Someone on Reddit (r/MalayalamMovies) said that Malik (Chief) is a combination of superbly shot sequences, and I agree. For that's what Malik is. Nearly 3 hours of intense, captivating cinema going back and forth through the life of a wayward son and his gang as he works towards the betterment of his life and his people while struggling from society, politics, and communalism. It's a masterclass in filmmaking - especially the way it is shot, paced, and performed - that will be essential viewing for film students in India. Watch it.

Malik, set in a fictional village of Ramadapally, chronicles the life of Ahmed Ali Sulaiman Malik. Based on a couple of real life incidences and characters, Malik is also quite reminiscent of Kamal Haasan's Nayakan; though it is definitely not a copy of the Tamilian classic. Malik is devout Muslim who rises from being a common smuggler to becoming the 'Godfather' of Ramadapally and maintaining the peace between the Muslim and Christian communities that live in the village.

The movie starts with the arrest of Malik as he is on his way to Hajj. The rest of the movie oscillates between the days following his arrest and the different characters narrating the backstory of his ascent to being the most powerful man in Ramadapally, leading up to the present day.

While most of the movie is a great watch, I felt that one of the major plot points in the movie is a bit weak and undermines what could have been a great modern day gangster classic. However, that plot point does not come to the fore till very late in the movie, and by then some of the other events going on in the movie are gripping enough to cover up for the shortcomings of that particular thread.

Some of the cinematography in the movie is just brilliant, including a couple of instances of single shot scenes. The action is gritty. The score is quite good as well.

But the high point of this movie (no surprises there) is the cast. This is only the fourth Fahadh Faasil movie I have seen, but I can confidently say that he is one of the best actors in India. He probably has the biggest range along with Rajkummar Rao and the late Irrfan Khan. Given that he was playing the titular character, and he is the biggest name in the movie, the focus was always going to be on him. And, he delivers in the most spectacular manner. He is a lot more reserved than Kamal Haasan was in Nayakan, but is as impressive as Kamal. This is not to say that the rest of the cast was not great. As is the case with a lot of modern Malayalam cinema, the acting was great all around. Nimisha Sajayen as Roselyn was brilliant and went toe-to-toe with FaFa. I also quite liked Jalaja as Jameela and Sanal Aman as Freddy.

Overall, Malik is a movie that falls just short of being a must-watch.

P.S: This is probably the most 'commercial' looking Malaylam movie I have seen so far.