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Mogul Mowgli

Play trailer 1:23 Poster for Mogul Mowgli Released Sep 3, 2021 1h 30m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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93% Tomatometer 104 Reviews 75% Popcornmeter 50+ Ratings
MOGUL MOWGLI is the debut narrative feature from award-winning documentary filmmaker Bassam Tariq. It follows the story of a British Pakistani rapper (Riz Ahmed) who, on the cusp of his first world tour, is struck down by an illness that forces him to face his past, his family, and the uncertainty of his legacy.
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Mogul Mowgli

Mogul Mowgli

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Critics Consensus

An ambitious portrait of the complicated nature of identity, the challenging and emotionally raw Mogul Mowgli showcases a heartbreaking performance from Riz Ahmed.

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Critics Reviews

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Kimber Myers Crooked Marquee Not every scene fully hits its marks, but Mogul Mowgli is never content to be a standard indie drama. Rated: B+ Oct 11, 2021 Full Review Richard Whittaker Austin Chronicle The audience is thrown into Zed's world (or rather, worlds), and it's Ahmed's astounding performance that provides the through line. It's OK to be lost, because Zed is. Rated: 3/5 Sep 9, 2021 Full Review Emily Zemler Observer This is an intimate story, sometimes uncomfortably so, but it's also an expansive one, about whether our societies allow people to live outside prescribed boxes and whether it accepts them when they do. Rated: 3.5/4 Sep 5, 2021 Full Review Rory Doherty InSession Film It's a film with a singular focus, but it goes about it in an inventive way, and it's obvious to see why Ahmed invested so much effort into this worthy project. Rated: B+ Jun 17, 2024 Full Review Rhys Handley Vague Visages Centred by a performance which further confirms Ahmed’s bona fides as a leading man, Mogul Mowgli has energy to spare, but it could do with a mite more stillness to find its truest self. Jun 5, 2023 Full Review Dallas King Flick Feast An incredibly raw and powerful piece of acting... Between this and The Sound Of Metal, it cements Ahmed as one of the finest actors working today. Rated: 4/5 Nov 12, 2022 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Steve K Don't let the art throw you off. Check out the trailer and you'll get a better idea of what this is about. Riz kills it again Rated 4 out of 5 stars 06/20/24 Full Review john s BROWN RAP Anothe Riz Ahmed project dealing with the possible derailment of a music career due to a health issue? Yes, and this may be Oscar nomination number two for the young upstar(t). "Mogul Mowgli" does an excellent job of setting up the trending career of British born to Pakistani parents rapper Zed - easy since it parallels the real life of actor, writer, rapper Ahmed (Riz MC to you), but it is the physical and mental torment that ensues with a family visit that is the real pulse in the film. Attacked by his more traditional circle who find it hard to recognize the high flying rapper, and attacked by his body's immune system because it cannot recognize itself, Zed the rapper and Zaheer the son sees his rosy world come crashing to a violent halt in a double whammy of identity theft. During a frantic hospital stay on the eve of a major tour, an unsettling past haunts a desperate Zaheer in a series of hallucinatory sequences as he searches for his mind and his body. The historical context, left unexplained except for a few cloudy clues, refers to the 1947 Pakistani and Indian partition, more specifically the short story "Toba Tek Singh" that deals with the repercussions of creating a border and shuffling people based on religious lines. Oh those crazy Brits. Identity is a complex struggle Zaheer is forced to reconcile as his life crumbles, and he is literally and figuratively stuck in no man's land. Borderless. Slickly edited, from flashy concert scenes to humble immigrant apartment life, "Mogul Mowgli" flows freely from English to Urdu in a wonderful rhythm, especially poignant when father and son move from stilted social niceties to butting stubborn heads. All of this heaviness boils down to the Riz Ahmed and Ally Khan show, and a damn fine show it is. - hipCRANK Rated 4 out of 5 stars 03/30/23 Full Review dave d Riz Ahmed elevates a film that was merely pedestrian to somewhat entertaining. Ahmed, who co-wrote, can't make up for the lack of words on the page, but does his best with a nuanced performance with all the facial expressions he had in his arsenal. Besides Ahmed's genius, this is a slog at times, with things happening too quickly at times and repetitive at others. When the film reaches the fantasy it took me out of the movie. Worth watching, but a definite mixed bag. Final Score: 6/10 Rated 3 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review jaime h Riz continues to shine. This film is deep. Dark. And a wonderful showcase for the continued evolution of Riz's incredible ability to shape-shift into the characters he portrays. Not a perfect film, but perfect for what it is. Intense. Bold. Brave. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member nice flick, original Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/26/23 Full Review Joe C After seeing him in "Sound of Metal" and here, he's almost the same character: intense musician facing a health crisis. Here it's superimposed on his ethnic and religious background and his life choices diverging from them. He's great, different than the drummer guy but the same, and the movie is effective at conveying the pressure and emotion of the contradictions of being British born but not seen as British. I wish it had gone further and really explored the heritage and faith issues rather than just fast cuts and flashbacks. It also deserves a better conclusion, we see promise but no fulfillment. A well done movie overall, I look forward to the director's next and hopefully more mature work. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 09/07/21 Full Review Read all reviews
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Cast & Crew

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Movie Info

Synopsis MOGUL MOWGLI is the debut narrative feature from award-winning documentary filmmaker Bassam Tariq. It follows the story of a British Pakistani rapper (Riz Ahmed) who, on the cusp of his first world tour, is struck down by an illness that forces him to face his past, his family, and the uncertainty of his legacy.
Director
Bassam Tariq
Producer
Riz Ahmed, Thomas Benski, Bennett McGhee, Michael Peay
Screenwriter
Bassam Tariq, Riz Ahmed
Distributor
Strand Releasing
Production Co
Vice Studios, Left Handed Films, Inc., Pulse Films, Cinereach, BBC Films, RYOT Films
Genre
Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Sep 3, 2021, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Nov 10, 2021
Box Office (Gross USA)
$52.1K
Runtime
1h 30m
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