Malang
Year: 2020
Director: Mohit Suri
Cast: Aditya Roy-Kapoor, Disha Patni, Anil Kapoor, Kunal Khemu

What’s the plot?

It’s the Christmas eve in Goa. The festive atmosphere gets soured when a police officer is found brutally murdered. The murderer brazenly calls up an encounter-specialist senior policeman (Anil Kapoor) to warn that the night is just beginning and before it’s over, some more cops will meet violent deaths! The trigger-happy senior cop is told to work within the law by his younger-in-age, higher-in-rank officer (Kunal Khemu). But as the number of victims, (all of them cops!) increases the pressure starts mounting to catch the killer at any cost. Meanwhile the investigation is throwing some interesting leads about the suspect (Aditya Roy-Kapoor) and his love-story with a fellow drifter (Disha Patni). Is the hunted man really the one on a murder-spree? And if yes, then why?

Verdict

After the modest success of his last film Half Girl-friend, the director Mohit Suri goes back to the mystery-thriller genre that he has been most successful in. The thriller’s interesting premise, sleek action, top-notch production values and some good plot twists are wasted though because of rather lethargic pacing, and wastage of footage in forgettable songs and avoidable romantic scenes. What saves the film from washout is the hotness of Disha Patni, and solid performances of lead actors, especially Anil Kapoor and Kunal Khemu.

With better editing and more focus on the mystery-thriller aspects, Malang could have been a racy watch. Unfortunately, it only turns out to be a middling muddled affair.

Rating

2.5 stars