THE BAD GUYS NEVER LOOKED THIS GOOD
Actors who’d easily be considered ‘hero material’ are starting out in Bollywood as villains. We ask why
Good girls like bad boys! Well, Bollywood seems to have taken the saying quite seriously. The fresh crop of villains in Hindi films are about as smart, suave and dashing as the hero.
Sample this: Sajjad Delafrooz (Tiger Zinda Hai, 2017), Freddy Daruwala (Holiday, 2014), Tahir Raj Bhasin ( Mardaani, 2014), Vidyut Jammwal (Force, 2011), Nikitin Dheer (Jodha Akbar, 2008), and Neil Nitin Mukesh (Johnny Gaddaar, 2007) — all these rather attractive actors made their debut playing a negative role and were praised by fans and critics alike.
“Such baddies only make our heroes look bigger and stronger. To be a superhero, you need a super villain,” says critic Omar Qureshi. “And, if you make it big as a villain, you [make] a lot of name and fame and wealth.”
The actors themselves feel that the trend of ‘looker’ villains is a sign of the times. Freddy says, “The whole world is changing and so is the styling. Earlier, villains used to be very rich, older men, but now, we’re making films with villains that you face in real life. He’s not sitting in a big haveli or trying to make Basanti dance. Villains’ idea of destruction [now] is not only by shooting pistols or riding horses,” he quips.
Tahir cites “the age of the unconventional” as the reason behind this transformation. “Being the antagonist is the cool new thing, because it comes with its own challenges. You have to woo the audience in spite of having dark shades to your character,” he adds.
Sajjad, however, feels it all depends on the script and the character dictates the casting. “Sometimes, you need a smarter and cooler villain to fit into the plot,” he says.
Another reason why young, suave actors are taking up the roles of baddies is that films these days treat them as a parallel male lead. Tahir says, “Even when we do a screen test or audition, a director sees us as another lead [actor].”
Freddy concludes that ‘hero material’ actors are now being cast as villains because “that way, filmmakers can capture both the sides. A villain is also [another] lead; it’s just that he has got negative shades.”