Maqbool

Maqbool was released in 2004 and remains one of the most critically acclaimed movies of all times. This was the second movie directed by Music director turned Director- Vishal Bharadwaj, after Makdee.

Plot and Story:
Maqbool is an adaption of Shakespeare’s Macbeth with characters and story line moulded appropriately to suit the soil. Based in the rustic Mumbai underworld is the empire of Jehangir Khan (respectfully called Abbaji, meaning a Father-figure in Urdu.) Jehangir Khan and Kaka (meaning uncle in Hindi) have matured under Lalji bhai. After Lalji bhai’s death, Jehangir becomes the unopposed heir to his empire spreading and reserving his dominance over his areas of operations. Maqbool is an adopted son of Abbaji and one of his trusted lieutenants, apart from Kaka and Guddu (Kaka’s son and Abbaji’s proposed son-in-law).

Maqbool is a capricious soul torn between his loyalty to Abbaji and a secret love for Abbaji’s mistress- Nimmi, who compels him to betray Abbaji. His lust for power and love towards Nimmi leads him to overcome everything that comes in his way of domination. Fearing Guddu’s natural accession to Abbaji’s position, Maqbool and Nimmi plot and kill Jehangir in a cold blooded murder while Jehangir is in sleep, and no one but Nimmi around.

This begins a series of hatred, hand-shakes, switching loyalties and killings. Meanwhile guilt haunts Maqbool and Nimmi, who constantly feels blood stains on her hands that she cannot wash out. Maqbool conspires and kills Kaka and Guddu teams up with Riyaz Boti (Abbaji’s nephew whose father is killed by Maqbool), to settle his scores with Maqbool. Pandit and Purohit are two corrupt police officers who, in their act of “balancing powers” make a fertile ground for Maqbool’s rise, and later his death.

Similarities to Godfather:
Jehangir Khan’s character seems to draw parallels with that of Don Veto Corleone of Mario Puzo’s The Godfather. Some striking similarities include:

• A short stature (Mario Puzo describes Veto Corleone as a short guy, ditto for Jehangir Khan in Maqbool)
• Husky voice
• Denial to a lucrative offer that involves dealing in narcotics
• A man of word, a dominant in his area and a Don with ethics

Dialogues:
Vishal Bharadwaj has worked hard on his screenplay and dialogues, some of the truly impressive dialogues in this movie include:

• “Aag ke liye paani ka dar bane rehna chahiye. Shakti ka santulan bahut jaroori hai sansar main” (A dread for water should always be maintained over fire. Balance of power is absolutely essential in this universe.)
• “Maine rishta nahi, naam poochha hai” (Pandit and Purohit’s senior responds when Purohit replies “Abbaji” on asked what is the Don’s name.)
• “Gilouri khaya karo Gulfaam, jubaan kabu main rehti hai” (Jehangir Khan warns a local MLA to be within his limits.)
• "Paale to kutte bhi jaate hain Miyan" (Nimmi compels Maqbool to get heart over his head.)

Music:
Vishal Bharadwaj’s music in this movie has a classical base. “Jhin mini Jhini” is a truly melodious track crafted by Vishal himself.

Cast and Direction:
This movie seems a bundle of titans with major theatre talent appearing together on silver screen. Actors are meticulously chosen to suit the characters. Pankaj Kapur and Irfan Khan seem irreplaceable as Jehangir Khan and Maqbool respectively. Old buddies Om Puri and Naseeruddin Shah justify the characters of Pandit and Purohit. Ajay Gehi is good as Guddu. Piyush Mishra (a theatre figure) plays Kaka, and Tabu completes the talent crew as Nimmi.

All in all, Maqbool is an appeal for classes, rather than masses, and a must watch for all those who sincerely appreciate good quality movies.

Sparks and shadows of 70s and 80s

70s was a period when hindi cinema was getting young. Heroes got trendy with westernized looks- long hair, bell-bottoms, everything that supported the Hippie ways. While the Vinod Khannas and Feroz Khans of Bollywood were transforming heroes to hunks, the Zeenat Amans and Parvin Babis were making the silver screen sexier.

70s had a bite for every taste bud, be it the best of action, emotions or pure humour. From Zanjeer via Koshish to Chupke Chupke, Bollywood was busy feeding everyone on its way, hmm..can’t ignore the hands that crafted these classics. This era reared an intelligent breed of directors like Gulzar and Hrishikesh Mukherjee. Movies like Mere Apne, Aandhi, Koshish and Angoor have made Gulzar a legend. Through Gulzar, practicality had started being practiced in Bollywood.

Hrishikesh Mukherjee has been a unique story teller and through his flexible ways of film making, he gave some of the best comedies like Chupke Chupke and Golmaal, at the same time some of the best emotional dramas like Anand, Abhimaan and Namak Haraam…movies that hitherto have no parallels in Bollywood.

