"Ek Villain" is a film that made me squirm, smile, as well as cry. Most Bollywood films, to borrow a line from the film, have a hero, a heroine, and a villain. This film however is an exception since the love story is of the villain himself.
When a girl with a bucket list is on the threshold of fulfilling her last wish - of saving the life of a man, ergo, a villain, and turning him into a hero, a vicious villain's psychotic attempts at becoming a hero to the one he loves, forever changes their shared destinies.
This is not a film for the faint of heart. The violence is often stomach churning, while the cold blooded actions of a merciless mercenary will send shivers down your spine. However, at the same time, the bubbly effervescence and undiluted romance of the lead pair will surely bring a smile to your face, as will the innocence of a child caught between hope and expectation.
Finally, the extremely nuanced performances by Ritesh Deshmukh (a revelation, and brilliant), Shradhaa Kapoor (fantastic, and effortlessly heartwarming), Siddharth Malhotra (excellent, and very different from his earlier outings), and Aamna Sharif (just what the psychiatrist ordered!) will make you go through a gamut of emotions in steady succession, finally culminating in an unprovoked opening of the floodgates.
The real hero of this film filled with villains (almost everyone has gray shades - including the nefarious Kamaal R Khan - playing as irritating a character as he appears to be in real life) is actually its Music courtesy Mithoon and Ankit Tiwari (especially the two versions of the song - Teri Galiyaan), who do not disappoint after the hugely successful Ashiqui 2. The biggest villain in this film is fate and its cruel twists and turns which, like tentacles of an omnipotent hunter, slowly binds it's prey to a future you cannot escape from, come what may, and irrespective of how many times you pray (again, a recurring theme in this film).
I loved the director Mohit Suri's 'I saw the Devil' but don't care approach as far as storytelling was concerned, and director of photography's brilliant execution of wishful thinking, especially during the songs and panoramic shots of the city. I would have enjoyed even more if the writers had chosen more thrills over violence, but then the mush more than makes up for these shortfalls.
Overall, "Ek Villain" is a movie which if missed will definitely make you repent, and feel like a villain. Just go with the flow and catch the nearest show. And need I add? Ritesh - take a bow!
