Maqbool was classy because Bhardwaj made excellent use of mood and setting, and took his time to introduce elements into the plot. Such films ought to create a sense of mystique, if not larger-than-lifeness. Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster is made with the production values of the 90s. This loss of glory forms the paradox for his own defeat, a tragic consequence he hadn't accounted for. When Babloo arrives at the mansion, he becomes privy to its loss of glory. Betrayed by Chhoti Rani, he loses self-respect, power, money and a small chance at true love (Saheb at one point suggests he marry Deepal Shaw, daughter of his trusted aide). When Saheb tells her he's travelling to the city and if she needs anything, she shoots back mockingly, 'Bring me back my nights if you can.' Chhoti Bahu wouldn't do that with such stridence even in her dream.ĭhulia shapes the character of Babloo (Hooda) as an outsider, who is scorned by his lover for being too 'cheap.' He suffers the same fate at the hands of Chhoti Rani. In fact, Chhoti Rani and Chhoti Bahu represent two opposite ends of the spectrum, a contrast that symbolises the changing social position of women in royal families.

His feisty wife (Mahie Gill as Chhoti Rani) is neglected but she is in no way the coy and faithful Chhoti Bahu from Sahib Biwi Aur Ghulam.

Saheb wishes to enter politics because it would help him retain his respect and save him from abject penury. Of these opulent mansions where milk and honey flows is untrue. Those in the inner circles know that the glorified story His saheb (Jimmy Shergill) begs with his step-mother for whatever little scrap he could partake. Dhulia adopts the same apparatus in Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster. Kashyap doesn't do a Bunuel in Gulaal Bunuel was charmed enough by the bourgeois to take gentle digs at them, while Kashyap sears through their charade. There's also a bit of Gulaal here, Anurag Kashyap's finest film yet, in which he looks at the royalty with contempt. That's why when you see a ruthlessly ambitious Babloo (Randeep Hooda) rising through the ranks, you know the real influence for this character is Shiney Ahuja's Vikram in Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi and not Irrfan Khan's Miyan Maqbool in Maqbool. On the surface, you may be tempted to ally Dhulia's themes with those of Kashyap and Bhardwaj's but the director of films like Haasil and Charas truly belongs to the line of filmmaking that someone like Sudhir Mishra represents. Instead, he plays it straight with single-minded focus on the development of his characters and the impact they would have on the plot.ĭhulia lacks the stylistic qualities of Bhardwaj and Anurag Kashyap, both directors from small-town India like him. It's fascinating to see how Dhulia doesn't succumb to the idea of doing this as an expose film on the hypocrisy that breeds within royal mansions neither does he develop the crime angle, a move that partially subverts this film's obvious direction towards the crime genre. It tries to be both, balancing its personal homage spirit with a gripping tale of intricate politics, love and betrayal set against a decadent royalty that's rapidly losing touch with the realities of modern-day existence. Post YOUR reviews here!īorrowing liberally from the Shakespearean tragedy Macbeth, Tigmanshu Dhulia's Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster owes more to Vishal Bhardwaj's Maqbool than Guru Dutt's Sahib Biwi Aur Ghulam. It inspired me to pull out seven more Shakespeare films that are well worth the watch.Shaikh Ayaz feels that Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster is a gripping tale of intricate politics, love and betrayal. And may I just say this? The film wove magic that an evening of Parcheesi in our small apartment could never have done. It was an astonishing film in that it was both epic and intimate. The film was shot in black and white and opened with a shot of waves crashing against a rocky shoreline beneath the Danish castle, then cut to two riders galloping furiously across the steppes. The play had been translated into Russian by Boris Pasternak (author of “Dr. Paul and watch a Russian version of ‘Hamlet’” was better than “You’re in for some fun, tonight, baby! I found the Parcheesi set!” Back in 1982 when I was just married and living in Minneapolis, my wife and I went to see a Russian film version of “Hamlet.” That sounds like a quite the romantic date, doesn’t it? What can I say? It was a rainy, gloomy night in the middle of the week in November and we didn’t have much else to do, so: “Hey, honey, let’s go over to some museum in St.

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