Starring: Manish Paul, Elli Avram, Manish Choudhary, Varun Badola, Puja Gupta
Directed by: Saurabh Varma
Music: Hanif Shaikh, Faizan Hussain, Agnel Roman
We have often seen small-scale movies with an average star cast proving to be much more worthy than big-banner films. But sadly, such movies fail to make a mark on the box-office because of the low face-value. Saurabh Varma’s directorial debut, Mickey Virus, falls in the same category. A comic thriller, Mickey Virus builds on an interesting idea of hacking and cyber-crime. It’s a well scripted thriller that, for the first time, brings the virtual world to the silver screen.
Plot: Mickey Virus, a lazy yet impressively brilliant hacker, is hired by the cops to crack a cyber-crime case. While trying to help the police he finds himself caught in a web of crime that he should hack to save his life!
Performances: Manish Paul, the popular host of the dance reality-show Jhalak Dikhlaja, makes his debut with Mickey Virus. Luckily, he has chosen the perfect role for himself. But even the perfect of roles cannot do wonders for a non-actor. Manish Paul is undoubtedly a very fine anchor but acting doesn’t seem to be his forte. Nonetheless, a well-designed role saves him from what could have gone even worse. Well tried, Manish!
Debutant Elli Avram looks glamorously beautiful and confident. Though her short role doesn’t really let her character develop much, she manages to make her presence felt.
The two people worthy of praise are Manish Choudhary and Varun Badola. Almost perfect in their roles, the two of them are pleasure to watch.
Music: The soundtrack of Mickey Virus isn’t something exceptional. The album has some soft romantic numbers that sound good to the ears.
What’s good: A fresh and intelligently woven plot that develops interestingly as a thriller. The soundtrack of the movie has some good romantic numbers.
What’s bad: As a comic thriller the movie lacks elements of humour that it was intended to have. The first-half holds some exaggerated sequences which could have been avoided.
Manish Paul’s debut flick, Mickey Virus is an interesting concept which could have been promoted in a better way. Even though the film could not lure many to the theatres, it has been praised for its intriguing thriller element. In a nutshell, Mickey Virus is fresh, engaging and quirky as a thriller. Definitely a one-time watch!
Verdict: This virus will infect you for good!
Rating: ** and a 1/2