Mickey Virus

Welcome to the world of hackers and Trojans – with enough idiosyncrasy and meticulousness, writer/director Saurabh Varma narrates a story which is seldom witnessed on the silver screen. With its titular resemblance to the sleeper hit of 2012,Vicky Donor , Mickey Virus is a complete departure in its theme and subject which delves into the murky world of cyber-crime and hacking keeping the humor quotient intact.

Set in New Delhi, the plot is centered around a lazy mastermind , a genius hacker Mickey Arora (Manish Paul ) who is hired by the Delhi Police led by ACP Sidhant (Manish Chaudhary) and his assistant Bhalla(Varun Badola) to crack the racket of the cyber gangsters who have created ruckus in the city through serial murders. Mickey is a slacker , hangs out with his gang – Chutney, Floppy and Panjo who are whiz-kids in their own admissions and is smitten by the sexy lady, Kamayani(Elli Avram). After a lot of resistance due to his work-phobic attitude, he succumbs to the demands of the ACP who is hell-bent on this 'Hacking ki duniya ka Sehwag' but little does Mickey know that he is sucked into the whirlpool of dangerous nexus with life-threatening ramifications. What happens next !

Varma picks the nuances of Saddi Dilli with flourish – the grey marketplace of Nehru place where people even sell 'W' alphabet of the keyboard as 'M' (After all , its oolta M !)are captured with great details. He has done his research on the subject well and this becomes more apparent from the plethora of information bombarded on the average viewer related to internet and software lingoes(server crash, firewall, buffering..).After a few funny sequences in the beginning, he throws us altogether into a different orbit of intrigue and mystery and keeps us riveted till the climactic revelation. There are particularly no glaring flaws but I wish Varma could have been more innovative while dealing with the serious portions and the romantic angle involving Manish and Elli. He appears myopic while handling the cat-and-mouse game where every tick of the clock matters.

Manish Paul is a delight to watch ! As a débutant (with a passable cameo in Farah Khan's disastrous TMK as Master India), he exudes charm and confidence with his impeccable comic timing.His vocal rendering(Pyar China ka maal hai ) is equally quirky !Elli Avram looks jaw-dropping gorgeous and is sincere in her part. Mickey's hack-gang comprising of Raghav Kakkar, Puja Gupta and others give him a credible support.Manish Chaudhry is very convincing as the stern cop, but the real combat machine here is Varun Badola who triumphs with his ingenious straight- faced humor and mouths crackling dialogues with typical Haryanwi accent.

If suspense thrillers are your cup of cake, then go for it – You will have a good time ! And that's not all, there is a scope for its sequel too !

My Rating : 3/5

Mickey virus is basically a story based in Delhi where youngsters deal with this world virtually behind a computer screen that is hacking. It also has a hackers gang and a few cops trying for a 100 Crore Rupees heist. This movie deserves a lot but wont get what it deserves due to lack of awareness. For me Manish Paul was amazing and Elli Avram as KungFu Chameli was charming. All the other characters were good and funny like "floppy,chutni,pancho" etc. Manish as Mickey for me was way beyond my expectations, as a host he is awesome and as an anchor too whether its a reality show or an award show. "Pyaar China Ka Maal Hai" sung by Manish himself and "Tose Naina" sung by Arijit Singh are melodious. Overall its gonna be a fine evening/weekend watching it. Its fresh and I salute the Director Saurabh Verma for trying a not so common new subject. 8 out of 10 stars.

When the trailer of Mickey Virus was unleashed on the internet, everybody started comparing the movie with critically acclaimed Vicky Donor(probably both the films were Delhi based and title sounded same). However, if Vicky Donor was heaven then Mickey is a ride through hell.

Delhi Cops are on the verge of cracking a case which involves high intensity of hacking for which they seek help of young-clad, computer geek Mickey. As they start solving the case, series of events unleashes new mystery involving lots of twist and turns.

First time director Saurabh Verma chooses the script which promises to deliver an intellectual-comic thriller but believe me neither there is any story nor any direction. The plot is confusing as is the screenplay. First half is monotonous and perfunctory. Chemistry between Manish Paul and Ellie Avaram is half baked. Things turns bit interesting after the murder but loses the steam with a blink of eye. Cinematography is okay. Art direction is fine. Editing is loose. Dialogues are over-the-top. Music is disappointing. Manish Paul shows some potential as Mickey Virus but needs to improve on his expression. Ellie looks gorgeous but has long way to go in terms of acting. Varun Badola steals the thunder and is the only silver lining in the film.

