Maqbool (2003)

Horrible, fascist and poorly acted

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

Performances by everybody was epic and only Naseeruddin Shah and Om Puri were a bit irritating...Direction at its best, and the dialogues are easy to understand that makes it unique from what Omkara was in terms of accent and set up...One time watch fare if u want to see performances and dialogues in place of execution...Recommended!!

"Maqbool" is one of those rare films which I just didn't warm to in spite of its quality. The writing is good, it's a solid, sometimes surprising adaptation of Shakespeare's "Macbeth" to modern day India. Among the updated Shakespeare films it's definitely one of the best. The dialogue is good and the script is generally strong, if a little short on quality characterization. Vishal Bharadwaj's direction is simple yet assured, confident at all times and never very clunky. The acting is uniformly excellent, and Irfan Khan is great as Maqbool (Macbeth).Still, "Maqbool" just wasn't a film I enjoyed very much at all. I'm sure I'll eventually come to understand why, but right now I think it's just the setting. Too often "Maqbool" feels like a moderately well-written crime drama, losing the intensity of Shakespeare's text, which shouldn't have been too hard to translate. The music is excellent as well, and helps set the mood, but "Maqbool" just never really gets going. There's drama and all, but instead of brimming with fiery intensity like Shakespeare's text or my favorite adaptation of it, Akira Kurosawa's phenomenal "Throne of Blood", it's all surprisingly mundane.All in all this is a middle-of-the-road Shakespseare adaptation, interestingly done and if you want to see Naserrudin Shah play a witch this is the place to do so, but overall the film never really reaches its true potential, and remains just 'good' throughout. It's almost frustratingly 'okay'.

Fascinating movie. A perfect adaptation. Since I saw the Indian adaptation before the Scottish original; it actually made me appreciate how seamlessly the story has been adapted. Pankaj Kapur as Abbaji is sensational. Note his expression when he is stopped and told that the cops are waiting for him after his arrest warrant is issued. He controls his anger and sense of injustice with humor. A classic moment. Also his revenge in the police station is well written. Full marks to Vishal for the screenplay. The casting is superb and the best example of getting a consolidated cast absolutely right. Irfaan as Mia gives a steady performance but this helps the surrounding cast to shine. Tabu is first rate. So is Om Puri. And watch for the characterization of Abbaji's silent right hand man. His devotion to Abbaji and then to Allah (watch his movements first to the song being played at Eid and then when he is asked to consume alcohol) comes across very real. As real as it gets . I am a big fan of this movie and VB to me is a sensational directorial find.

After about coming across Maqbool on the posters and in stores, I finally got to see this epic movie in 2005. This movie is an epitome of Indian cinema and not Bollywood as people conveniently believe.This movie is very special to me as I could empathize with the protagonist, Maqbool, and his own struggle in life to have an identity. I'm 26 and all my life, I have been ahead in my thinking and liked more serious stuff at a very young age. I never found any other movie that touched my emotions so much not because of it's story but because it was like my own life struggle to find an identity. I had to cry at the end of the movie!! Maqbool is every man's struggle and not just a gangster movie. Top Indian actors like Om Puri and Naseeruddin Shah play cameos in this movie. National School of Drama (NSD) has produced more actors like Irfan Khan(Maqbool) and Pankaj Kapur(. It would be wrong to compare this as another Godfather as the story line is different. Music is very contemporary and has all the elements of rich poetry and ancient Sufi aura. The beauty of this movie lies in the fact that how Hindus and Muslims co-exist for a survival. And the fact that time and again Hindu actors are made Muslims in the movies is also an indication of how India functions today. Maqbool has some of the most controversial questions that Hindus and Muslims ask even today in India and elsewhere. If you really want to see Indian gangster movies, you should watch movies made my director Ram Gopal Verma. Company, D, Sarkar, Ab thak Chappan, Ek Hasina Thi are all gangster thrillers.