There are no heroes, villains or plots in this boring thriller – The New Indian Express

Express press service

Several times during Ek Villain Returns, I wanted to get out of the theater, go to the bathroom, wash my face, look in the mirror, and think about my choices. If there will be a multiverse of bad movies, this is the real villain. I saw pimply teenagers with college bags, pressing their temples while staring at the screen. Maybe sleeping in the classroom would have been better. The plot looks like a big jigsaw puzzle that wanted to line up with a big yellow smiley face, but with several pieces missing, the final image looks like a pile of crooked teeth. The hero (or villain?) of the film is Gautam Mehra played by Arjun Kapoor.

He’s a rich kid whose angst probably comes from watching too many Joker movies. In the first few scenes only, he gives an introduction to the Gunda-isque character: “Na aql na shaql, kamane wala mera papa, main sabse bad” (No brains, no beauty; the winner is my father, my job is bad) Enter the love interest in the form of Aarvi from Tara Sutaria. She’s a part-time budding singer with daddy issues and a full-time damsel in distress. Gautam and Aarvi fall in love but then he betrays her because he already told us that he is Ek Villain. In a side plot, John Abraham plays Bhairav, a reserved taxi driver obsessed with grades, and Disha Patani’s Rasika.

Is he Ek Villain? Rasika is a mall employee who resembles Ayesha from Shraddha Kapoor in Ek Villain (2014). She wears a crooked smile after causing an accident and is possibly Ek Villain. There’s also JD Chakravarthy who plays a cop investigating a series of murders but he doesn’t like to call the assailant a serial killer. Guess what he calls her? Ek Villain Returns tries to tell a story from the perspective of abandoned lovers, psychopaths and boy children. Understanding is one thing, but she kind of expects viewers to sympathize with them because they’re “damaged.” The heroines of director Mohit Suri oscillate between submission and psychosis.

Heroes, on the other hand, are just ripped dummies who punch and stare on command. Arjun Kapoor as Gautam has too much fun at first, then loses interest and intrigue. John Abraham seems confused between doing a Force (2011) and a Jhootha Hi Sahi (2010) and ends up doing a John. Tara’s voice in the song Shaamat moves better than she does on screen, and then there’s Disha Patani. When it comes to lucidity, the film makes long leaps in faith and timeline.

The narrative awkwardly moves six months forward and three months back and makes you want a calculator or a time machine. Even the leadership style changes all the time. It starts out as an unintentional found-sequence horror parody, crashes into the middle like a B-grade Korean thriller, and ends as a poorly made Saw movie (which is all after the first). If there is to be one, the music is the film’s only saving grace. Dil and Galliyan Returns attempt to recapture the melodious magic of Murder 2 (2011) and Aashiqui 2 (2013). Overall, Ek Villain Returns is a voiceless music video that would have sufficed as an audio file.

EK VILLAIN BACK
Actors: John Abraham, Arjun
Kapoor, Disha Patani, Tara Sutaria
Director: Mohit Suri

Several times during Ek Villain Returns, I wanted to get out of the theater, go to the bathroom, wash my face, look in the mirror, and think about my choices. If there will be a multiverse of bad movies, this is the real villain. I saw pimply teenagers with college bags, pressing their temples while staring at the screen. Maybe sleeping in the classroom would have been better. The plot looks like a big jigsaw puzzle that wanted to line up with a big yellow smiley face, but with several pieces missing, the final image looks like a pile of crooked teeth. The hero (or villain?) of the film is Gautam Mehra played by Arjun Kapoor. He’s a rich kid whose angst probably comes from watching too many Joker movies. In the first few scenes only, he gives an introduction to the Gunda-isque character: “Na aql na shaql, kamane wala mera papa, main sabse bad” (No brains, no beauty; the winner is my father, my job is bad) Enter the love interest in the form of Aarvi from Tara Sutaria. She’s a part-time budding singer with daddy issues and a full-time damsel in distress. Gautam and Aarvi fall in love but then he betrays her because he already told us that he is Ek Villain. In a side plot, John Abraham plays Bhairav, a reserved taxi driver obsessed with grades, and Disha Patani’s Rasika. Is he Ek Villain? Rasika is a mall worker who resembles Shraddha Kapoor’s Ayesha in Ek Villain (2014). She wears a crooked smile after causing an accident and is possibly Ek Villain. There’s also JD Chakravarthy who plays a cop investigating a series of murders but he doesn’t like to call the assailant a serial killer. Guess what he calls her? Ek Villain Returns tries to tell a story from the perspective of abandoned lovers, psychopaths and boy children. Understanding is one thing, but she kind of expects viewers to sympathize with them because they’re “damaged.” The heroines of director Mohit Suri oscillate between submission and psychosis. Heroes, on the other hand, are just ripped dummies who punch and stare on command. Arjun Kapoor as Gautam has too much fun at first, then loses interest and intrigue. John Abraham seems confused between doing a Force (2011) and a Jhootha Hi Sahi (2010) and ends up doing a John. Tara’s voice in the song Shaamat moves better than she does on screen, and then there’s Disha Patani. When it comes to lucidity, the film makes long leaps in faith and timeline. The narrative awkwardly moves six months forward and three months back and makes you want a calculator or a time machine. Even the leadership style changes all the time. It starts out as an unintentional found-sequence horror parody, hangs in the middle like a B-grade Korean thriller, and ends like a poorly made Saw movie (which is all after the first). If there has to be one, the music is the film’s only saving grace. Dil and Galliyan Returns attempt to recapture the melodious magic of Murder 2 (2011) and Aashiqui 2 (2013). Overall, Ek Villain Returns is a narrated-less music video that would have sufficed as an audio file. EK VILLAIN RETURNS Cast: John Abraham, Arjun Kapoor, Disha Patani, Tara Sutaria Director: Mohit Suri