Predictable much?

I was waiting a good bit for this weekend. For one it would mean two movies that I definitely wanted to watch and also the almost-end-of-this-month. Ek Villain and Transformers: Age of Extinction. 

The latter I would have watched even if hell froze over; Ek Villain however came loaded with an optimism that is infectious for movie reviewers who have to watch movies every week, whether we want to or not. 

Ek Villain would have been good, there was a feeling, for one - Riteish Deshmukh was not going to be horsing around and would not be in drag. And Sidharth Malhotra is not playing a chocolate boy and Shraddha...well, sorry - that is just the same. 

Let’s just face it. Ek Villain is terribly predictable. We have had quite enough of terminally ill patients and their bucket lists (have you ever noticed that they never bother about the details of the illness?) to last us a lifetime, but Bollywood loves it and wants more and director Mohit Suri loves delivering this ‘more’. And so will a massive chunk of the box office, mark my words.

So hit man of sorts Guru (Malhotra) has quite a few beefy chips on his brooding, slumped shoulder and the only thing that makes any sense in this dark world is little Miss Sunshine Aisha (Kapoor). But since every love story must have ek villain, Suri gives us Rakesh Mahadkar (Deshmukh) with a ‘Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde’ of a mind. 

So the movie meanders in and out of dreamy dance sequences as Aisha flits about doing inane stupid things girls in Bollywood do (it is all very pretty) and Guru drags his feet along the entire time looking quite unsettled with fluorescent algae, butterflies and well, life in general. Very nice Suri, very nice *slow clap*. 

 

What saves Ek Villain, however is Deshmukh. He takes Bollywood to that creepy Korean slasher zone that will make you cringe. And he is so good! We only wish he would do more of this and almost none of Humshakals and Kya Super Cool Hai Hum. 

Malhotra is not bad in his brooding, stoic role and it is a breath of fresh air to see him not don a pink shirt and play to the crowds, three movies young, this guy is doing something right. 

Oh, there is also a Kamaal Khan, and believe it or not the role actually suits him and he is not farcical and painful, unlike in real life and Twitter. Happiness! 

If you can focus on the movie as a thriller and well blot out the naach-gaana, Ek Villain is a good movie. Giving credit where it is due - the songs are quite nice.  

I give it a 2.5 because I wanted to shake Aisha by her shoulder and tell her that she should hurry up the dying bit because watching Guru and Rakesh was exponentially much better.