Perhaps
Kay
Kay
Menon
should
choose
his
projects
carefully,
instead
of
wasting
his
talent
like
this,
observes
Deepa
Gahlot.
It
is
baffling
why
Mumbai’s
content
producers
continue
to
be
fascinated
by
gangsters.
Murshid
might
as
well
have
been
soaked
with
déjà
vu
and
set
alight.
This
millionth
piece
of
work
inspired
by
The
Godfather.
The
gangster
who
is
the
protagonist
—
eponymous
in
this
case
—
is
practically
a
saint.
It
is
repeated
several
times
in
the
show,
directed
by
Shravan
Mishra,
that
the
entire
Muslim
population
of
Mumbai
venerates
him.
In
the
credit
titles,
the
letter
M
has
an
onion-shaped
masjid-like
dome
over
it.
The
show
begins
in
1993,
with
a
young
Murshid
Pathan
(Kay
Kay
Menon),
killing
a
rival
and
becoming
the
de
facto
king
of
Mumbai.
His
reach
extends
to
the
police
force
and
the
very
top
echelons
of
politics.
After
the
death
of
his
older
son,
he
gives
up
the
life
of
crime,
vows
never
to
pick
up
a
gun
and
gives
his
ill-gotten
wealth
to
charity.
He
hands
over
his
criminal
empire
to
his
associate
Farid
(Zakir
Hussain),
who
is
evil
and
ambitious,
but
not
as
astute
as
Murshid.
Murshid’s
placid
life
is
upended
when
he
gets
news
that
his
younger
son
Junaid
(Ashish
Sharma)
is
in
trouble.
He
has
been
framed
by
Farid’s
men,
who
plan
to
hand
him
over
to
the
Afghan
drug
dealers
whom
they
have
conned.
The
Afghans
—
called
Talibanis
—
are
said
to
be
ruthless
brutes.
Junaid
will
be
butchered
if
Murshid
cannot
save
him
in
time.
The
retired
don
is
forced
to
come
back
to
the
field
and
activate
his
network
of
loyal
men
in
order
to
rescue
Junaid.
Menon
has
been
given
a
leonine
mane
of
hair
that
frames
his
face
to
resemble
a
lion,
and
also
lends
him
an
extra
dash
of
swagger,
as
he
strides
about,
often
in
slow
motion.
To
underline
how
noble
he
is,
Murshid
adopted
the
son
of
a
cop
he
‘accidentally’
killed
and
raised
him
as
a
Hindu,
Kumar
Pratap
Rana
(Tanuj
Virwani),
a
totally
redundant
character.
His
drinking
and
marital
woes
just
add
useless
padding
to
the
seven-part
show,
since
he
does
not
actually
have
anything
useful
to
contribute.
There
is
a
lot
of
Machiavellian
planning
that
goes
into
the
rescue
of
Junaid,
after
which
the
guy
is
erased
from
the
script,
and
it
shifts
to
the
chief
minister
Baburao
(Anang
Desai)
and
his
thuggish
son
Jayendra
(Rajesh
Shrigarpure),
who
are
hoping
to
win
the
forthcoming
election
against
a
popular
new
incumbent,
Namdev
Kulkarni
(Karamveer
Chaudhary)
Meanwhile,
a
thwarted
Farid
is
stewing
with
rage
and
gnashing
his
teeth,
ignoring
orders
by
the
police
commissioner
and
the
CM
to
lay
low
till
the
elections.
While
Murshid
is
wooed
by
both
sides
for
his
influence
over
the
Muslim
vote
bank,
Farid
keeps
trying
to
plot
against
him.
Again,
the
show
goes
off
on
a
tangent
with
the
antics
of
a
corrupt
intelligence
officer,
and
adds
several
extraneous
scenes
to
bring
in
mercenary
hitmen
from
Uttar
Pradesh.
The
pace
of
the
show
and
the
many
twists
do
keep
up
the
interest
of
the
viewer,
even
if
most
of
what
goes
on
is
implausible.
Everything
is
simply
designed
to
prove
what
an
indestructible
force
Murshid
is,
probably
in
the
hope
of
a
Season
2.
Parvez
Pathan’s
camera
goes
into
the
dank
alleys,
chawls
and
dusty
factories,
that
show
that
Mumbai
is
not
just
the
glamour
of
glitzy
towers,
but
has
pockets
of
squalor
no
tourist
brochure
displays.
Though
slum
walks
are
now
a
part
of
the
city
experience
offered
to
foreigners.
Kay
Key
Menon
is
always
watchable,
and
manages
to
bring
an
element
of
freshness
even
to
the
most
hackneyed
of
roles.
Zakir
Hussain
and
Rajesh
Shringarpure
pass
muster
in
their
portrayal
of
villains
though
for
the
viewer
there
is
a
choice
between
good
and
bad
gangsters.
There
are
a
few
interesting
faces
among
the
goons
that
surround
Murshid
and
Farid
but
hardly
anyone
else
is
called
upon
to
act.
Perhaps
Menon
should
choose
his
projects
carefully,
instead
of
wasting
his
talent
like
this.
Murshid
streams
on
ZEE5.
Murshid
Review
Rediff
Rating:
