Genre: Romantic Action Thriller
Duration: 135 minutes
It is passionate. It is all-consuming. It is the story of four lives exploring themselves, adventuring on pumped-up adrenaline and living on the edge.
Malang revolves and evolves around four stark personalities different from one another with one thing in common: They are all killers but for defining reasons unique to each.
The adventure begins with Advait (Aditya Roy Kapur), an introvert heading to Goa for a fun trip where he bumps into the free-spirited Sara (Disha Patani). Hailing from London, Sara is your typical Bollywood caricature who believes in living her life to the fullest. The rest of their romance is predictably mainstream yet magical against the backdrop of sparkling neon lights, late-night to dawn parties and adventure water sports. All seems to be going well for the two who have now made a pact of having fun until one day when everything changes.
Fast forward to five years later and Advait goes on a killing spree. This rampage sets the stage for Anjaney (Anil Kapoor) a bent cop and Michael (Kunal Khemu) who appears to play the good cop on the chase. The movie then transcends into the predictable formula of Anjaney figuring out how a normal guy like Advait sets on a mission to kill policemen whilst still chasing him.
Aditya Roy Kapur’s body is the only compelling and attractive element of the first scene of the film when Advait is portrayed in the middle of a fight in prison.
In the first half of the film, it is difficult to piece the scenes of the movie. It appears to be almost disjointed even as the directors struggle to explain the intensity of characters of Advait and Sara. But it lacks pace and gets boring barring the seascapes and beachscapes of Goa which appear to be the only saving grace for such moments.
The directors in the second half of the film try to compensate for stringing together the background of the characters alongside the plot. But the action sequences feel forced and unrealistic. It appears stacked up and clumsily thrown into the mix as some sort of justification for the pent up anger of the character. Mohit Suri grapples to tie the loose ends of the movie and give you the complete story where you can justify and perhaps empathise with the characters. But it just doesn’t reach the heart and even in his desperate attempts, Suri and Kapoor’s chemistry struggle to re-create the Aashiqui 2 charm.
The film does keep you going in the sense that there is always something new so you do not get bored. But on the whole, it feels like the script jumps from one part to the other with no explanation.
Yet, if you want to drool over Aditya Roy Kapur’s charisma and physique, and crave a passionate love story blossoming in Goa then perhaps Malang is the film for you.
