Maqbool | Typical Indian Cinema Drama Movie

* A masterpiece by Vishal Bhardwaj and everyone in the movie.* There are so many reasons to watch this movie.* Top rated acting by everyone in the movie. Tabu Irfaan, Pankaj Kapoor, Naseer, Om Puri, Piyush Mishra and everyone else. No one can every match the height of the movie.*A tight and engaging screenplay.* Music by Vishal Bhardwaj is not great but thats what this movie need.* Great lyrics by Gulzaar.* Few scenes stand out like when Irfaan sees dead Pankaj Kapoor, Irfaan and Piyush Mishra scene on the bridge, Naseer and Om Puri Kundali scene in the police van(my favorite), Every scene you have tabu

Intelligent and inventive updating of Shakespeare's "Macbeth" to the culture of the modern Indian underworld in Mumbai. Director Vishal Bhardwaj and screenwriter Abbas Tryewala walk the tightrope between fidelity to the original and inventiveness rarely making a misstep. Indeed, you don't have to have any knowledge of "Macbeth" to appreciate "Maqbool" as a well above average gangland film, filled with interesting characters, and tons of politics, violence, alliances and deals made and broken.The acting is generally excellent. Pankaj Kapur practically steals the film with his performance as Maqbool's boss, a savvy mob leader who has kept power not only through fear, but through inspiring loyalty and even love from not only those around him, but from 'the people' as well, by standing up for India's many minorities, who in turn elect officials inclined to look the other way at mob activitiesThe film is an interesting mix of old and new for Bollywood. The style and tone is naturalistic, the performances unforced. There are echoes of "The Godfather". And while there are songs, there are only a few, and generally within a context where someone bursting into song actually makes sense - a wedding celebration for instance.The film does wind down a bit towards the end, but so does (for me) Shakespeare's play - the most interesting thing being Macbeth's (or Maqbool's) seduction by and rise to power, more than the seemingly inevitable consequences.This is well worth seeing for anyone interested in Shakespeare, or Indian cinema, or just a good tale of power struggles whether in the mob or in society at large.The Eagle blu-ray is of poor quality, so this DVD (which I haven't seen) may be the better deal for the money.

I am relatively new to Hindi films so, I have to take my friends' word for it that tragedies are still rare, and that that is why the film did not do as well as it could have financially. Great films do not always score well at the box office.As with the Shakespeare's MacBeth, from which this is inspired, the relationships of the characters is a little complex and takes a some getting used to; don't get discouraged, they become more and more distinct as the intrigue increases. The story of a powerful kingdom at war has been appropriately adapted to one about a powerful Indian Mafia, and the relationships between the don (king) to his lieutenants--and potential next in lines--is important to the story.From what I understand, Pankaj Kapur/Kapoor who played Abbaji (the boss), won accolades for his depiction of a "The Godfather"-like king-boss. The combination of father-like respect and predatory fear that he uses to hold his pack together is crucial to Maqbool's later internal conflict and is made more believable by the police's references to Boss Abbaji coming to power by killing his own boss and at least one close friend to get there. Live by the sword, die by the sword.Irrfan Khan, who plays Maqbool, is more familiar to many of us Westerners in his later role as the Police Inspector from Slumdog Millionaire  Slumdog Millionaire  .There are apparently at least 2 different DVD releases of the film but I am not sure how they are different.  Maqbool DVD 2004   Maqbool (Indian Cinema / Bollywood Movie / Hndi Film / DVD)  Amazon has the "actors of the film" links different on them, but they are the same movie. I bought the one with multiple people on the cover only because the cover looked more like the cover of Vishal Bhardwaj's Omkara  Omkara (New Hindi Film / Bollywood Movie / Indian Cinema / Hindi Film / DVD)   Omkara  (which I also bought and loved); the production quality was very good (including a decorative cover box around a regular dvd case), the subtitles were well translated and easy to read, and it includes the making of special feature.

My general experience with Indian home releases of films pre-2010 has been shifty at best, but being a fan of Tabu and Vishal, I had to try Maqbool. The release by Eagle isn't the best nor the worst I've seen. The transfer is decent looking (and sounds okay), even if they decided to letterbox the film and the back of the DVD states it's Anamorphic Widescreen. The subtitles work (and the use of language seemed appropriate), even though the sync in some lines were delayed or rushed at times.Release also comes with about 6min. of extras (labeled as other attractions): 5min. of Making Of (basically Vishal talking about Irrfan Khan, Tabu and Pankaj Kapoor).I'm not sure what this would look like in a proper bluray upgrade -- or if VB productions would be planning to launch a BR release of the Shakespeare trilogy (alongside Omkara and Haider) -- but this release of Maqbool seems as good as it's gonna get so far without having to blow up the image size.Oh, and the scenes are only divided in 6 chapters (9, if you go to the Song section for the three songs in the movie), which seemed a little meager for a 2hr movie and makes it hard if you're looking for a scene in specific. But that's only for those interested in the architecture of the DVD.

fantastic performances ... specially by Tabu

The movie might have been really good but the subtitles provided on this version are TERRIBLE and ruined the movie for me.

Die Tatsache, dass der Sprechtext in Hindi ist und man auf die Untertitel angewiesen ist, sollte einen keinesfalls abschrecken. Man gewöhnt sich sehr schnell daran und dann zieht der Film einen in seinen Bann. Er ist wirklich exzellent und jeder Shakespeare-Liebhaber muss ihn haben.

good story