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EK Villain
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Mohit Suri
Written by	Story and Screenplay: Tushar Hiranandani Dialogues: Milap Milan Zaveri
Produced by	Ekta Kapoor Shobha Kapoor
Starring	Sidharth Malhotra Riteish Deshmukh Shraddha Kapoor Shaad Randhawa
Cinematography	Vishnu Rao
Edited by	Devendra Murdeshwar
Music by	Songs: Ankit Tiwari Mithoon Soch - The Band Score: Raju Singh
Production company	Balaji Motion Pictures
Distributed by	AA Films
Release date	27 June 2014 (2014-06-27) (India)
Running time	129 minutes
Country	India
Language	Hindi
Budget	₹39 crore
Box office	est. ₹169.62 crore

Ek Villain (transl. A Villain) is a 2014 Indian Hindi-language action thriller film directed by Mohit Suri and jointly produced by Shobha Kapoor and Ekta Kapoor under Balaji Motion Pictures. Based on a script written by Tushar Hiranandani and Milap Milan Zaveri, it stars Sidharth Malhotra, Riteish Deshmukh and Shraddha Kapoor in lead roles.

Ek Villain was released worldwide on 27 June 2014 and received positive reviews from critics, garnering praise for its theme, direction, screenwriting and action sequences with Deshmukh receiving particular praise in his first ever negative role. Made on a budget of ₹39 crore, the film was a major box-office success with earnings of over ₹100 crore domestically and a worldwide gross of ₹170 crore. The songs "Galliyan", "Zaroorat" and "Hamdard" became huge hits.

Malhotra and Deshmukh later reunited for the 2019 masala actioner Marjaavaan, in which Deshmukh's entry as the antagonist was accompanied by him singing the award-winning song "Galliyan" from the Ek Villain soundtrack. A sequel titled Ek Villain Returns, starring John Abraham and Arjun Kapoor, along with Disha Patani and Tara Sutaria, was released in July 2022; Deshmukh reprises his role in the sequel both as part of archive footage and for a mid-credits appearance.

Plot

A young woman, Aisha Verma, tries to leave a message for her husband, Guru Divekar, when a masked man who has entered her house kills her by defenestration. At her funeral, CBI officer Aditya Rathore points out that it is vital to track down the murderer or else Guru will go on a killing spree.

Past: Guru was a ruthless hitman working for mob boss Caesar, who raised and trained him to murder the goons who killed his parents. When Guru is arrested for killing Debu, Debu's mother refuses to testify against him and warns him that one day God will make him pay for his crimes by making him lose his loved one. Guru soon falls in love with Aisha, an optimistic girl dying from a terminal illness, and they get married. Guru gives up his old life and gets a job while Aisha receives treatment in Mumbai and recovers. She discovers she is pregnant and decides to tell Guru in person when he returns from his interview, but is murdered before she can.

Present: Rakesh Mahadkar is an unsuccessful man who is constantly insulted and ridiculed by his wife, Sulochana "Sulu" Mahadkar, for his shortcomings. While he dearly loves his wife, he vents his frustration by murdering other women who speak rudely to him, and Aisha turns out to be one of them. Guru hunts down Rakesh and brutally beats him up, then admits him to a hospital and pays for the expenses, intending to punish him by repeatedly bringing him to the brink of death, saving him, and doing it all over again. At the hospital, when Guru learns that Aisha was pregnant, he is devastated. While assaulting a nurse, Rakesh is again interrupted by Guru. Rakesh realizes that Guru is Aisha's husband and is seeking vengeance. Upon the suggestion of his friend Brijesh, he taunts Guru over the phone and then kills Aisha's father.

Rakesh expects Guru to kill him so that he can die as a hero in the eyes of Sulochana and everyone else, while Guru will be tarnished. However, Caesar calls Guru and says that he has killed Sulochana to avenge Aisha for Guru and left Rakesh's little son Manish for Guru to kill. An enraged Rakesh stabs Guru with a screwdriver and takes up a boulder to kill him, but is hit by a car and dies from his injuries. Guru adopts Manish and completes the wishes on Aisha's bucket list.

Cast

• Sidharth Malhotra as Guru Divekar
• Riteish Deshmukh as Rakesh Mahadkar
• Shraddha Kapoor as Aisha Verma/Aisha Guru Divekar
• Kamaal Rashid Khan as Brijesh Yadav
• Aamna Sharif as Sulochana Mahadkar
• Remo Fernandes as Caesar
• Shaad Randhawa as ACP Aditya Rathore
• Asif Basra as Aadesh Verma
• Rishina Kandhari as Jia Shinde
• Prachi Desai as herself inthe song "Awari" (special appearance)
• Vidyadhar Karmakar as Chotu
• Rumana Molla as Nidhi Sharma

Production

Development

Ekta Kapoor signed Mohit Suri to direct a romantic thriller. Ek Villain was earlier reported to be a remake of the Korean film I Saw the Devil, though Suri, the director, refuted the claim. Suri stated that every character in the film would have grey shades.

