Mulk - Movie Review

In the opening sequence of this week’s release, Mulk, a regular Muslim household in Varanasi is shown to be celebrating its patriarch, Murad Ali Mohammad’s (played by Rishi Kapoor) birthday. We see their ‘Shudh Shakahari’ neighbor, Chaubeyji, secretly relishing the kebabs, while his staunch vegetarian wife does not even touch the food in a Muslim household. She tells another lady, ‘Naach gaane tak toh theek hai, par innke yaha khana nahi kha sakte’. This sequence shows what exactly director Anubhav Sinha has in store for his audience and he uses his strong leads, Rishi Kapoor and Taapsee Pannu, to throw some light on the co-existing communal harmony and discord in our country.

Murad Ali Mohammad is a retired lawyer, who lives with his wife and brother’s family in Varanasi. Their peaceful lives are shattered when Murad’s younger brother, Bilal Mohammad (played by Manoj Pahwa), is taken into custody, owing to his deceased son, Shahid Mohammad’s (played by Prateik Babbar) involvement in a terror attack. Murad’s elder daughter-in-law, Aarti (played by Taapse Pannu), steps in as their lawyer to fight for the family and to prove that one traitor in the family, does not render them equally guilty. Anubhav Sinha, through his gritty and border-line melodramatic script, takes us through the excruciating humiliation and accusations of treason that a family goes through, when their son fails them and their country. The movie also throws a light on how politics and religion are intertwined in our country, where media and internet are used as a medium to only spread false propaganda. Whether the family succeeds in getting the charges cleared or not can be easily predicted, but the narrative does so by not favoring or criticizing any one community.

Like another gritty courtroom drama, Pink, Mulk works majorly for its dialogues. And just like Pink, I felt the courtroom arguments in Mulk were not convincing enough, but were more emotional and as I mentioned earlier – borderline melodramatic. Also, there are a lot of evidences and arguments against the family, but the movie seems to give its defense lawyer, Aarti, all the right moves which seem unconvincing to a certain extent. But, these inconsistencies can be overlooked owing to the message that this movie aims to spread. In today’s communally delicate times when a person’s patriotism is questioned based on his religion, Mulk hits the right notes. The movie does not take sides, but succeeds in conveying how impressionable young minds are polluted by the political and religious discourse in our country. One of the best dialogues in the movie is – ‘Terrorism is a criminal act, not a communal act’.

In terms of the craft and technicalities, Rishi Kapoor and Taapsee Pannu have strong characters and both play their parts seemingly well. Nina Gupta, Manoj Pahwa and Prateik Babbar provide ample support. They show the helplessness of an embarrassed outcast family and the courage of a righteous family fighting for their lost reputation.  The camerawork by Ewan Mulligan is quite natural and real. Anubhav Sinha has not had a decently reputable movie before and Mulk seems like his best work till date. A special mention of the dialogue writer (I could not find the name of the dialogue writer), for those thought-provoking dialogues.  

Mulk, will make you uncomfortable at times and uneasy with the injustice, especially in the first half. The second half is where it gets slightly problematic with the unconvincing courtroom arguments. None the less, it has a very pertinent message with no over-the-top preaching. The judge, played by Kumud Sharma, says in his closing statement -  ‘Agar koi samaaj mein acche aur boore ka bhedhaav karein, toh ghar pe calendar mein dekh lena election ke liye kitne din bache hai’ – perfectly summing up the fool our country is made, in the guise of ‘Dharm’ and ‘Desh-Bhakti’. In spite of its problems, Mulk definitely deserves a watch!

My Rating 3.5/5

P.S: It is so good to see Sunidhi Chauhan singing songs for many movies lately. This movie also has a number by her!