Mogul Mowgli

Bassam Tariq-s Mogul Mowgli, starring the charismatic Riz Ahmed, is an explosively good film, that wowed audiences at its world premiere in the Berlin Film Festival. The film, that played in the Panorama section, is a partly autobiographical exploration of the life of British-Pakistani rapper Zed, following a crisis. British-Pakistani actor Riz Ahmed puts in a hypnotic performance; he is also the real-life rapper MC Riz, one half of the hip hop duo Swet Shop Boys.

The film opens with a concert of Zed, a talented but self-centred British-Pakistani rapper born Zaheer, based in New York. On the verge of a big European tour, he returns to his family in suburban London. This stokes childhood memories, but also rifts with his conservative father Bashir Alyy Khan. Attacked in a casual encounter with a -fan- and hospitalised, he is diagnosed as having a rare, auto-immune disorder, experimental treatment for which may end his career. This is when he has surreal hallucinations that evoke his South Asian heritage, including Partition and Toba Tek Singh.

It is not often one sees desi/NRI experiences on the big screen that bristle thus, with a deeply personal, political exploration of artistic issues and South Asian identity and heritage beyond the ABCD American-born confused desi template. In similar terrain as Bhaji on the Beach 1993 and Mississippi Masala 1991, it significantly ups the ante three decades on. Ahmed, whose work includes Mira Nair-s The Reluctant Fundamentalist, Sound of Metal, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and The Night Of, has also co-written and coproduced this film. It also marks the fiction debut of American-Pakistani documentary filmmaker Bassam Tariq, who co-directed the Sundance-funded These Birds Walk, and directed Ghosts Of Sugar Land, now on Netflix.

The direction is assured and the film well crafted. It is a fascinating exploration of transatlantic desi roots, American Pakistani and British Pakistani. Ahmed chews the scenery in a terrific performance, his rap is probing and prickly. The screenplay explores several issues concerning art and the South Asian legacy. There are images of his family hiding during Partition, as well as the surreal figure of Toba Tek Singh, his face covered in a thick marigold veil, the kind north Indian grooms wear. There-s also humour when his manager Vaseem the lovely Anjana Vasan, gets his dimwitted rap rival RPG Nabhaan Rizwan to perform, rather than cancel Zed-s gig. Finally, there-s a moving impromptu rap, Toba Tek Singh, that Zed does with his father. It-s when he becomes vulnerable, that Zed finally acknowledges his South Asian roots, including qawwali, from which he had distanced himself. The editing is somewhat uneven.

The title, of course, refers to his mixed identity, combining his Mughal legacy with the Mowgli-ish corral that constrains brown artists in the West. There-s also a marvellous scene in which a black rapper accuses Zed of appropriating his music. Annika Summerson-s evocative and surreal cinematography elevates the film, despite mainly interior locales. Paul Davies- sound design is superb. This is a crackling good film, an absolute must-see.

Meenakshi Shedde is India and South Asia Delegate to the Berlin International Film Festival, National Award-winning critic, curator to festivals worldwide and journalist. Reach her at meenakshi.shedde@mid-day.com

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