Mogul Mowgli (2020)- BFI London Film Festival 2020

Review

90min

Genre:       Drama, Music

Director:     Bassam Tariq

Cast:         Riz Ahmed, Alyy Khan, Anjana Vasan…and more

Writers:     Riz Ahmed and Bassam Tariq

-Synopsis-

On the brink of music superstardom and his first world tour, a British-Pakistani rapper is thwarted by an illness which threatens to derail his dreams and define his future, as his body becomes an obstacle while the complexities of culture and family conspire with a confronting hip-hop rival to test his artistic resolve, and send him on a path of existential revival.

After a career which has seen him bring to the screen everything from terrorists to tech entrepreneurs, galactic rebels to the paparazzi, and all in his own inimitable style, Wembley native Riz Ahmed turns his attentions inwards and hits closer to home, teaming up with debutant feature writer/director Bassam Tariq and plunging back into a music world into which he has more than dipped his toe—all to tell a very personal tale of identity, artistic integrity and personal struggle in 21^st century multi-cultural Britain.

Ahmed himself stars as ‘Zaheer’, better known by his MC name ‘Zed’, a British-Pakistani rapper and 21st century Englishman in New York trying to level up in the game with the help of his manager ‘Vaseem’ (Anjana Vasan) and his rivalry with fellow but more vulgar Asian rapper ‘RPG’ (Nabhaan Rizwan)—only to heed the call from home just as his big break and a global tour with a major act beckon. But his trip to London becomes much more than a family reunion and trip down memory lane when he develops a debilitating disease which traps him in the UK and within his body, putting everything he’s worked for in jeopardy while straining an already estranged relationship with his father ‘Bashir’ (Alyy Khan), as the legacy of his culture haunts him into an existential crisis of identity—forcing him to reconsider what is important during the fight of his life.

If there’s a film out there to illustrate what inclusion and representation in western cinema looks like, or what filmmaking and storytelling with a new voice sounds like, then ‘Mogul Mowgli’ is surely it. A contemporary British drama with a virtually all-Asian cast, conceived and executed by two British-Pakistanis based on what they’ve seen and gone through, with Riz Ahmed as writer/producer and star, and Bassam Tariq as director. The result among other things is a selection of scenes which showcase Ahmed’s jungle and hip hop talents honed as his real-life music alter ego ‘Riz MC’, as his character spits rhymes of righteous indignation about being a bi-cultural Brit in a society not built by or for him, and dealing with the expectations of his cultural heritage clashing with his ambition as a modern artist—all of which hits close to home for the actor. And it’s all set to a soundtrack which blends modern beats and cutting rhymes with traditional Pakistani Qawwali music.

‘Mogul Mowgli’ is however more a story of personal struggle than it is an artist’s tale—even though that struggle no doubt fuels this musician’s drive—often portrayed though sobering scenes of hospitalisation and treatment, and seen through a lens of realism. And along with a strong supporting performance from Alyy Khan as the well-meaning father who can’t quite connect to or help his ailing son, Riz Ahmed turns in an outstanding leading effort as a conflicted soul slowly broken by circumstance, but holding onto hope by his fingernails.

A performance which brings to life a young man who is outward-facing when it comes to the ills of the world, but inward-looking when it comes to his place in it, an ambitious ego-driven figure with the delusion of control whose predicament leaves him vulnerable and with no control whatsoever, not even of his own body. Forcing him to face existential questions about who he is, where he came from, and who he wants to be, all under the intense pressure of illness and the intoxication of hope while his struggle affects those around him, and brings a new perspective to his relationship with them.

Yet the classic British social realist qualities of the film are blended with something far more abstract throughout, with Tariq and Ahmed constantly sprinkling in surrealist fever dream sequences where Zed’s condition conspires with his state of mind to suddenly send him to a dark and reflective plane of existence, conjuring both the imagery of a forsaken past and culture, but also a bleak present where he is haunted by a flower-veiled spectre which he must conquer. A stylistic and narrative choice designed to work as a trippy meditation on culture, tradition, religion, and superstition, as well as the pain of Indian partition.

And although these hallucinatory transitions are designed by the filmmakers to add a cultural flavour which separates this human drama from what you might get in comparable British cinema, or indeed Hollywood, they are too frequent and really stretch the narrative to near breaking point without ever making them work effectively. The result becomes not only distracting, slightly tedious and dragged out, but it quickly begins to feel like filler and ultimately takes away from the drama far more than it adds.

Yet despite a narrative gamble which threatens to undermine the drama, this poignant story of struggle and self-determination has more than enough to overcome its limitations, dealing with identity politics in a considered manner and from a more sober place than has become the norm in the current culture wars, while delivering a story of an artist’s personal enlightenment in its own distinct style . . . and with no shortage of rhythm.

The Bottom Line…

A frank human drama that’s full of heart, told from a fresh perspective and with plenty to say about multi-cultural modern Britain, ‘Mogul Mowgli’ uses the strength of the story’s empathetic human element to overcomes some bold culturally reflective and stylistically surreal narrative choices which nevertheless miss the mark. Aided by a central performance which underlines Riz Ahmed’s reputation as an undeniably charismatic screen force, as he adds another string to his filmmaking bow—a further step on a path which will likely lead to feature directing.

‘Mogul Mowgli’ is out in the UK on the 30th of October.

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