Hand in hand to the commercial hits was a new genre of movies rooting in deep-the parallel cinema, thanks to directors like Shyam Benegal and Govind Nihlani. They had a great way going- hiring the best talent from the NSDs and FTIIs, getting a strong screenplay built on a sensitive topic, churn out their grey cells succulently and whoa…what came out would be a masterpiece. Movies like Nishant and Kalyug (a modern day parallel to the age old epic- Mahabharat) proved a silver lining for the critics. Bollywood is indebted to parallel cinema for acting geniuses like Naseeruddin Shah, Om Puri, Pankaj Kapur, Shabana Azmi who got a hard earned and well deserved attention in Bollywood.

It was also a time for superstar Rajesh Khanna to share his space, and step down under the aura of another SuperStar- Amitabh Bachchan, oh boy, anger and action appeal more than romance these days J. “Angry Young Man” Amitabh Bachchan, after a brief stint in mediocre movies and a second-to-Rajesh Khanna role in Anand, gave his first solo superhit- “Zanjeer”. The show had just begun, and destiny had lined a series of superhits …Deewar, Sholay, Don..the star was getting brighter. 70s was undoubtedly the “Bachchan era” of Bollywood.
Banking on the Bachchan mania and hitting the gas harder was Yash Chopra, who crafted beauties with AB through Deewar, Trishul, Kala Paththar and Silsila. Ramesh Sippy too came up with the Biggest Hit ever of Bollywood- Sholay in 1975.

Moving into the 80s hindi cinema was entering a rather inert phase, with very few Superhits. Sai Paranjapye would occasionally chip in with some innocent and equally beautiful creations. Farooq Shaikh and Dipti Naval (girl next door), paired up with Sai Paranjapye formed a trio that gave some truly beautiful and entertaining movies like Katha and Chashm-e-baddoor.

It was a period when ageing bones were making way for the fresh blood, and an entirely fresh breed of actors came in from in-house acting schools, yes this was the Gen-Next of the stars of the 60s. Sanjay Dutt, Kumar Gaurav, Sunny Deol were set to rule the silver screen, but hey..there was another one coming who was not as an elite as his competitors. He was Anil Kapoor, one of the finest and most respected actors of Bollywood, he was here to stay and rule, all by his own. Anil Kapoor paired up with the new Showman- Subhash Ghai to give some superhits like Meri Jung and Ram Lakhan, but it was N. Chandra to get the angry Anil penetrate into the audience through Tezaab- the 1988 Superhit which bagged him his first Filmfare award for best actor.

Late 80s also launched the chocolate hero- Amir Khan, his debut movie- Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak was a major Superhit of 1988 and a trend setter. QSQT definitely transformed the way love stories were handled in Bollywood, and most importantly- it gave Bollywood one of its greatest actors- Amir. Salman Khan too made his presence felt as a Lover Boy in Maine Pyaar Kiya, released in 1989.

Bollywood music lived its best time in the 70s, thanks to R D, but 80s was a leaner graph, short lived songs diving towards mediocrity due to lack of melody. Again, QSQT was a trend setter here.

All in all, apart from Amitabh Bachchan, there have been a lot that Bollywood has received from these decades. More on the success stories of the Khans and other Bollywood actions, coming soon - “90s- It’s an all Khan affair”.

BOLLYWOOD – KAL SE AAJ TAK

Hindi Cinema has been a part of life for most of the Indians, particularly in the post-independence era. Six decades of entertainment, and Bollywood keeps getting younger each day. All these years, Bollywood has been offering favourable conditions to budding talent. Looking back through these decades brings us a mixed bag of entertainment- emotions, romance, action, patriotism, comedy, there is something in it for everyone, no matter- Bollywood is omnipresent.

Innocent 50’s and 60’s

Hindi Cinema (it wasn’t called Bollywood then J) was a budding industry in the late 40’s and early 50’s. India had just been independent from ages of foreign rule, and Bollywood had its role to play in building society. Directors like V Shantaram and Bimal Roy were the front runners in showcasing social concerns through their movies- movies like Do Aankhen Barah Haath, Sujata carried a message for the audience.

It was an era of B&W cinema, the trio- Raj Kapoor, Dilip Kumar and Dev Anand were the heartthrobs and had their own set of sincere audience, and at the same time, Pran and Ajit played the object of ire. Those were the days when movie dialogues would come directly out of Hindi literary works; choreography found its origins in Indian classical dancing and music emerged out of Indian classical ragas. An industry which was very much “Indian”. This era supported a very narrow spectrum of topics- emotional family dramas were crowd pullers and a movie’s success would depend proportionally to the tears shed by the audienceJ.

