Ek Villain Returns review :

A serial killer on the prowl That makes some 'bewaffa' women howl Is it Arjun or is it John?

Or maybe Disha with her deranged frown..

The sequel to Ek Villain, which had Riteish Deshmukh as the demented serial killer with Sid Malhotra as his nemesis, is turned in to a franchise here by Mohit Suri whose last film Malang (2020) was quite okay though it didn't exactly set the box office on fire. Here, he has an interesting story to tell but alas, the execution is too sluggish and confusing to entertain...even at a crisp two hours ten minutes of runtime!!

Infact, the first hour is only about a spoilt rich brat Arjun Kapoor doing some serious faltugiri with an aspiring singer played by Tara Sutaria. Music has always been Mohit's fortè but the songs in Ek Villain Returns are ahem (!!) unsatisfactory to say the least. Worse, the ploy to take the story forward through the songs falls flat as we find them jarring to the narrative flow.

John Abraham comes nearly an hour late and his entry elevates the movie two notches higher. He plays a radio cab driver who falls for a clothing sales girl Disha Pattani. Their love story progresses from the mushy taxi rides in Mumbai to a makeout in Lonavala where one of them gets a shock of life...

Mohit Suri hasn't been able to develop his key characters optimally unlike the first part where Riteish's serial killer was build up fantastically through his experiences with a nagging wife. Here, the main villain's intention doesn't look convincing at all. The metro fight sequence is imaginatively choreographed but who has ever seen an empty coach or a deserted platform in the ever busy Mumbai?! As for those clumsy VFX, the less said the better!!

Overall, Ek Villain Returns aint too bad for a one time dekho, but had the potential to be a fantastically wicked slasher movie. Mohit has lost a good opportunity but its still kinda okay. There is a hint of a sequel in the end credits scene and I hope that one kills it...literally!!

"Rating zaroor dena" repeats the cabbie John throughout the movie. 5 stars (out of 10) is what Ek Villain Returns gets from me.

Regards, Sumeet Nadkarni.