Overall, all the hype-hoolah surrounding film is drowned by a wafer thin plot. Neither comical nor thriller.Poor 1/5

Bollywood finally welcomes a caper comedy which samples the much-awaited "hacking" element. Only, the film, with a let-down plot, overstays and gives an impression that it did got infected by the Trojan... the Bollywood Trojan!

The mumbo-jumbo is fantastic for a commoner, but if you are a computer-freak and know a thing or two about hacking and stuff, you are in for utter disappointment. Why? Because the samples, borrowed from various sources (other films, quotes, books, memes, usual parlance, etc.) lack plausibility. The degree of technicality is a gimmick: the film showcases the fictionalized material of computers, hacking & cryptography.

The plot is ludicrous, mind you! The makers/writers have taken a predictable heist plot and juxtaposed it with teeny Delhi & the computer fundamentals. Cast is fine, where Varun Badola stands out. Elli Avram should munch on probably the first & the last film of her career.

Music & songs are good. And the B'wood Trojan I was talking about is the climax sequence, which happens in a type of garage (remember the tons of movies that end at a derelict garage/warehouse?) where the characters narrate what happened so that the viewers can make sense of the plot; wonderful! And you will ask where the hell was the virus involved? You mean the Mickey Virus? Oh, please!

Finally, the witty lines, generous humor, Dilliwalli language, 2 plot twists and the sex quotient of the newbie makes me rate it average.

BOTTOM LINE: In an attempt to create a breakthrough, Mickey Virus gets infected halfway. Yet, for the heck of it, Mickey Virus is a calm/mindless watch on a Sunday afternoon. Of course, you could wait for the rentals. Faintly recommended!

Can be watched with a typical Indian family? YES

Profanity: Very Mild | Nudity/Sex/Vulgarity: No | Mouth-Kiss/Foreplay: Very Mild | Alcohol/Smoking/Drugs: No | Violence/Gore: Mediocre

A project completely dependent upon the already famous comic persona of TV actor-anchor, Manish Paul, MICKEY VIRUS is a fairly entertaining film if we keep aside its awkward and unconvincing climax ruining the fine build-up. It has an enjoyable first half, mostly providing the funny moments through its Computer-ish dialogues, having a strong youth appeal using the Delhi ambiance, which also lacks the perfection as seen in VICKY DONOR). Yes, the humour element in it takes a back seat since the film turns into a thrilling crime mystery post interval, still the racy pace doesn't let you feel the missing factor and the new twists in the story line keep the interest alive. However as the secret is revealed, it doesn't turn out to be that convincing or hard hitting at all, hampering the overall impact of an engrossing watch as it ends.

Thankfully made on a fresh subject, the film begins on a shaky note but then goes on to deliver the promised humor constantly, mainly through its well written lines. Revolving around a computer hacker caught in a messy trap, it has some cool graphics, better than many other films of the past using the same element. At times romance disturbs the progression but the justification arrives later as the con begins and there are very few drops in its narration before the long climax. Both the background score & cinematography keep the energy going along with a few above average songs including "Sajna Ve".

As expected, Manish Paul impressively is the part of almost all the entertaining sequences of the film and he once again proves his excellent comic timing in its debut film too. Elli Avram looks stunning but doesn't get much to do as per the script (except serving the glamour quotient of the film, as required). Out of the friendly group, Puja Gupta gets the maximum scenes and she is fine, whereas Raghave Kakkar, Vikesh Kumar and Nitesh Pandey (Professor) are just all right. Manish Chaudhari repeatedly delivers a similar kind of act as seen in his previous films but the one actor who comes up as a clear winner among the supporting cast is Varun Badola, who is simply lovable as the assisting inspector.

As the first notable attempt from director Saurabh Varma, MICKEY VIRUS mainly scores for its novel subject, well worked upon lingo, entertaining first half and Manish Paul. However with a different & severely edited climax it could have been a much better venture for sure. Also with a subject majorly dealing with the city culture (hugely dependent on gadgets), it is going to find fewer takers in the interiors and smaller centers. So keeping this fact and the film's fresh, out of the routine subject in mind, I would like to rate it as a nice, well attempted metro entertainer, just missing the target due to its final reels.