IndiaParentMagazine

Ek Villian Movie Review

Ek Villian Offers a Memorable Message!

  • Cast: Sidharth Malhotra as Guru, Riteish Deshmukh as Rakesh Mahadkar, Shraddha Kapoor as Aisha Verma, Aamna Sharif as Sulochana Mahadkar (Rakesh's Wife), Shaad Randhawa as CBI Officer Aditya Rathore, Kamaal R Khan as Brijesh Yadav (Rakesh's coworker & friend), Remo Fernandes as Caesar (Guru's Boss), Prachi Desai in a special appearance (In Song 'Awari')
  • Director: Mohit Suri
  • Music: Ankit Tiwari, Mithoon, Soch (Band)

 If there are two things common between Mahesh Bhatt and Ekta Kapoor’s films, they are sex and soulful songs garnished with a touch of emotion.  The result is often instant success. However, Ekta Kapoor’s Ek Villain is a little different from her other projects: The sex quotient is zero. Instead, you have violence.

Coming to the story, a young boy Guru (Siddharth Malhotra) falls into the hands of an underworld don (Remo Fernandes) after his parents get killed and he seeks revenge. Later he just sticks to his boss, who kind of seems to be half in love with this good looking, vulnerable and forced-into-crime bad boy. 

Guru meets bubbly, cheerful and socially conscious Aisha (Shradha Kapoor) who is also dying of cancer.  They fall in love, get married and settle in Mumbai as Guru wants to straighten out and lead a good life. The movie begins with Aisha’s death and goes back in time.

Ek Villain, with a box office run of almost 100 crores in one week, is actually the story of two villains bumping into each other in vengeance. One is a really demented lunatic and needs to get immediate psychological attention while the other is driven to commit murderous acts due to his personal loss, limiting his violence to similar underworld goons.

On another track we have Rakesh (Riteish Deshmukh), a telephone worker, who is generally economically and emotionally unsatisfied.  His manager reprimands him often and his wife feels that he cannot take care of his family well. She nags him yet we get the feeling that she loves him too but had to bear the brunt of his inefficiency.  However, Rakesh unable to ask his wife to stop nagging him (he cannot openly talk to anyone) or take help by talking to good friends, he takes the path of killing women who feel he is incompetent. He has an equally nasty and disgusting friend, Brijesh Yadav (Kamaal R. Khan) who advises him to keep his wife in place by beating her up and taking out his frustration at brothel houses. (Wow! Birds of a feather flock together!).

Mohit Suri, well known for his “inspirational” movies lifted from other countries, allegedly drew the crux of this story from another Korean film “I Saw the Devil."  Whereas the Korean movie has no marriage plot and the killer is just an unsatisfied, disillusioned man. I particularly didn't like that Suri gives a nagging wife twist in this film. As if the burdens of being a woman are not enough, Suri brings in another reason for men to blame their wives. It almost seems like he's saying, "see I am violent because you are a nagging wife.”  This angle goes well with Hindu sycophancy of equating woman with fate: Lakshmi devi (good luck and money) or shani (bad luck or bad omen) and blaming idiotic, lazy and unfit men’s providence on hapless women. 

If a spouse’s behavior can make one’s personality violent enough to kill other people then almost 3/4 of women population in Hindu and Muslim cultures would have become mass murderesses! The kind of pressure a woman takes in the modern world as a workingwoman and homemaker is truly unbelievable in real life!

Coming back to the story Rakesh, accidentally meets Shraddha Kapoor while repairing a telephone poll and gets criticized for his inefficient work.  He just follows her and kills her so mercilessly that it’s obvious that he has a psychological problem.

So basically instead of getting a divorce from a wife that nags him, he goes and kills innocent and pregnant women just because they say something nasty about his working skills.  In addition he has an equally nasty and disgusting friend, BrijeshYadav (Kamaal R Khan) who advises him to keep his wife in place by beating her up and taking out his frustration at brothel houses.  Wow! Birds of a feather flock together!

The movie in spite of such many flaws keeps you interested. It has no suspense, and no serious game plan between the two villains. In fact, the heroine gets killed in the first ten minutes into the film. Yet it is not a bore to watch (mainly because of the protagonists, who simply look gorgeous and perform well). Some actors are totally out of sync however, like the underworld don played by Remo Fernandes.  His character comes across as a very kind person, so he doesn’t look like a guy for whom the entire police force is looking for; neither his demeanor nor his voice scares you. 

I simply loved Sidharth's performance.  Unlike the highly overacting, emotionally overbearing heroes of India, Siddharthspeaks volumes with his eyes and tightly controlled emotions.  His half smile and vulnerable looks will break many young hearts, like he did my daughter’s. He didn’t have to bear his chest nor dance like a lunatic to show his heroism.  His eyes will do the work for you. The action scene on the ship where he just coolly knocks off many ruffians without blinking an eyelid is highly impressive. I really liked that there were no artificial effects --- no dirt swirling or any unbelievable high kicks. There were just exhibits of pure, solid physical strength which the director showcases in an effortless manner. 

For a change, Ekta Kapoor produces a film with the right message: What goes around comes around:  a mother’s curse and a pregnant women’s merciless killing have to be avenged by God himself; no exposing, no putting women down. RiteishDeshmukh as the killer is natural.  He expresses very well and you can’t stop hating him in the movie. 

Furthermore, the dialogues are thought-provoking throughout the film. Sidharth says at one point (not exact quote), “Never has my revenge made me so happy as I was when I was saving an old man from an asylum!” 

The item song by Prachi Desai (which is definitely far from a typical item song) is beautifully delineated with a solid message: Not to treat women as play things. A prostitute sings a song of her misery and how painful it is to be in such a position!  Pakistani group Soch beautifully portrays her helplessness in the lyrics and music.  LIsten to their if you can. Its much more beautiful.

Prachi Desai was wonderful in this song! Chikni Chameli and Sheila ki Jawani seem garish in comparison!

Ultimately, Mohit Suri is a fabulous director.  He treats women and the subject well in his movies and men too.  He’s always soft hearted toward prostitutes (remember Murder 2?) and seem to understand their plight. I wish that this talented director would work more with original scripts. Copying another movie somehow bogs down his aptitude.

Ek Villain is a must watch film, except for kids under 13, of course, as there is graphic violence. Girls will love Sidharth and won't want to miss him! Ek Villain, put simply, is a soulful movie with a good message.