MALAAL REVIEW: Meezaan is impressive as a debutant and his Shiva will win hearts

Star Rating: 

Produced by Sanjay Leela Bhansali and directed by Mangesh Hadawale, Malaal marks the debut of two newcomers – Meezaan and Sharmin Segal. The film is a remake of the hit 2004 Tamil film 7G Rainbow Colony. A remake releasing close on the heels of the recent blockbuster Kabir Singh, which was yet another Hindi remake of a South hit (Arjun Reddy), the film generates some excitement on that front. Needless to say there’s a certain curiosity around the two industry kids too and to be launched under Bhansali’s banner only raises the expectation bars higher. So, do the two live up to those expectations with Malaal. Read on to find out…

What Malaal is all about:

The film is set in 1998, when Mumbai’s home-grown mass-housing chawl-system had not yet given way to the mall culture and was still very much an integral part of the city’s distinctive character. It is in one such Ambewadi chawl that this love story is set in. Shiva More (Meezaan) resides here with his family. He is the local tapori with anger management issues, whiling away his time with the other boys, organising chawl functions and winning their sports tournaments. While he shares a loving relation with his doting mother (Chinmayee Surve), he finds himself at the receiving end of his worried father’s (Anil Gawas) abuses and beatings for being a no-gooder.

Among all this he gets picked up by a local politician, Pratap Rao Sawant (Sameer Dharmadhikari) to be his muscle-man. Sawant plays up the Marathi card with Shiva and tries to use him as a pawn in spreading hatred and driving out North Indians settled in Mumbai. However, all this changes when Astha Tripathi (Sharmin) and her family (Sanjay Gurbaxani and Sonal Jha) move in as Shiva’s neighbours. Rather rich and well-to-do once, Astha’s family moves there after her father suffers heavy losses in the share market. A simple girl-at-heart, she is engaged to the son of their wealthy family friends, the high-class US-returned Aditya (Ishwak Singh).

There is clearly a wide cultural as well as a society divide between Astha and Shiva who belong to completely contrasting backgrounds. As expected, after the initial fights, love blossoms between the two. And as expected, the great society divide comes into play too and that’s what the film is all about!

Yay:

Meezaan shows much promise and having been thrown in to play the challenging role of a tapori, wins hearts with his earnestness and charming personality. He is comfortable in the song and dance department as well as the action sequences. But it’s the romance department that he shines in. Letting his eyes do the talking mostly, it is easy to fall in love with his Shiva. The love angle between Shiva and Astha is beautifully-developed and established. He shares a good chemistry with Astha, inspite of the fact that Sharmin actually falls short in keeping up with her co-star on most levels. However, the two characters and their sweet love story is endearing.

Among the supporting cast, Chinmayee Surve as Meezaan’s screen mother makes a strong impact in her emotional scenes and  their mother-son equation is adorable. The others in the supporting cast including Sonal Jha, Anil Gawas and Sanjay Gurbaxani are equally good.

What’s impressive about director Mangesh Hadawale was his realistic grip at showing the ‘Bombay chawl culture’ as well as the Mumbai essence and spirit! His characters are also well-etched and make an impact. Although there’s nothing new on offer here, but he effortlessly transports you to that era. The film is also beautifully shot and Director of Photography, Ragul Dharuman has captured the rainy tones of the city really well. Full marks to the casting director Shruti Mahajan. The music is good, though not outstanding. The editing could’ve been tighter.

Nay:

Sharmin holds two expressions throughout the film and while Astha’s character lends itself to some beautiful moments, the newcomer falls short of delivering a praise-worthy performance.

The let-down is the story really. It’s a love story we have seen on screen time and again. The story sets out with a lot of promise and premise of the political agenda of the Marathi v/s North Indians, but it all fizzles out mid-way. The film by the end turns out to be a dull love story with a predictable storyline.

Also, while the rains in the city are beautifully captured on screen, the film seems to have been under a deluge. It’s raining during Ganpati celebrations, yes that’s acceptable! But it’s raining post-Diwali, and even raining in the months post that. The sets while real, have a major flaw when it comes to showing Bhansali-ish balconies (major eye-roll happening there). Like which part of the chawls have ever seen those kinds! The attempts to suddenly break from realism to dip into SLB’s world are points that don’t click at all.

CineBlitz Verdict:

Meezaan shows spark and a certain intensity that given the right roles will take him ahead. The movie is not bad for a one-time watch strictly for die-hard romantics who may not have anything else to do on rainy days. If you go in expecting Bhansali magic, you’ll be sorely disappointed.