Marketing and promotions

The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) cleared the film with a U/A certificate after a total of eight cuts designed to tone down the action sequences and mute a particular word. Tanuj Garg, representative of Balaji Motion Pictures stated the cuts were less than a minute of screen time.

The movie's official teaser which was released on 4 April 2014 with the film Main Tera Hero, got 1 million views on YouTube within three days of release. The official trailer of 2 minutes 18 secs was launched later and was well received by critics, as well as garnered praise from around the industry, including Karan Johar, Ranbir Kapoor, Katrina Kaif among others.

Sidharth Malhotra, Shraddha Kapoor, Riteish Deshmukh, Mohit Suri and the film's music directors attended a musical event in Mumbai to promote the soundtrack of the film. Further, Malhotra and Kapoor promoted the movie at the IPL semi-finals as well as on reality shows like Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa. Promotion campaigns were also organized across the country in cities like Jaipur, Kolkata and Delhi. As a part of the promotional strategy, a television show based on Bollywood villains was hosted by Malhotra.

Soundtrack

The songs are composed by Mithoon, Ankit Tiwari and the band Soch. The lyrics are written by Manoj Muntashir, Mithoon and members of Soch. The album consists of six songs with Tiwari composing "Galliyan", Mithoon composing "Zaroorat", "Humdard," and "Banjaara" while the remaining track "Awari" is composed by Soch.

The film score was composed by Raju Singh.

Release

Ek Villain was released theatrically on 27 June 2014, in 2539 screens in the domestic market.

Critical reception

Ek Villain received positive reviews from critics with praise for the performances of Deshmukh in particular.

Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama awarded the movie 4/5 stars and wrote that, "On the whole, Ek Villain is a stylish, spellbinding and terrifying edge-of-the-seat thriller. It's a step forward in this genre, without a doubt. A sure-shot winner!" Raedita Tandon from Filmfare gave the film 4/5 stars and stated that, "Though indulgent in parts, Ek Villain packs in a punch. Copy of a Korean film or not, it's 'good' paisa vasool entertainment." Meena Iyer of The Times of India gave the film 3 stars in a scale of 5, stating that "You cannot fault the scale of Ek Villain or berate its lead star cast. But you wish you could celebrate this thriller like you did Suri's last movie outing Aashiqui 2. This one lacks soul."

Aparna Mudi of Zee News gave the film a rating of 2.5/5 stars, concluding her review that "The unveiling of the visceral saga has a lot of strong characters and Mohit has done a good job in adapting a foreign film and complementing it with the drama that the Indian audience is used to. But he has gone a tad over in making a thriller. Maybe, filmmakers should step out of this trap more often and we wouldn`t be too far from making beacons of world cinema." Rajeev Masand of CNN-IBN stated that "I'm going with two-and-a-half out of five for 'Ek Villain'. If you're still wondering, the real villain here is the lousy script".

Shubhra Gupta of The Indian Express gave the film 2 stars, commenting that "Suri is an innate storyteller, and can keep things moving. All he needs is a strong, all-the-way credible, original plot." Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV rated the film 2/5 and wrote that "As a whole, this film, besides its surface flair, does not have too much to fall back upon. Watch it only if that is good enough for you." Raja Sen of Rediff gave the film 1.5 stars out of 5, stating that "Given free tickets, sure, you could escape Humshakals in theatres this weekend with this mediocre effort, but I say do yourself a favour and seek out the Korean DVD. (Uncover it, even.) Now that's bloody special."

Box office

Ek Villain had what Box Office India called "very good" opening, with occupancies at around 55–60%. The film earned around ₹167 million (US$2.0 million) in its first day and around ₹507 million (US$6.1 million) in its first weekend, collecting around ₹165 million (US$2.0 million) and ₹174 million (US$2.1 million) in its second and third days respectively. The film collected around ₹81 million (US$970,000) in its fourth day and around ₹68 million (US$810,000) in its fifth day. The film collected ₹1.013 billion (US$12 million) in two weeks and around ₹1.056 billion (US$13 million) in three weeks. Box Office India reported that it will earn around ₹1.08 billion (US$13 million) in India alone. The film earned a distributor share of around ₹510 million (US$6.1 million) (Share).

Ek Villain collected ₹132 million (US$1.6 million) outside India in its first weekend.

Sequel

A standalone sequel, Ek Villain 2, which was later renamed as Ek Villain Returns, was officially announced on 30 January 2020. The film shows a face-off between two villains played by Arjun Kapoor & John Abraham while Disha Patani & Tara Sutaria play female leads, and was released on 29 July 2022. The song "Galliyan" was recreated for the film titled "Galliyan Returns" sung and composed by Tiwari and written by Muntashir.

Shaad Randhawa and Riteish Deshmukh reprise their roles as ACP Aditya Rathore and Rakesh Mahadkar from the first film, respectively; with Deshmukh appearing in archived footage and later physically as a cameo in the mid-credits scene, revealing that he survived his fate from the first film.

