In the third episode of this seven-episode series, Murshid Pathan (played by Kay Kay Menon) visits the office of the Naya Yug party to affirm his loyalty and present them with a suitcase of cash. After he departs, one of the party workers tries to tell the leader that if the party starts associating with the likes of Murshid Pathan, there won’t be much difference between them and the religion-driven opposition.
The leader of the Naya Yug party rebukes him in response, restating that ‘naya yug,’ ‘clean politics,’ and ‘social service’ were all a part of the hoax that they needed to put up in front of the world to secure their place in the government. At the end of the day, it is all about selling one’s morality at the right price. Directed by Shravan Tiwari, “Murshid” (2024 – ) is not a story about the Mumbai underworld that we haven’t heard before – gang wars, corrupt politicians, police officers, local politics, drugs, etc. – but a tug-of-war of morality lies at its heart. It is strictly middling, to say the least, but Kay Kay Menon’s performance shines on!
Murshid Pathan is the former mafia/ don of the Mumbai underworld who retired from his illegal practices after the death of his older son. The incident shook him to the core so much that he started social service and committed himself to the simple life of a commoner. However, years later, when his younger son, Junaid (played by Ashish Sharma), is roughed up due to his involvement in the same kind of deals his father was notorious for, Murshid is forced back from exile.
He must come to terms with the fact that the times have changed. A friend-turned-foe has taken over his position, Farid (played by Zakir Hussain), and Junaid, wrongly framed by Farid’s men, is facing the risk of being handed over to the Taliban. Murshid must re-activate his contacts, employ his most trusted men, and deploy all available resources to keep his son from being sacrificed in his battle. If you think this faintly reminds you of “The Godfather” or Ram Gopal Verma’s “Satya,” I won’t blame you.
I don’t know how many words I should expend to clearly convey that the stories from the Mumbai underground world have now been sucked dry by Bollywood due to their over-representation in the course of the first two decades of the 2000s. With “Sacred Games” (2018 – 2019) done and dusted and the reigning popularity of “Mirzapur” (2018 -), I thought we were finally turning away from the Bombay underworld to the hinterland politics of Northern India. But I should have known better. “Murshid” (2024 – ) felt like a textbook summary of all these stories, only directionless in what it wanted to portray – local politics, the power of the mob, or simply Menon’s acting prowess? I am not very sure.
Without much warning, it quickly shifts its attention from Junaid to the ruling party’s chief minister, Baburao, and his son, Jayendra. There may be a second season of this show, one that proves with improved gusto what a tour de force Murshid is in his element, but if there is one, I hope it manages to fill in the loopholes in this crime drama. Sadly, the screenplay doesn’t help its case either.
The dialogues are bland and exposition-heavy, with no remarkable lines that will leave a lasting impact. In fact, across multiple scenes, the characters repeat on a loop that Murshid has been a diamond of the Mumbai underworld, the real lion in the game (who has been portrayed with a lion-like mane, mind you). The idea is that no one would stand a chance against him once he is back in the game. But the incessant repetition of these lines makes you want to press the fast-forward button, which can never be a good sign.
However, there are two redeeming things about this show. First, Kay Kay Menon easily slips into and perfectly fits Murshid Pathan’s shoes. While the rest of the cast is busy figuring out which kind of stern face to put on, Menon knows his game. He carries around the humility of a father in crisis while maintaining the cold exterior of a gang leader in front of his peers and enemies; he glides into the action sequences with practiced precision.
Second, the show takes us into Bombay’s dirtiest and dingiest lanes and bylanes in the 1990s. The camera doesn’t shy away from the poverty of the masses, and it never makes an effort to capture bloodshed on camera—a peculiarity that serves the series well! Besides, each episode manages to uniformly unravel portions of the titular character’s life, giving us a bigger and better picture of his whole persona by the end while packing in an edge-of-the-seat ending.
In the course of the story, Murshid reveals that he adopted a Hindu boy whose father he had accidentally killed during a chase. The boy, Kumar Pratap (played by Tanuj Virvani), is now a police officer whose position within the police force is vital to understanding the confluence of power, personal vendetta, and politics in this world that Murshid resides in and silently rules.
However, this character is used underwhelmingly and left to ponder his identity crisis for a significant part, let alone the script’s pandering to all religious factions, especially the Muslims, to walk the tightrope of communal representation. “Murshid” (2024 – ) is a hit-and-miss that you can choose to walk if you are out of crime drama options. It is now available to stream on Zee5 Global.
