Mogul Mowgli

Actor and musician Riz Ahmed treads familiar turf in Bassam Tariq's feature debut, but his committed performance doesn't suffer for it. Ahmed plays Zed, a British-Pakistani MC who has garnered a loyal following for his passionate rhymes. However, just as his career looks set to peak, a degenerative auto-immune disease forces him to stay in London under the care of his parents. Ahmed, who co-wrote the film, fortifies his status as one of Britain's most capable actors by bringing blistering vulnerability to a role that requires great physicality. Meanwhile, Tariq uses striking surrealism to externalise Zed's inner unravelling. At times, the overlapping themes of lost identity and intergenerational conflict distract from Zed's story, but Ahmed's commitment to the role is such that Mogul Mowgli emerges as an ambitious success.