In popular culture

• Ritesh Deshmukh appeared as a cameo in the 2016 film Kyaa Kool Hain Hum 3 where he disguised as Rakesh reciting his punch dialogue "Shikayat Ka Mauka Nahi Dunga". The film also mentioned the song "Galliyan". The film is also produced by Ekta Kapoor and Shobha Kapoor.
• Ritesh appeared as a cameo in the 2016 film Mastizaade in the title track reprising his role Rakesh. The film was directed by Milap Zaveri who wrote dialogue for Ek Villain.
• Ritesh was seen humming the song "Galliyan" in the 2019 film Marjaavaan also directed by Milap Zaveri. The film also features Siddharth Malhotra in lead role and Ritesh played the role of main antagonist. This marked their second collaboration after Ek Villain.
• Characters in The Half of It watch, and then imitate, the scene of Guru chasing Aisha's train.

Awards and nominations

Notes

1. Although, he is revealed to be alive but in a wheelchair in the post credits scene of the sequel Ek Villain Returns.

References

1. "Ek Villain – Movie – Box Office India". boxofficeindia.com. Retrieved 16 August 2016.
2. "Ek Villain Box Office Collection till Now | Box Collection – Bollywood Hungama". Bollywood Hungama. 27 June 2014.
3. "Ek Villain - India.com".
4. Ek Villain Sequel not inspired by Korean film, says Mohit Suri. India Today. 8 June 2014
5. Ek Villain makers deny similarity with I Saw The Devil. Bollywood Hungama News Network. 8 June 2014
6. Everyone is a bit of a villain in 'Phir Ek Villain': Mohit Suri IBNLive 19 June 2014
7. Censor Board Clears Ek Villain only after eight cuts The Times of India
8. Sidharth Malhotra's trailer in Varun Dhawan's film! The Times of India
9. "Sidharth, Shraddha starrer Ek Villain trailer crosses 1 million views". India Today. 6 April 2014.
10. "Ek Villain Trailer Review: Rustic Sidharth Battling Brooding Riteish Promises A Piquant Film – Koimoi". 28 May 2014.
11. Ek Villain Trailer Review: Riteish steals the show! The business of Cinema
12. "Ek Villain made Mohit Suri meet Karan Johar Midnight". The Times of India.
13. "Shraddha Kapoor and Ankit Tiwari sing live at 'Ek Villain's' music concert in Mumbai". 6 June 2014.
14. Siddharth- Shraddha promote Ek Villain Pinkvilla
15. Ek Villain sets the mood on Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa Business of Cinema
16. Shraddha Kapoor Unwell, Still Promoting "Ek Villain" The Indian Express
17. Villains Shraddha-Sidharth Dazzle In Delhi The Indian Express
18. Sidharth Malhotra To Host "Ek Villain Ek Dastaan" Archived 22 June 2014 at the Wayback Machine NDTV 19 June 2014
19. "Ek Villain (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)". iTunes. 28 May 2014.
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24. Meena Iyer. "Ek Villain movie review: Wallpaper, Story, Trailer at Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 29 June 2014.
25. "'Ek Villain' review: Tad overdone melodrama". Aparna Mudi. Zee News. 29 June 2014. Retrieved 29 June 2014.
26. "'Ek Villain' review: Moderately fulfilling, the film's real villain is a lousy script". Rajeev Masand. CNN-IBN. Archived from the original on 29 June 2014. Retrieved 29 June 2014.
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40. "JOHN - ARJUN - DISHA - TARA: #EKVILLAIN SEQUEL SHOOTING STARTS... Mahurat of #EkVillainReturns was held at #G7 multiplex in #Bandra, #Mumbai today... Filming has commenced... Stars #JohnAbraham, #ArjunKapoor, #DishaPatani and #TaraSutaria... Directed by #MohitSuri". Retrieved 1 March 2021.
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47. List of Nominees: GIMA Awards, 2015
48. Winners List: 16th IIFA Technical Awards, 2015
49. List of Winners: IIFA Awards, 2015
50. 2 States, Haider, Queen, Ek Villian top the list of Nominations at 16th IIFA Awards, 2015
51. Winners List: 21st Screen Awards, 2015
52. List of Winners: 21st Life OK Screen Awards, 2015

External links

• Ek Villain at IMDb

• 2014 films
• 2010s Hindi-language films
• 2010s Indian films
• 2014 action thriller films
• Films scored by Ankit Tiwari
• Films scored by Mithoon
• Indian films about revenge
• Indian remakes of South Korean films
• Indian action thriller films
• Indian nonlinear narrative films
• Fictional portrayals of the Maharashtra Police
• Balaji Motion Pictures films
• Indian serial killer films
• Indian pregnancy films
• Films directed by Mohit Suri
• 2010s serial killer films
• Films shot in the Maldives
• Indian vigilante films
• Films about kidnapping in India
• Films about rape in India
• Indian rape and revenge films
• Indian chase films
• Films about stalking
• Indian psychological thriller films