An Oscar-nominated actor; a documentarian-turned-butcher; a diaspora hip-hop drama.
What reads as a disparate set of elements is alchemy in practice with “Mogul Mowgli,” Bassam Tariq’s fiery debut.
The protagonist is a London-born Pakistani rapper (Riz Ahmed): As Zed to his fans, Zaheer to his friends, and Zuzu to his mum, his identity is split between east and west and not fixed in either.Ahmed and Tariq dive into that schism of the self in a sometimes surreal movie that also has Ahmed tap into his real-life rap and spoken-word battle skills as a musician.
(He performs under the moniker Riz Mc.) “Mogul Mowgli,” shot a few months after his Oscar-nominated turn in “Sound of Metal” wrapped production in late 2018, again tasks the London-born Pakistani actor to play an artist coping with degenerative illness.
His “Sound of Metal” drummer was going deaf; Zed is losing control of his
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