Satish Ganapathi (Aadhi) is quite fond of friends and is willing to do anything for them. He has three good friends named Shiva, Rajeev and Krish. These three friends have an argument with a couple on December 31^st Night. They even misbehave with the girl. After the quarrel, the girl goes missing and she is none other than the daughter of Mudhalinair (Mithun Chakravarthy)- a feared don based in Mumbai. Satish arrives in Mumbai search of this Don. Incidentally, a murder attempt happens on Mudhalinair. Who is trying to murder the Don? What exactly happened on the 31^st December night? What happened to Mudhalinair’s daughter?- forms the rest of the plot.

Performances:

Aadhi: He impresses in the action sequences but failed in comedy timing. He was quite uncomfortable in such sequences.

Nikki Galrani: She had very minimal scope to perform and her role gets even more insignificant by second half.

Mithun Chakravarthy: He is the real surprise package of this film but hisrole could have been crafted better. Except for gripping expressions, he doesn’t get to deliver impressive lines.

Others: The actors who played as friends had little to do with the script and their dialogues weren’t penned well

Analysis:

Experimental cinema has always been a common norm. New directors are coming up with interesting stories which would succeed in making the audience go to the edge of their seats while viewing. Though such a point was present in this film, the director failed to execute it well throughout. But his brave attempt must be appreciated. Keeping few small flaws aside, it is great to see new filmmakers trying out novel plots. Malupu is one such film which brings back the confidence in making a successful action thriller. The main characters of the film are four friends and the director was very much successful in unfolding each sub plot as the film progresses.

However, all this unfolding doesn’t begin until second half. The first half is essentially based on friends and their fun times along with hero’s love track. Unfortunately, these scenes fail to impress. Especially the love track looked quite draggy. But the scenes which answer questions like why the hero is in search for Mudhalinair came out very well. The director apparently saved the best of the plot in the second half and the hurriedness of explaning every suspense is clearly seen. Every ten minutes of second half as a new twist and the film gets more entertaining. But to break the biggest suspense, the director couldn’t succeed much. He relied on a psycho character to unleash the suspense. If the director thought of something else apart from the clichéd aspect of psycho, the film would have been much better. The elevated scenes looked only to highlight the hero’s trademark fights in the climax.

Demerits:
- First half
- Climax

Music:
The film had ample scope for brilliant re-recording and the music director did a commendable job.

Others:
The director could have made the film more gripping in the first half yet his attempt to take an offbeat film as a newcomer is quite appreciable. 

Verdict:
The director succeeded in tying the knots of the plot but couldn’t succeed in successfully untying them. This remains to be the biggest twist for the film!

Avg User Rating: 2.75/5