Guru (Sidharth Malhotra) is a young thug who was traumatized when his parents were murdered in front of him at the age of eight. Prone to violence, Guru is working as an enforcer for a gangster, when he lands in jail. Aisha (Shraddha Kapoor) sees him being beaten by policemen. Being a compassionate person, her heart goes out to him, and when he is released, she tries to help him. Aisha believes that if you are in pain, you will find healing if you help someone else in pain. As Guru gets to know her, he realizes that she is dying of a terminal disease. He decides to help her fulfill the final wishes she has written in her diary. So, as they fall in love and marry, she pulls him from the darkness into the light.

Rakesh (Riteish Deshmukh) is a middle-class family man. Stuck in a dead-end job and humiliated at work, he feels like he is being squeezed between the lower class and the upper class in society. Rakesh’s frustration is

compounded by Sulo, his wife, played by Amna Shariff. She expresses her disappointment in him by constantly nagging and berating him. Unable to stop his adored wife from disrespecting him, Rakesh’s rage turns violent when he begins targeting other woman who he feels have disrespected him. His weapon of choice is a screwdriver. After he kills his victims, he find a measure of peace and he always brings home an item of jewelry or something else from the scene of the crime. Guru’s story and Rakesh’s intersect when sweet, bubbly Aisha becomes one of Rakesh’s victims.

Directed by Mohit Suri, ‘Ek Villain’ is told in flashback. Suri gives each of the three main characters several layers, helping us understand what makes each tic. Riteish Deshmukh captures the ‘ordinary guy’ driven over the edge by stress and unfairness in life. He does all that society requires of him, but it is never enough. Damaged in childhood, Sidharth Malhotra is brooding and emotionally frozen. Still he manages to convey an underlining sweetness and innocence as Aisha’s love and lightness begins to melt his protective coldness. Shraddha ‘s character is too chirpy at first meeting, eventually calms down and the goodness of her personality shines through. Aisha has her own philosophy about darkness and light, love and hate, and pain which gives ‘Ek Villain’ a moral underpinning. Very different from many female characters in Bollywood movies who play passive roles, she is strong enough to influence Guru’s life for the good.

Ek Villain is a fast-paced thriller that keeps you interested throughout.  It has several songs which enhance the mood of the film, most notably “Galliyan” which tenderly traces Aisha and Guru’s love story.