Review of Ek Villain (2014) by Khaled M — 11 Jul 2014

Quality and substance! I give it a four - perhaps the characters could've been written slightly less cliched, I dunno. But otherwise, the cast fleshed out their characters very well. Would love a re-watch, thanks to its Memento-like style! It plays out with a 'dual timeline', starting with Aisha's murder, and moves alternately forward (after the murder) and backward (before the murder).

Each time we go backward, our questions from the future get answered (ie. "no wonder he said 'she died in front of you'!", or "So that's how that nurse knows Guru, cos Aisha was pregnant!" or "oh, so he was the repairman Aisha told off at the beginning!").

Two poetic and profound takeaways : the boy who grew up unable to sleep after witnessing his parents' murder, found he could finally sleep.. as Aisha says, after he 'helped someone out'. And the same boy who hid under a table when his parents got killed.

. ultimately emphatized as an adult, and coaxed a young boy out from under the table when the power was in his hand - redemptive symbolism! As the movie went on, it left the ending open to one's guessing, which is cool.

And at the end, they tied it up well :).