promise to find a job as soon as possible, Mumtaz agreed to work temporarily in a beer bar, “Chandni Bar”, until they would settle in. Things though did not turn out as Muntaz expected and she ended up living her whole life connected to Chandni Bar. Tabu, a famous Bollywood actress, plays the role of Mumtaz, Atul Kulkarni has the role of Potiya Sawant, Mumtaz’s father of her children. Deepa, Mumatz closest friend and fellow dancer, is a character played by Ananya Khare and finally, Mumtaz’s Uncle is acted out by Suhas Palshikar.
