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Mailk (Amazon Prime, Malayalam) – 4.0/5.0

I am not a huge fan of raw Gangster movies and even some critically acclaimed ones like Kammattipadam was not to my liking. But this one really surpassed my expectations. Brilliantly shot, and the 2 hours 45 minutes run-time was hardly felt; script, direction, and editing by one person probably helped a lot in this case. The actors were all excellent, even those who came in only in one scene. If not for the Covid 2nd wave, this would have been an awesome theater experience.

And a special mention to that opening shot of 12 minutes. I thought of it more as a marketing gimmick but that one perfectly executed piece!

Malik (Malayalam) - 4.5/5

Fishing hamlet, smuggling, crime, local don - the plot may look cliche, but Mahesh Narayanan has pulled off a good one here! Cast is awesome - Fahadh, Vinay Fort, Nimisha Sajayan, Dileesh Pothen, Joju George have all given exceptional depth to their characters. Keeps one captivated and the script has enough thrills and twists. A really good watch.

If you like Malik, do watch Dhanush starrer Vada Chennai by Vetrimaran, which is available on Hotstar. Similar story line, with more emphasis on crime and executed much better if you ask me!

Aanum Pennum (Malayalam) - 2/5

Collection of 3 short stories, none of which are above ordinary. Good performances by Asif Ali & Parvathi. I'd rather watch Malik a 2nd time than this.

Malik 2.0 /5
Didn’t like the movie at all. Even Fahad can’t pull out the role well. He didn’t able to show ‘more than life image’ of a don convincingly. He portrayed better his old age but young protagonist is not all convincing . The rage , the leadership everything didn’t work well . I rate Kamal in Nayakan and Mammooty in Kauravar and Danush in Vada Chennai much better than Fahad
For example his acting during his visit to gulf look more like a “polished person used to suits” rather than a person new to it and style . The movie is very unconvincing about his rise to a don also . Even the animosity was very superficial

The politics of the movie is very regressive in showing Muslims as a community , especially the way they closed the gates during a calamity (the opposite happened during every natural calamity ) . The way he distorts the real incident happened in “Beema Palli” is a dishonour to victims who suffered the police brutality

As per me Vada Chennai , Gangs of Wasseypur , Nayakan and Company are the best so far in gangster movies

Personally I would concur with your rating.

The direction of the flashback scenes were more like 80s IV Shashi masala movies. Would have preferred a more stark, restrained impactful direction instead the lengthy conventional grandma story stelling aproach.

Fahad's character was not well fleshed out for his younger days and it shows in his depiction

Still wouldnt call it a lousy movie. But felt let down because of what the movie could have been

I would say I’m sort of disappointed with Malik. The issue is that it does not want to portray Fahad as a ruthless gangster, but rather wants to give a picture that he is a protector of the people. The lead character does not have a negative arc at all and then to make it worse everyone around him is vying to get his blood. So a lot of logical loopholes, but the most important being that there is no definitive story telling of the lead character. Fahad is neither the menacing and ruthless gangster and neither is he the true leader of the masses. And quite frankly Fahad does not seem to have the acting chops to pull of this kind of a character. We all have come to appreciate how versatile he is, but not for this role.

+1 to this. IMO, Fahad/Mahesh were trying to pull off a Nayagan-esq movie which turned out to be quiet flat. They might have been better off narrating this story from Vinay Forrt's POV right from start and ending it with a twist.
Rating it 2/5.

Malik - 4/5

My god, what a movie! This would have killed it in the theatres.

Nimisha is a thoroughly bankable star. Pulls off her roles really well. Nayattu, The Great Indian Kitchen and now Malik. 2021 has been quite some year for her.

While watching the movie, I felt it has Beemapalli written all over it. Have been to the place to buy video game cartridges when I had spent the high school vacations in Trivandrum back in the ‘90s and distinctly remember the mosque.

This is my understanding, may be wrong- whole essence of movie is to show Fahad as a Messiah where as characters around try to portray him as notorious gangster. Yes, Ali doesnot live upto the hype and I felt Fahad was under utilized. It's been over 24Hrs since I watched movie and David and Roselyn are characters that I recall first. Good movie and has novelty but probably I had higher expectations.

Malik. What an interesting movie. Gripping tale on a sensitive subject. Those interested in politico chrime genre will appreciate the take. Malayalam movies are at another level.

Playing on Amazon Prime I'll rate it 4/5.

I watched Malik over the weekend, and have mixed emotions. Some scenes are just excellent, but on the whole i wasnt too impressed. Maybe the subject, maybe the flashbacks and current day scenes switching.. i wasnt too impressed. Even the person who played David's son didn't strike a chord despite having an important role.

I really loved Vinay Fort though. Great choice of role for him.

A good one time watch, but definitely not a movie i would rate as a great gangster movie. Company scores higher for me.

I think that mosque, dumping yard and the coastal village was shot in Kalamassery. That entire village was a set.

Sony Liv seems to be picking up some niche Tamil films. After 'Thaen' saw another one that was released on the platform called Vaazhl.

Was a decent watch. About a guy who lives a regular mundane existence, meeting a cousin who he has not seen for long, getting infatuated by her, realizing she is married to an abusive husband and has a son who seems to be hyper active. Circumstances force him to go on a trip with her and her son. The incidents of the trip make up most of the film. Not familiar with anyone in the cast or crew other than the fact that it was produced by actor Sivakarthikeyan.

Rating: 2.5/5

The movie can be seen as an attempt to whitewash the ruling dispensation (also in power now) who was responsible for the shooting. The movie completely replaces the left leaders responsible with Muslim leaders to give it an acute religious angle. I hate it when film makers distort historical events to score political points.

Watched Malik on Friday night itself. Its a good movie but I thought the ratings are overhyped. I refrained from posting, after everyone was praising the film shyhigh. Now after seeing posts with different views, I had the courage to post mine.

Did I like the movie? - Yes, I recommend to watch

Is it extraordinary - No

Is it in the league of Nayakan? Just No. Has some similarities. Thats all.

Positive:

Despite the length, sticks to the core story, no unwanted side plots, comedy, romance.
Very apt cast, all characters and precise performance starting from Fahad.
Music, camera, all merging with the film, never felt intrusive

Negative:
Such long, slow films should build revitting involvement in the film, which is missed.
The fundamental purposes in the plot are loose. For example, dumping the garbage outside the mosque is the main trigger for Fahad to revolt, Gopalan can unleash such violence and bombing, but was keeping quiet till Fahad build his empire, most of the sequences are not realistic and failing to make the impact.
Overdose of Fahad in intense roles. Would like to see him in some casual characters.

An side note: My wife was wondering why the same actors in almost every Malayalam film we saw in the last six months? Are there no other actors? lol:True, Nimisha and Joju have been in every good film recently and I am not complaining.

After Malik was interested to watched Vada Chennai. Both movie have similarities and both excel in different areas. I liked Dhanush over Fahad but background score, screenplay was better in Malik. One other similarity- both lead characters don't fit the role of gangster with a chocolate boy image :)