Over the years, Rajkummar Rao established a good will among the audience with his performances and script selection. More often than not, his films are backed by commendable scripts and relatable characters. In an attempt to give an image makeover to himself, he selected the script of ‘Maalik’, a rags-to-riches story. After generating enough curiosity with the trailer, the film was released in theatres today. How did Rajkumar Rao perform in a ferocious gangster role? Did the director, Pulkit, come up with a well-packaged commercial action entertainer? Did the Miss World 2017, Manushi Chhillar, finally score a hit? Let’s figure it out with a detailed analysis.

What is it about?

Deepak(Rajkummar Rao), based out of Allahabad, is from a poor family. Just as in any of the ‘rags to riches’ stories, he aims to become a Maalik(Owner) from a Naukar(Servant). What are the challenges, Deepak, faced in his quest to become a Maalik? Did Shalini(Manushi Chhillar), the wife of Deepak, help him to come out of the mess in which he’s stuck? What is Deepak’s relationship with Minister Shankar Singh(Saurabh Shukla)? Forms the rest of the story.

Performances:

Rajkummar Rao in the role of a deadly gangster performed well. However, he’s miscast in the role. The character like Maalik, commands the actor to possess inbuilt swag but unfortunately, it was missed in the way Rajkummar Rao carried the role. Saurabh Shukla in the role of crooked politician delivered a commendable performance as well. All other actors delivered a standard performance. There’s nothing special to talk about the performances.

Technicalities:

Cinematographer, Anuj Rakesh Dhawan is the only technician whose work is worth mentioning in the film. He captured the Allahabad raw and rustic locales of the 1990s Allahabad well. Editing by Zubin Sheikh is a big letdown, especially in the second half. At least, twenty minutes in the second half would have been edited easily. The last forty minutes of the film dragged on forever and it was a mistake from the editor. Sachin–Jigar’s songs & Ketan Sodha’s background score are very average. Let’s discuss more about the director and writer, Pulkit’s work in the analysis section.

Positives:

1.⁠ ⁠Pre-Interval Fight Sequence
2.⁠ ⁠Watchable First Half

Negatives:

1.⁠ ⁠Boring Second Half
2.⁠ ⁠Predictable Story
3.⁠ ⁠Routine Execution
4.⁠ ⁠Editing

Analysis:

KGF & Pushpa franchise movies worked out well all over the country but their performance in Hindi markets in India stood out compared to other languages. The commercial performance of the second parts of both KGF and Pushpa showed Hindi audiences’ appetite for well-packaged commercial action entertainers. There is a huge market for such films in the Hindi heartland of India but unfortunately, the Bollywood film makers in the last few years are unable to come up with solid commercial action entertainers. Rajkummar Rao’s Maalik is a desperate attempt to tap the commercial cinema potential in the Hindi markets but sadly what we get to see is a very predictable movie which was heavily inspired by KGF and Pushpa franchises.

The actors(i.e. Yash and Allu Arjun) who played the protagonist role in both KGF and Pushpa are relatively new and yet the Hindi audiences loved those two characters. It is because both Yash and Allu Arjun delivered quite a few ‘playing to the gallery’ moments with their swag and mannerisms. For a commercial entertainer to work well, the actors who play the lead character in the film should have an inbuilt swag and style. It is where, Maalik, struggled. Rajkummar Rao is a very good actor. There’s no doubt about it. He even delivered a good performance. However, it looked strange to see him in such a heavy gangster role. There was no style or swag or anything that we associate with a ‘mass’ hero in a commercial film, in Rajkummar Rao’s persona. Apart from the pre-interval action sequence, his seemingly ferocious performance as a gangster looked forced and out of place.

Another big letdown in the film is the predictability. The writer and director, Pulkit, selected a very routine script and the screenplay he chose to narrate a routine story is utterly predictable. Right from the word go, the audience will easily be able to guess the next sequence, including the twist in the climax. It is surprising to see a young director coming up with such an outdated twist. We have seen that twist in multiple movies in the past thirty years or so, starting with Krishna Vamsi’s Gulabi in 1995. There are two conflicts in the film, one in the first half and the other in the second half. The biggest mistake the director made was to come up with the face-off sequence between the protagonist and the main antagonist, upfront in both halves. It is almost impossible to sustain an audience’s attention with the remaining when a director decides to kill the main antagonist character at the very start of a tug of war. It is where the film lost track. The last forty-odd minutes in the film dragged forever with irritating action sequences one after the other.

Overall, Maalik has a watchable first half at best with a very well executed pre-interval action sequence and a boring second half that dragged on and on with a very predictable screenplay. You may give it a try watching the film when it releases on an OTT platform but it certainly don’t deserve a watch at a theatre.

Bottomline – Man’s KGF & Pushpa

Rating – 2/5

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