Rajkummar Rao is counted among those few actors of Hindi cinema who have earned a special place in the hearts of the audience on the basis of his hard work, acting ability and variety in the choice of roles. Be it the role of a struggling lawyer in ‘Shahid’, an honest government employee in ‘Newton’, a shy printing press owner in ‘Bareilly Ki Barfi’ or the naive tailor in ‘Stree’, Rajkummar gets into the character in such a way every time that the audience forgets that they are watching an actor.

Now, for the first time in his 15-year-long career, Rajkummar is stepping into a zone dominated by power, action, and intense drama by playing a gang lord in ‘Maalik’. Talking to PeepingMoon.com, when asked, after playing so many intriguing and memorable characters, whether he would want to be remembered for this role, he responded, “Well, not only by this role. I would want them to remember me as an actor who has done a variety of roles and has really good filmography. But, of course, I want ‘Maalik’ to be right up there. It is a character that I thoroughly enjoyed playing. Of course, in this space, this is my first film, but I love portraying the power on screen that Maalik carries throughout the film. Because the action sequences are very brutal and larger-than-life. But very real in nature. When you see it on screen, you will be like, Aisa sirf filmon mein hi nahi hota hai, asal zindagi mein hota hai.”

‘Maalik’ is a hard-hitting, action-thriller that delves into the underworld of power, greed and loyalty. The film is directed by Pulkit and produced by Kumar Taurani and Jay Shewakramani under Tips Films and Northern Lights Films. The film also stars Manushi Chillar, Saurabh Shukla, Huma Qureshi, Saurabh Sachdeva, Prosenjit Chatterjee and Medha Shankar in pivotal roles. ‘Maalik’ releases in theatres on Friday and this powerful avatar of Rajkummar Rao is sure to shock and make the audience think.