Ek Villain

Ek Villain was supposed to be inspired by a Korean movie called I Saw The Devil.  I went through the story on Wikipedia and honestly the similarities are minimal.  One cannot blame Mohit Suri of plagiarizing a Korean movie just because the serial killer collects jewelry from his victims in both movies.  The concept is by far quite different other than this aspect.

For one thing, Ek Villain, is an extremely soppy movie with a tragic love story woven with a serial killer story.  The protagonist is apparently a Villain (hence Ek Villain – and not the other way around) – a local goon in Goa called Guru (Siddharth Malhotra).  He is having an average ordinary day that involved killing an informer for his boss Caeser (Remo Fernandes).

While in jail, he is seen by a hyperactive over enthusiastic young lady called Aisha (Shraddha Kapoor) who enjoys telling cheesy jokes.  She writes down in her diary, “To save a life” – part of a list of things that she wants to do before she kicks the bucket.  If the soppiness of that line doesn’t drown you, the fact that our villain gives up everything to help Aisha fulfil her dreams surely will.

I wish I could delve more into details but that would be a spoiler.  It will suffice to say that the serial killer is played by Ritiesh Deshmukh who is dabbling with a role of this kind for the first time.  I must say that he does a fine job of it.  It is a refreshing change from the crappy slapstick roles that he indulges in more often.  Apparently more such off beat roles are around the corner.

Shraddha Kapoor hasn’t been given anything to work with.  She is a welcome breath of fresh air into Bollywood but with stale lines and a weak script, there is little that she can do to get the movie up a notch.  I say watch out for her in the days to come.  Success and a brilliant performance are only a script away.

Ditto for Siddharth Malhotra who has been caught wanting for lack of a half decent script.  Ek Villain doesn’t do much for him.  Hang in there I say.  His time will come.  Mohit Suri’s direction – as always – leaves loads to be desired.  There is little the man has learnt from his previous disasters.

Suri continues with the standard line, “Kya fark padta hai.  India mein sab chalta hai” (How does it matter? In India – everything goes”!!!  Sadly, Suri’s hypothesis is true.  The audience really doesn’t seem to care.  I hope someday they start.    For now, the decent music and solid performances will see a below par movie like Ek Villain through.  5 on 10.  Watch on TV if you would really want to.

Watch the trailer on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ruO0VrqOkdE