NIKITIN DHEER: WE HAVE STOPPED CELEBRATING VILLAINS IN HINDI FILMS
The actor, who made his mark playing the villain in movies such as Ready and Chennai Express, rues the lack of well-written negative roles in Bollywood
People loved Amrish ji as Mogambo (Mr India, 1987). Aise characters roz roz nahin likhe jaate. NIKITIN DHEER, Actor
Nikitin Dheer’s role as the rough and tough antagonist Thangaballi in Chennai Express (2013) cemented his skills at playing the baddie. But even before that, the actor had played negative characters in films such as Dabangg 2 (2012) and Ready (2011).
However, the recent release Shershaah gave Dheer a chance to break away from essaying similar characters, and play an Army officer. Ask him if he feels being typecast would hurt his career, he quickly replies, “I don’t think anything is a roadblock as long as you are doing your job well. That counts. In other parts of India, be it Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, or
Kannada, the villain is celebrated just as much as the hero, not only in the narrative, but also in the storytelling.”
Recalling some iconic villain roles Hindi cinema has produced previously, the 41-year-old adds that the trend has been missing in the industry for the last few years. “I really hope that comes back to life, so that young actors like us can aspire to be the next Amrish Puri, Praan saab; it is not only negative but a whole range of characters. People never treated Amrish ji as villain, they loved him as Mogambo (Mr India, 1987) and also loved Gabbar (Sholay, 1975). Aise characters roz roz nahin likhe jaate. Villains can be celebrated again,” says Dheer, who will be seen next in Antim: The Final Truth.
Talking about the need for variety in the characters he chooses to portray, he says that he has just “started off”, and is trying his best to not be repetitive. “I see my career, whatever little I have done, and it’s all different from one another. I don’t repeat any character, and I’m in a space that I’m comfortable in. That has always been my endeavour,” he ends.