Film: Mickey Virus
Cast: Manish Paul, Elli Avaram, Manish Choudhari, Puja Gupta and Varun Badola
Director: Saurabh Varma
Rating: **1/2
What’s it about
In an age of Facebook, Twitter and social media exploding at an epic rate, it comes as no surprise that online hacking can be the backdrop for a Bollywood film. Mickey (Paul) is a full time hacker who has his gang of friends who are experts in various areas of digital frauds.
ACP Siddhant (Manish Chaudhary) summons Mickey and asks him to help the police identify and nab hackers who are creating trouble in the city. The first half is spent establishing the supporting characters and their quirks, while post interval the story gets some pace.
What’s hot
Varma keeps Mickey Virus light and nimble on its feet. Apart from Paul, his ensemble cast also manages to add in the right flavor to entice your palette. Writing is fresh and some dialogues and situations are genuinely comic.
When Varun Badola mistakes a ‘hacker’ for a ‘hawker’, you can’t help, but chuckle at the silly joke. Making his big screen debut, Paul joins the ranks of Ayushmann Khuranaa and Sushant Singh Rajput who made a similar transition. As a host of reality shows, he struck an easy chord with his audience which helps his likeability in this film.
What’s not
Unfortunately the innovation of the plot wears out too soon. The writers seem to hit a sort of roadblock in the second half not knowing where to take the story. Also the North India set up and characters speaking with a local twang has been seen in many recent films.
Despite a strong support from the cast, the core material of the film is weak. The actual hacking and the way the portals and CGI screens look is very juvenile. At one point in the film, you don’t know how seriously do we take Mickey Virus! Bigg Boss contestant Elli Avaram looks pretty, but her on-screen chemistry with Paul is average. Songs could have been better.
What to do
Mickey Virus will appeal to Manish Paul fans who want to see him in a different role other than a TV show host.
