Spoilers ahead…
Text:
The cinematographer of Malik, Sanu John Varghese, opens the film with a long, unbroken take. It takes us into the household of Ali ikka (Fahadh Faasil). We are plunged into his world. It’s as if the audience were outsiders or just acquaintances at a wedding where everyone knew each other. And like outsiders, we gradually learn details by eavesdropping. For example, Ali ikka’s mother has memory issues, there’s a lot of friction between them, and there’s someone called Ameer who is spoken about.
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Baradwaj Rangan 
MANK
July 15, 2021
Great review as usual.
Just one correction: in The Godfather, the intercutting in the climax is between a baptism sequence (and not a funeral as you mention in the review) and scenes of violence.
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bart
July 15, 2021
Liked the movie. Mostly a reworked “Nayagan” (Godfather) in different setup – one for this gen perhaps. The Godly(Ungodly?) stature of Malik in that community is not well-depicted or justified enough (as you’ve mentioned, maybe not to romanticize the character). Well-directed, paced, acted and narrated with top-notch technical support. Some punch was missing overall. Few minor qualms aside (FaFa could’ve put on some physique, the wig in 80s portion was jarring etc.), a pretty well-made movie. Mahesh Narayanan or Dileesh Pothan or both with Fa Fa (like here) – assures a solid quality like no other.
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anonymousviolin20
July 16, 2021
The 3 flashback structure also reminded me a little bit of Vikram Vedha. Anyone else think so?
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Anu Warrier
July 16, 2021
Your puns! What an awkward way of ending, BR!
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vijee
July 17, 2021
It almost seems silly to call it the Malayalam Nayagan because it is leagues above that..
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shaviswa
July 17, 2021
The story was grim without any major flaws. The performances top notch as usual and Fa Fa was brilliant.
However the film was not very engaging. It does not touch your emotional chords it was like a spectator view of the goings on, you rarely take sides, your hardly feel for any character. So in that essence it was a few notches below The Godfather or even the Nayagan.
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anonymousviolin20
July 17, 2021
I watched the movie but I still didn’t understand something: why the movie was titled Malik?
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vijee
July 18, 2021
@shavisma yeah — that part did not ring true when Suleiman says: We are only in this smuggling business for the children’s education. He was doing it to make a living. Also I did not really understand why his wife wanted him to do the Hajj if he was a wanted person.
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ravenus1
July 18, 2021
Malik is this generation’s Nayakan, but a lot less effective IMO. There are some bravura technical moments like the opening tracking shots, but the emotional elements not as finely honed. Even in a film that runs 160min, critical situations and character transformations are indifferently handled, as though the director was more interested in how the camera was going to glide and pan than what it was going to capture.
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JPhil
July 19, 2021
Most people will by now will realize the film’s major events are hinged around the Bimmapally shootings from 2009.So kudos to the writers to try and create a larger canvas for that story. The art direction too is quite stupendous ,building on from take off .All that said, somewhat predictable ‘epic-gangster’ tropes inspired by a host of other films. Competent and solid filmmaking though .
@anonymousviolin Malik is of course a word for king with all its symbolism but Maalik is also the name of an angel who administers the fire in hell ( Sura 74:30) so one wonders….
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Faroo
July 19, 2021
Other than the flashy camera work (and it was a “look ma no hands” shot) i couldnt find anything to recommend this movie. Emotionally inert, poor old-age makeup and lots of talk about religion/caste/coast aimed mainly as poor justification to actions.
A fiery brand young girl becomes a muted wife, a spirited daughter is off the screen after the first initial few scenes, terrible wigs in the lengthy flashback portions, a beaten up hero dumped on garbage with no marks on him except a designer underwear, fawning christian-mussalman bhai-bhai.
I should have just continued with the terrible 10 mins of Toofan instead.
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vijee
July 20, 2021
@faroo actually I did not see what purpose that spirited daughter served — except to give us one scene right out of Nayakan with her slapping someone for something or the other. (and saying those people with a liquor store are no worse than us — which is right, I suppose.) and then running crying to daddy who didn’t really do anything about it…
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