It’s not that a music label (as a producer or co-producer) should only make musical films. Not all films of Venus, T-Series or even Yoodlee (earlier known as Saregama Films and Gramco Films) have been that. But in the good old days, irrespective of genre, these movies almost always had uniformly good music. And that was also the case with this film’s production company, Tips Films.
Alas! Those times have seemingly gone for good, unless a T-Series gets an Anurag Basu on board. But then, Metro…In Dino was a musical too! And when a film is an orgy of unfettered violence, and mediocre to date, what scope can be there for melody? And Maalik belongs to that category.
Much like the recent South film, Thug Life, this film revels in its studied unoriginality. About the only freshness about the movie is that the gangster born out of the same kind of circumstances is portrayed here by Rajkummar Rao, instead of any mainstream down from Amitabh Bachchan to John Abraham and more.
The hero, Deepak (Rajkummar Rao) is a firm believer in his own dictum, ‘Mazdoor baap ka mazboot beta’ (that is, he is the strong son of a laborer) and refuses to conform to norms, but loves his parents (Rajendra Gupta and Balwinder Kaur), wife Shalini (Manushi Chhillar) and friend Badaun (Anshumaan Pushkar) ardently. An incident pertaining to his father makes him murder the tormentor ruthlessly in the open, and lo(w) and behold! He becomes an outlaw and begins calling himself ‘Maalik’ (owner or boss).
Then starts a blood-curdling festival of vendetta, betrayal, the usual political shenanigans and plastic emotions to show a “core” needed for “appeal”.
Rajkummar Rao is too calculated as he aims for methodical precision in his first outing as a gangster, but sadly he cannot hope to match the masters in this genre. Creating a far better impression is Anshumaan Pushkar as his loyal accomplice in whatever Maalik plans or does.
Surprisingly, Manushi Chhillar is better than in any film before. As Shalini, she is evocative in her miniscule role. Rajendra Gupta and Balwinder Kaur are good in their standardized roles. Swanand Kirkire overdoes in parts, impresses in others. Saurabh Shukla seems tired of doing yet another old rogue turn—wonder why he accepted it. Saurabh Sachdeva and Prosenjit Chatterjee (as the rogue cop) sparkle for a while before going cliched thanks to the writing.
Nothing impresses, least of all Pulkit’s direction (he also writes the film with Jyotsana Nath).
Like the similar in tenor Deva earlier this year (and of course, Thugs of Life again!), this one’s a complete waste of resources, and decidedly the same for viewers in terms of time, money and energy.
Rating: *1/2
Tips Films’ & Northern Light Films’ Maalik Produced by: Kumar S. Taurani & Jay Shewakramani Directed by: Pulkit Written by: Pulkit & Jyotsana Nath Music: Sachin-Jigar Starring: Rajkummar Rao, Manushi Chhillar, Saurabh Shukla, Anshumaan Pushkar, Prosenjit Chatterjee, Saurabh Sachdeva, Rajendra Gupta, Balwinder Kaur, Sp. App.: Huma Qureshi & others
