Baddies get better in tinsel town

Amitabh Bachchan’s Babban in Ram Gopal Varma ki Aag simply didn’t go down well with the audience. Is it because obvious villainy is out and a more subtle menace is what works for Bollywood’s baddies now?

MOST filmmakers today work at creating convincing rather than OTT villains.

Writer-director Anurag Basu says, “Whenever I write a negative character, I try focusing on the psychological aspects and make it look realistic, which is why villains in my movies look so casual.”

The director believes you can’t create a villain just by making him mouth terrifying lines. “What makes the villain stand out is his performance and how well viewers relate to him.

It’s the duty of the director to tell the audience why that one particular character is evil,” he explains.

Tamil film director Gautham Menon believes the villain is the most important character in any movie. “Because he’s the one who keeps the film moving, I put extra effort into sketching the negative roles in my movies,” he says.

The way villains are portrayed today gives actors greater scope to explore nuances, says Gautham, who introduced new-age villains in his cop stories, Kaakka Kaakka and Vettaiyadu Vilayadu.

The distinctions between good and bad have changed in society and this is reflected in cinema, feels actor Ashutosh Rana. “We don’t represent the baddie as dark and the hero as fair anymore; it’s all shades of grey.

Now, both the hero and villain are strong, good-looking and smart; what makes a character negative is his point of view and approach to a situation,” says the actor, who won awards for best negative roles for Sangharsh and Dushman.

But he strikes a note of caution about today’s suave villain. “The look shouldn’t take away from the role,” he says. “We shouldn’t forget that he is the face of evil.

So actors playing negative characters should present the negative trait so well that people should hate them and not sympathise with their situation. The whole concept of on-screen villainy will go awry if audiences start admiring villains.”

Actor Milind Gunaji agrees that even negative characters in today’s movies have to be attractive. “I was considered the hero of Fareb though I played a negative role. And I got accolades for presenting it well,” says the actor, who believes he has the appearance of a good-looking villain. “But now, with all sorts of actors attempting subtle villainy, there’s also the risk of the role losing its force.”

Actor Anuj Sawhney prefers the old stereotypes. “Amjad Khan and Amrish Puri are my all-time faves,” he says. The new-style villain is just not Bollywood, according to Anuj. “Now, it’s just hero playing anti-hero. That’s not what Bollywood is about; the masala is missing,” says the actor.

And which stars shine best in negative roles? “I feel Rajnikanth is awesome in a negative role,” says Gautham. Anurag’s choice includes Hrithik Roshan and Aamir Khan.

Actress Hrishitaa Bhatt adds that, “When Pran and Amrish appear in a movie we instantly knew they weren’t upto any good.” Shekhar Suman’s vote goes to Dilip Kumar in Amar. “He’s a legendary hero, but when he played a negative role it shocked the audience with its impact,” says the actor.