Raj Kapoor was the ShowMan creating larger than life portrayals. This was the time though when Guru Dutt was busy creating classics that would attract only a limited audience. His movies being ahead of time would hardly appeal to the mediocre Indian audience then, but his work was to be rightly appreciated by generations to come. His work made him a Genius.

It was 1960 when the most prestigious Bollywood movie ever made ascended the silver screen in elegance; Mughal-e-Azam, a larger than life portrayal of a royal love story and a conflict between blue blood. Till date Mughal-e-Azam finds a respectable place in the hearts of Bollywood lovers.1960 gave another trend setter movie; B R Chopra came up with a fantastic creation- Kanoon - the first song- less movie of Bollywood.
Another trend setter movie – Sangam was released in 1962. This was the first Bollywood movie ever to be shot in a location outside India, also a movie with 2 intervals. A considerable portion of the movie was shot in some beautiful locations in Europe, Raj Kapoor undoubtedly was a ShowMan.

Proceed ahead into the 60’s and Indian cinema was getting trendy. Fresh breed of actors like Sunil Dutt, Dharmendra, Shammi Kapoor and Jitendra shared a considerable portion of the silver screen. This was a time when every actor would be an elite- driving Left Handed Impalas, singing songs in 3 piece blazers and normally an “Iklauta Waaris” of huge “estates”J. While Shammi Kapoor was busy entertaining every genre of the audience, Jitendra was getting ready to replace him in the late 60’s.

This decade bred some truly talented directors including B R Chopra, Vijay Anand, Raj Khosla, Manoj Kumar and Shakti Samanta.

Some of the best lost-and-found family dramas like Waqt (B R Chopra), suspense thrillers like Jewel Thief, Teesri Manzil (Vijay Anand), emotional dramas like Guide (Vijay Anand), patriotic movies like Upkaar, Purab aur Pascchim (Manoj Kumar) and romantic movies like Aradhana (Shakti Samanta) were released during this time.

Music in Bollywood lived its best times during this era; Melodies crafted meticulously by Shankar-Jaikishan, S D Burman, Naushad rule the hearts of millions till date. This was also a time when musician duo Lakshmikant-Pyarelal worked hard and had their place reserved in Bollywood. But it was in mid 60’s that a star was born; Bollywood got its most trendy and popular Music Director ever – R D Burman.

Approaching the end of this era Indian audience was to get the first SUPER STAR of Bollywood- Rajesh Khanna, who instantly became a heartthrob of the whole country. He was here to stay and rule, but only for a few years… another star was just on the horizon. More of the rise and fall of SuperStars in the next post- “Sparks and Shadows of 70’s and 80’s”.

YUVA

YUVA- A film by Mani Ratnam. It is a distinct topic, only to be touched by distinct directors like Mani. Continuing with his brigade of impressive movies like Roja, Bombay, Mani Ratnam adds yet another feather to his cap through Yuva.

Yuva- as the name suggests- is a story of youth, responsible Indian youth entering politics. Michael (Ajay Devgan) is a student leader having intentions to clean the political system by being a part of it.
Lallan (Abhishek Bachchan), a lower middle class hooligan working for a corrupt political leader - Prosonjit Bhatacharya (Om Puri)
Arjun (Vivek Oberoi), a flamboyant youth with dollar dreams.

Mani Ratnam is a unique storyteller, this story begins on the busy Howrah bridge of Calcutta. Three youngsters (Lallan, Michael and Arjun) completely unknown to each other cross paths on the Howrah Bridge one fine day. Movie runs back to unfurl each one's story and gets them back to present, and the 3 lives suddenly change from here on...

Michael fosters a group of motivated youngsters (including Oberoi) making them aware of their responsibilities towards their society. These ignited minds and their social work lays the foundation for upcoming elections. Prasonjit (Om Puri) works his way out to curb the younger race, but good work speaks out and Michael settles his scores with Prasonjit by winning the elections.

Movie ends when 4 "Yuva" leaders enter the assmbly by sidetracking Prasanojit- depicting a decline of corruption and beginning of cleaner politics.

Movie boasts of intelligent direction and editing, backed by a strong screenplay; starkly appealing to the sincere audience of this genre of movies.

Abhishek Bachchan delivers one of the finest performances of his career through Lallan. Ajay seems irreplacable in whatever he does. Vivek is good and justifies his character.

Female artists hardly have any contribution in this movie, although Rani and Kareena have done their best.

Music is good, "Khuda Hafiz" and "Fanaa" entertain the audience, "Dhakka Laga Bukka" inspires the youth.

Mani Ratnam belongs to the smarter race of Indian movie directors. Only a few directors in Bollywood dare to attempt such plots, at the same time care to achieve it.