Mohit Suri and his fascination for serial killers(like me). He did it earlier in Murder 2(a rip off of the South Korean film, The Chaser), and Ek Villain (a rip off of another South Korean film, I Saw The Devil). And this time he brings another one of his ventures in the genre – Malang. Carrying a caption “Unleash Your Madness”, I did go in with very high expectations all owing to the stupendous trailer which got me hooked onto it. I cannot quite remember the last time a trailer was cut this well to generate the amount of curiosity in me(there were many of you though who did not like the trailer). Does the movie unleash its madness on the audience or do the audience get mad at the movie….lets find out.

Malang follows the story of Advait, who on a certain Christmas Eve goes on a killing spree. The reason associated with it is what forms the rest of the story. Well before I get to the screenplay(and I never thought I would ever do this ever), the issue lies with the very concept of the mystery surrounding the drama in the second half. The writers suffer from a bout of madness in the second hour as they try to loosely connect the events in the lamest form ever! So the flaw lies in its inception and not really the screenplay(though that is a bit patchy as well). The non linear screenplay is quite conveniently written though it is indeed entertaining in the first hour and thrilling in parts. The performances keep the proceedings afloat in the second hour. And the mystery in the climax can be seen from a mile away! Oh and the dubbing is off in many parts! Dialogues are average. The music is original(thank god for that, no remixes) and an absolute winner and so is the background score! The cinematography deserves a mention and actually makes the movie trippy in places(don’t miss the opening one shot action sequence and some breath taking travel montages). Director Mohit Suri, who last directed the outrageous and insipid, Half Girlfriend, doesn’t quite control the proceedings but having said that, he does show some serious glimpses of excellence. Unfortunately, like in all of his earlier works(except Aashiqui 2 and probably Kalyug to an extent), he seems satisfied with the drama scratching the surface whereas he has the potential to indulge even deeper!

The performance manage to save the day big time! Eli Avram is good in a role best suited for her. Anil Kapoor as the drug snorting cop Agashe is excellent and adds some comic relief in the drama, though his character is the most irrelevant out of the 4 leads(you will know when you watch the movie)! Disha Patani looks pretty(as always) and finally has some meat in her role to showcase her acting chops and she does show glimpses of it. Good beginning though a long way to go for her. Oh and her smile is so charming, you fall for her every single time! Aditya Roy Kapur has made a strong case for himself as a leading man and shares a crackling chemistry with Disha. And finally there is the underrated Kunal Khemu, an actor who is terribly underutilized by Bollywood despite having great potential. And he proves here that if given a great part, he can literally eat into it. He is the pick of the actors on display and almost single handedly rescues the second half. A point to be mentioned here is that all characters are not uni dimensional and have motives, that makes you invested in the drama!

On the whole, Malang falls short of my high expectations. Yet I am not too disappointed as the music and the performances save the day to make it a one time watch!

PS : If only the writers did not unleash their madness..