Malik Review : Fahadh Faasil has excelled again with his brilliant performance in an epic fierce crime-political drama Malik that began streaming today on amazon prime video. In the central role, Fahadh in the end leaves his stamp of brilliance — deep diving into the character as a revolutionary-minded Ali of the 80s to the more sombre, ‘current day’ man plagued with a deep pensiveness. He has excelled the art of performance in each of the films he has acted.
Malik is about Sulaiman, passionately focused on protecting the people, and the gentle ecology, of his hometown with his religious dynamics at play here. How long can he hold out when political forces move in to incite hatred to serve their narrow ends?
After the super successful Take Off and C U Soon, Fahadh Faasil has teamd up with writer-director Mahesh Narayanan set in the backdrop of coastal Kerala region.
Sulaiman (Fahadh Faasil) is a patriarch, who is the undisputed king of the coastal area of Ramadappalli. The movie Malik introduces the viewer to the world of Sulaiman, who is known as Ali Ikka to the locals.
Malik Review: Fahadh Faasil fearless, immersive performance
The opening of the movie shows Sulaiman is arrested as he is about to get into the aircraft on his journey for the holy Hajj. The eventful story of how Sulaiman and his gang of friends become so influential in their area is the crux of the film. The situation in that peaceful region of coastal Kerala later takes an unfortunate turn when some wily men, politicians, and the cops create a divide between the people there, in the name of religion.
The story chronicles over some decades and it is amazing the way that Mahesh has created the atmosphere. You feel like growing up with Sulaiman and his friends. Sanu John Varughese’s delicious visuals and Sushin Shyam’s brilliant music add to the effect in a spectacular way.
The ever-reliable Joju George, for instance, appears only after the hour-mark. He plays the Ramadhir Singh of this tale, essentially — an IAS officer named Anwar Ali who has his pudgy fingers in every pie within touching distance, and others waiting to be baked. Him and Ali Ikka go back a long way; in fact, the Malik — another of his monikers — seems so isolated as a human being that most of his relationships can be traced back to his youth. And Anwar knows that to enter his inner circle, he cannot rely on outside help.
Malik goes all the way back to the early 1980s to trace the origins and subsequent rise of Sulaiman as a man blindly trusted by the townspeople. From indulging in small-time crime – mainly smuggling of foreign goods – and building a mini empire in Ramadapally, he begins to perform deeds that elevate him to the status of a saviour.
Malik is essentially the story of three friends who wash up on different shores after knocking about together as common goons in their youth. While Ali and Aboobacker (Dileesh Pothan) are Muslims, their buddy David (Vinay Forrt) is a Christian. To make matters more complicated, Ali falls in love with David’s sister Rosaline (played by Nimisha Sajayan, who has done more good work in 2021 than most actors can manage in entire careers).
The movie is engaging and worth watching . Malik is streaming in Amazon Prime Video. A fairly engaging crime drama that has its highs and lows in equal parts. #FahadhFaasil delivers another fabulous performance, with #NimishaSajayan impress once again.