Malaal Movie Review: Sharmin Sehgal and Meezaan’s Romantic Drama Is Charming but Lacks Novelty and Substance
Sanjay Leela Bhansali's production venture, Malaal, has released in theatres today. The movie stars Sharmeen Sehgal and Meezaan in the lead roles. Malaal is at the best an average romantic drama. The background score is fine. There is a lack of novelty in the plot.
Two more actors with Bollywood lineage have made their debut this Friday with Malaal. Meezaan, Javed Jaffrey's son, and Sharmin Sehgal, Sanjay Leela Bhansali's niece, have begun their journey in the industry. It might be a tough journey ahead as Malaal might not leave a lasting impact on the audience. The movie has its fair share of beautiful moments, but has just as enough dull moments to neutralise it all, if not make it worse. Malaal is a set in the '90s but minus the Titanic and Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam references here and there, it lacks the old world charm. Malaal Debutante Sharmin Segal on Priyanka Chopra Jonas: She Learns Dance Steps for Performances Overnight.
Meezaan is your typical misunderstood hero, Shiva More. His opening shot is of a sporting event, where he ends up beating the umpire. Sharmin is your typical demure girl-next-door, Aastha, bound by the fact that her father has set her marriage to a friend's son. She doesn't get a proper conversation with more than two dialogues until I almost lost interest in her as a character. Shiva beats up people, doesn't work, almost slaps his father, drinks, smokes, wants North Indians to leave Maharashtra. Your basic gali ka gunda, whom we have seen a hundred times. Aastha's Bob The Builder complex kicks in and she takes Shiva up as her pet project to fix him. This is 2019, can we stop showing women as rehabilitation centres for broken men?
The story is as predictable as it gets. Meezaan's charm gets you through dull scenes. He has the kind of dance moves that he'd totally be the centre of attention at any party. He holds his ground in tough scenes. Sharmin looks pretty and has a beautiful texture to her voice, which I loved. She acts her heart out in subtle scenes. But she refuses to go over a low decibel range in scenes that require energy. Both actors have some serious potential. Salman Khan Shares a Picture With Sharmin Segal From the Sets of Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam to Wish Her Luck for Malaal - View Pic.
The whole plot about Shiva being assigned to chase away North Indians from Mumbai seemed like an interesting approach towards the love story but that idea is stranded halfway through the film. Similarly, there are many loose ends in the film that deprive it of a finesse. There are too many moments which are a little on the nose along with many that are beautiful for their subtlety.
What's worthy is the background score. Beautiful. Sanchit Balhara and Ankit Balhara are the stars. They don't miss a beat and elevate every scene with the music.
Watch Aila Re From Malaal Here:
Yay
- Meezaan's dance moves
- Background score
Nay
- The plot is as confusing and haywire as the leading male
character
- Nothing we have not seen already
Final Thoughts
Malaal is at best an average outing. Meezan and Sharmin's chemistry might be loved by some. Meezaan's dance moves are killer.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 05, 2019 01:52 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).