Malik is a political revenge drama helmed and penned by Mahesh Narayanan. The film’s cast includes Fahadh Faasil, Nimisha Sajayan, Vinay Fort, Joju George and Dileesh Pothan in prominent roles.

Malik is the story of Sulaiman Ali Ahammad (Fahadh) who in his teenage gets involved in malicious businesses like drug dealing, smuggling, etc. Soon he realizes how external forces like politics and corruption are gaming in his coastal town. Realizing the necessity, he stands up against the unscrupulous deeds against his people, becoming a raging fire of revolution. The film goes through his life, the wars he led and the setbacks many of the lives faced in the coastal town.

Malik is a loud roar about the religious conflicts and communal riots. It portrays how politics disguises itself for personal gains and how underhand deeds are a part of such conflicts. Malik, along with the portrayal of how the poisonous politics when mixed with religion creates a blood-spattered riots, also shows how unity and trust makes any group stronger.

Malik is a serious topic to think about. It is the story of bravery and sacrifice. The film started off fantastically, slows down in the middle losing its grip mainly due to the predictable revenge drama template, but continues to impress the viewer with its technical brilliance throughout. 

Fahadh Faasil was breathtaking as Sulaiman Ali. His ultimately expressive eyes and nuances were at the peak of perfection. Nimisha Sajayan’s terrific performances in this film can be considered as the best performance till date. Vinay Fort as David will definitely steal your hearts. His evolution of character from beginning to end was a great watch. Performance wise, each and every actor has delivered their best.

Sanu Varghese’s cinematography was truly filling. Malik is one of the best examples for perfect blend of location and frames. Each frame expresses itself and orates the scene smooth. The first 14 minutes single steady cam shot is just brilliant. The transitions were also slick and clean. Editing and cinematography leaves no space for faults.

Written by Mahesh Narayanan, the overall screenplay is mesmerizing. The characters are sketched strong and well, and cast perfectly. It commences good, but as it unfolds, the pace of the film faces an opposite friction making it slow. At times it jostles between too many elements. But as a whole, the writing is good enough to make it a moving drama.

The sound design was fabulous. The presence of deep bass at the time of actions and the perfect balance of ambience sound with the dialogues that carried an intensity made the scenes much more effective.

Directed by Mahesh Narayanan, Malik’s backbone is its powerful and effective direction. The film has been propelled in an amazing manner, with the right emotions hitting the right chords. Though the tiresome writing affected the film’s engagement with a runtime around 160 minutes, the story has a depth that hits its viewers.