Ek Villain (soundtrack)

Ek Villain is the soundtrack to the 2014 film of the same name directed by Mohit Suri starring Riteish Deshmukh, Sidharth Malhotra and Shraddha Kapoor. Mithoon composed and wrote three songs for the film, while Ankit Tiwari contributed music for one song "Galliyan" with lyrics by Manoj Muntashir which also features an unplugged version. The track "Awari" is composed and penned by Adnan Dhool and Rabbi Ahmed of the Pakistani pop and Sufi band Soch. The soundtrack which consisted six songs, released on 28 May 2014 under the T-Series label, to positive reviews.

Release
The soundtrack was preceded with two singles: "Galliyan" and "Banjaara" released on 9 and 14 May 2014. The remainder of the songs were released along with the album on 28 May 2014 through digital music platforms. The music video for "Awari" featuring Prachi Desai in an item number released on 11 June 2014.

Reception
In his four-star review for Koimoi, Mohar Basu said "the album as a whole has a bunch of brilliant tracks which must not be missed [...] a few songs do have hiccups but Ek Villain‘s music has something canorous about it. Don’t miss this one, it will emerge as one of the best albums this year." Devesh Sharma of Filmfare wrote "The OST of Ek Villain is another winner for Mohit Suri who has a knack for bringing out the best in his music directors. Go for it if you like soulful romantic tracks with loads of fusion thrown in." Joginder Tuteja rated four-stars for the soundtrack in his review for Rediff.com adding that "The music of Ek Villain meets the high expectations that one had from it."

Sankhayan Ghosh of The Indian Express wrote "Although it does have a similar melancholic vibe it’s never a problem. Suri manages to pull off a balanced, melodious album for his Aashiqui 2 follow up with his assemblage of composers." Music Aloud gave 7.5 out of 10 saying it as "Another soundtrack high on the déjà vu quotient with pretty much the same people involved, but Ankit Tiwari emerges the better one this time." Kasmin Fernandes of The Times of India called it as "A soundtrack that proves the worth of harmony, melody and emotions in today’s films." Karthik Srinivasan of Miliblog ranked "Galliyan" as his pick of the album, stating "Ankit Tiwari rules over this typical Mohit Suri soundtrack". In a mixed review for Bollywood Hungama, Rajiv Vijayakar wrote "The music attempts to tread Aashiqui 2 's terrain. However, while most of the songs are melodious, a comparable level of lyrical depth is missing- and therein lies the vital difference."

"Galliyan" topped the list of "Bollywood music report Jan–Sept 2014" presented by The Times of India, and was further included in "The Top 10 Most Popular Songs of 2014" which was announced in the report of "Hungama.com Chart-toppers 2014". The song was placed in the fourth position of the "Top 10 songs of 2014" published by The Indian Express.