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‘Maalik paida hua nahi toh kya, ban toh saktey hai’ (Translation: What if one isn’t born a master, one could become one.)
Rajkummar Rao isn’t ready to be typecast as the sweet small-town dude charming women out of his league (‘Stree’, ‘Bareilly Ki Barfi’, or the more recent ‘Bhool Chuk Maaf’). With Maalik, he flips the script, stepping into full-blown gangster mode. The trailer introduces us to Maalik, a man from humble beginnings who doesn’t just rise through the ranks of crime, he crashes into them with bullets blazing, eyes now firmly set on politics.
From the looks of it, “Maalik” borrows its swagger from South Indian masala blockbusters, there’s blood, guns, slo-mo walks, cigarettes, and a lot of chest-thumping machismo. Rao, smeared in blood and big guns with casual flair, commands the screen with punchy lines like, “Itna goli maaro ki jitna pradesh ke itihas mein na chala ho” (Fire so many bullets that it becomes state history). A moral counterweight comes in the form of a righteous cop, setting up the age-old gangster vs lawman clash.
Directed by Pulkit (Bhakshak), the trailer hints at more than just a rise-to-power arc, this one seems to be drenched in revenge. Maalik isn’t just ambitious, he’s vengeful, and declares proudly that he’ll burn down the city if he’s wronged. There’s political ambition, personal vendetta, and plenty of blood-soaked action. The last-time Rajkummar Rao played something akin to an action hero was in Raj & DK’s Netflix series ‘Guns & Gulaabs’, where he riotously played a ruthless killer who gains notoriety for murdering people with a spanner.
The ensemble cast includes Manushi Chhillar, Saurabh Shukla, Prosenjit Chatterjee, Huma Qureshi, and Swanand Kirkire. The film is set to release in theaters on July 11. Watch the trailer for ‘Maalik’ on YouTube, it’s also embedded below.