Cinema sometimes finds its truest voice in the chaos. The bloodier the pages of a script, the deeper it cuts through the audience. Maalik is one of those films. At least, what we can infer from watching the trailer.
It is not meant to be watched passively. It brings back the old-school madness of massy entertainers, loaded with firepower, fists, betrayal, and a thick smear of blood.
The trailer looks raw, grim plunged into ambition at its most dangerous. We can now only imagine what film is going to bring to the table!
For those who crave films that don’t flinch, that dare to be brutal and beautiful in the same breath, Maalik is a cinematic uprising. The air smells of gunpowder, the screen roars with fire, and every frame threatens to break into a war.
Rajkummar Rao steps in like a man possessed. He’s not just playing a gangster. He is the gangster. There’s something disturbingly real about his performance. You see it in his silence. You see it in the way his eyes burn through people. His character isn’t loud for effect. He’s terrifying in his control. Power sits on his shoulders like a crown forged in blood. This is a different Rajkummar Rao. There’s no trace of hesitation. He has pushed himself into a zone where danger feels seductive. The way he holds back, then explodes, carries a pulse that lingers long after the scene ends. It’s more than acting. It’s a man transforming on screen, and it’s impossible to look away.
And then comes Prosenjit Chatterjee, adding a weight that completely shifts the tone of the film. He doesn’t arrive with fanfare. He arrives with a presence. Intensifying it. This is a side of him that hasn’t been seen before. Colder. Sharper. More layered. It’s thrilling to witness him take on a role that strips away everything familiar and reveals something dangerous beneath.
Maalik is rich beneath all the grime, and that is because of the intent behind the madness. Pulkit, as director, has crafted something fierce and focused. He allows the story to bleed honestly. There are no clean exits. No easy heroes. Just flawed people chasing power, each step messier than the last.
Alongside him, producers Kumar Taurani and Jay Shewakramani have backed this bold, uncompromising vision. Their commitment to keeping it gritty, grounded, and unapologetically intense shows in every frame. The writing, by Jyotsana Nath and Pulkit, is tight and unforgiving. Anuj Rakesh Dhawan’s lens captures both the beauty and brutality of this world with brutal clarity.
Maalik, produced under Tips Films Ltd. and Northern Lights Films is all set to hit theatres on 11th July 2025.
And when it does, brace yourself. Because this one is going to hurl a tempest, and a bloody one!