Maalik is a film that tries hard to be gritty and intense but ends up feeling hollow and overwrought. The characters operate at a constant fever pitch, which quickly turns exhausting rather than engaging.
Rajkummar Rao, known for his nuanced performances, seems lost here—his anger feels forced and theatrical, lacking the raw authenticity we've seen from him in better roles. Prasenjit Chatterjee, usually a dependable screen presence, is reduced to a character whose only notable trait is a persistent passivity. His cowardice isn’t explored with depth; it's just presented as fact.
Perhaps the most baffling element is the transformation of a footballer into a supposedly fearsome gangster, who then spends most of his time brooding under a cot, chain-smoking and looking aimlessly into the distance. There’s a sense that the film wants to say something profound about trauma or the cost of violence—but it never gets there. Instead, we get a string of hyperbolic moments with little emotional weight.
Visually and thematically, Maalik feels dreary—both in its color palette and storytelling. What could have been a compelling exploration of descent and power ends up as a tiring display of style over substance.
2 stars
