Maqbool Review: The portrayal of gangsters in Indian Cinema has changed over the years. The 20s to early 50s were ruled by rural bandits and dacoits. Until industrialization, in the late 50s, there were westernized gangsters which were further glamourized by the 70s. The Dawood rule over Bombay, the arrival of parallel cinema in the 80s, and the godfather revolution in world cinema influenced a lot of new-wave directors like Ram Gopal Verma (Satya), Mani Ratnam (Nayakan), and Vishal Bhardwaj (Shakespeare adapted trilogy) to create a raw understated portrayal of Indian gangsters.
Power Hierarchy
Based on Macbeth, here the European kingdom is replaced by the underbellies of Mumbai which is ruled by a Minority of Muslim gangsters. The community is interconnected and controlled by powerful Hindu politicians and local policemen. The clan ruled by its old master named Abba-ji is the leader of the pack. He has divided his power, between his two most loyal men Maqbool and Kaka. Maqbool and Kaka have their separate Muslim and Hindu subordinates who are more like a family to each other. Maqbool is threatened by Kaka’s son Guddu who could be the next heir of Abbaji’s autonomous authority, as Abbaji has given his daughter Sameera’s hands to Guddu (a Hindu Brahmin guy) to further legitimize her in the society.
Intra Communal Conflict
Maqbool’s loyalty to Abba ji was his first and foremost priority over conflicts with Guddu but ironically Maqbool deceived Abbaji by conspiring his murder only to resist Guddu from the Throne. Abbaji Ji was more like his father and from his own community. Although being instigated by Nimmi (Abbaji’s mistress) who had an illicit relationship with Maqbool, Maqbool sacrificed his loyalty not only due to lust for Nimmi but also because of his own greed for power to take the center and rule the city. His conflict with kaka and other Hindu subordinates takes a back seat as he directly replaces the king of the game who was comparably the closest to him.
Pseudo Secular India
Amidst the power division, Maqbool looks up to the power of Abba ji until he takes up his reign. Maqbool fails to keep the two communities together like families unlike his master, as kaka and his clan grew suspicious of Maqbool and Nimmi. The Hindu clan led by Guddu separates itself from Maqbool and rises up to become their biggest rival (one of the biggest fears of Maqbool). Guddu further threatens to rescue Sameera by frequently attacking Maqbool’s rule. Maqbool fails to keep up his reign as he turns out to be a pawn in the game of powerful upper-caste Hindu politicians who are guarded by the two policemen pandit and purohit (replacing the witches in Macbeth). Bhardwaj portrays a new-age Indian ecosystem where different communities live in harmony, they share somewhat the same corrupt human traits justifying that humanity is above religion and that it cannot control the morality of a human being. At the end of the day, both Guddu and Maqbool are two sides of the same coin (i.e. evil).
Madonna Whore Dichotomy – Maqbool Review
Nimmi has all the traits to be a femme fatale. She uses her beauty as a weapon to seduce and manipulate men in her life. Although a prostitute from Lucknow, Nimmi enjoys the special power of being the mistress of Abba ji. Under the wing of a powerful man, she is kept as a ‘Madonna’ protected from the lewd remarks of the community (which prefers to keep the honor of their women under the veils of modesty). While being in an illegitimate relationship as a concubine of an old man, she commits another adultery with Maqbool. After helping him to conspire the death of Abbaji, she remains protected under the reign of Maqbool (another man who inherited the power) but this time with suspicions about her character. Nimmi is a fearless woman who has broken all the boundaries of morality led by her community but as her sins get multiplied she eventually pays the price of being a rebellious woman. With the downfall of Maqbool, Nimmi becomes the ‘Whore’, more vulnerable to the curses of people leading to her insanity.
Marginalized Antagonists
Vishal Bhardwaj’s characters have gray shades to humanize their evil actions. Each and every character are directly or indirectly surrounded by their own sins. Maqbool being from a marginalized community has ambitions to find his own identity as more than a loyal right hand of his master. It’s his journey to acquire legitimacy until he actually dethrones Abbaji and views a vast hierarchy ruled by other dominant communities above him. For the first time, he experiences the power of Abbaji whom he looked up to which is far from his reality. Nimmi is thrice as marginalized as Maqbool as she is a Muslim woman who worked as a prostitute and later as a mistress of a local gangster. Moreover, she committed adultery and broke all the boundaries of legitimacy. Anarchy is an unwise option especially when an individual is already marginalized by gender, race, caste, religion, financial, and social standing in society. The results would always be tragic and destructive.
Symbolization in Maqbool Movie Review
Vishal Bhardwaj always uses crows as omens in his Shakespeare-inspired trilogy. The ravens are seen by characters who are driven to insanity. In Maqbool, the crow is a messenger of darkness and death which is seen by Nimmi reminding the transgression committed by her. Red is also a dominant hue in the film. A Muslim gangster’s blood splashed off over a Hindu Kundali, the house decorated by red roses to Nimmi dressed up in a red suit to seduce Maqbool. Red is a symbol of passion, intensity, lust, and future deaths written in the fate of the titular character. The Hindu symbol (Kundali) made by the two corrupt police officers pandit and purohit is to predict the future of Maqbool (a Muslim gangster) signifies the vision of a new age secular India which can live in peace with each other until their identity and territory is threatened. The five deadly Sins committed by Maqbool are Greed, Pride, Envy, Lust, and Wrath which contributed to his downfall.
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