Joined: Mon Dec 03, 2001 5:53 pm
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Bad Guys Finish First
By: Vijay Ramanan
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Bad guys make the most interesting characters. Whenever I have watched a movie that draws a clear line between good and evil, I have usually hated the antagonist far more than I have liked the protagonist. Movies are supposed to be about heroes and we are supposed to root for them. However, as a viewer, ever so often you find yourself far more captivated by the hero’s antithesis.
In my opinion, villains are far more interesting simply because in film world, there are many more ways to be bad than there are ways to be good. This is especially true in the world of mainstream Indian filmmaking where writers and directors constantly find the need to reinvent the nature or severity of the hero’s opposition in each film, while keeping the definition of the hero intact. This necessity to repeatedly place a different hindrance in the hero’s path has created some of the most memorable characters Indian cinema has ever seen. The brilliance with which each of these characters has been fashioned has also fostered some of the finest performances ever witnessed on the Indian silver screen. Here is my list of MY favorite villains of all time – 10 guys I love to hate (or in some cases viciously admire) the most. I’m sure many of them would be on your list as well.
10. DR. MICHAEL DENG
Film: Karma
Actor: Anupam Kher
With the casting coup of the decade (Dilip Kumar, Naseeruddin Shah, Anil Kapoor, Jackie Shroff), Subhash Ghai created one of Indian cinemas most successful patriotic films of all time. If the hero (played by thespian Dilip Kumar) was an honest, loyal, and honorable protector of his nation, Ghai needed a polar opposite, which he along with screenwriter Osamu Tezuka created in the utterly deplorable Dr. Deng – an evil scientist out to take over the country. Anupam Kher did away with his conventional comedic style to imbed Dr. Deng with a sense of acute cynicism to compliment his inflated superiority complex. So menacing was Kher that even today, men, women, and children alike cheer every time they see his defeat at the hands of Karma’s heroes.
9. SUBEDAR
Film: Mirch Masala
Actor: Naseeruddin Shah
This small “art†film by Ketan Mehta gradually grew to represent Indian cinema on the international film circuits, promoting Naseeruddin Shah as a serious acting force to reckon with. Shah’s subedar is as evil as they come, using his villagers’ illiteracy to his full advantage. Could anyone possibly forget the climax of the film where Smita Patil leads a rampage of women throwing mirchi into Shah’s eyes? And what a scream he let out!
8. SHAKAL
Film: Shaan
Actor: Kulbhushan Kharbandha
Ramesh Sippy had a penchant for presenting his bad guys with great style. Shakal in this James Bond-style thriller is not one who physically runs after the protagonists but is rather the intelligent, scheming type who sits in his underwater vessel surrounded by sharks, stroking his bald head. What an image! It is perhaps this very image more than Kharbandha’s performance that makes Shakal an immortal character.
7. TEJA / SHYAM GOPAL BAJAJ
Film: Andaz Apna Apna
Actor: Paresh Rawal
In one of the funniest Hindi movies of all time lies one of the funniest villains of all time. In this laugh riot by Rajkumar Santoshi, Rawal plays a frustrated comic gangster out to take over his twin brother’s wealth. Despite the presence of Aamir Khan and Salman Khan in the film, Rawal was the main attraction with the funniest lines that were beautifully forced out due to the stupidity of his two sidekicks. If you have seen Andaz Apna Apna, you will break out laughing if I said, “Kiske mama ki gun hai?†If you didn’t get the joke, go rent Andaz Apna Apna now!
6. BIJLANI
Film: Hum Hain Rahi Pyar Ke
Actor: Dalip Tahil
Dalip Tahil has played the evil but classy business tycoon more times than he himself could count. Bijlani was an evil businessman too but what set him apart was the fact that he was anything but classy – a characteristic that completely opposed Tahil’s persona. To add to it, Bijlani was a hardcore Sindhi and Tahil enacted the role relying as heavily as possible on a stereotypical representation. His performance was exaggerated and one would have never known that Tahil had so much energy bottled up in him. Tahil’s comic timing was so impeccable that at his loss, we not only cheered for Aamir Khan, we also laughed our butts off.
5. MUSTAFA DON MASTANA
Film: Bombay Boys
Actor: Naseeruddin Shah
“Vhat I look like? Kirrminnal?â€â€¦â€Yar little bladdy kangaaaarooo jumping on my parsanal territory vithou evan getting visa??†With this tiny little film, Naseeruddin Shah added a new dimension in the way gangsters were represented in Indian films. Mastana was cool, he was a dork, he was ruthless, he was evil, and he was possessive. Only an actor with Shah’s talent could possibly manage to pack so many dimensions in a single character and do it in style. With Kaizad Gustad’s insanely hilarious dialogues, Mastana is the kind of bad guy you don’t want to see defeated. And you won’t be disappointed because this is one of the those films where you cheer for the bad guy and see him win!
4. LIAQAT
Film: Roja
Actor: Pankaj Kapoor
Liaqat from master filmmaker Mani Ratnam’s Roja is as deep as villains come. This is not your conventional terrorist who bashes up the hero for no reason and kills at will. Liaqat is a real human being with real emotions. What makes this character so special is his vulnerability. Characters who undergo a transformation are often the most memorable ones. Whether Liaqat does indeed transform or not at the climax of the film is a topic Ratnam leaves to his viewers to debate – a question that Pankaj Kapoor himself communicates to the audience with his chillingly stoic leer. However, in a dramatic, climactic, plot twist, a single word by Kapoor manages to encompass the moral of Ratnam’s entire film – that humanity is far stronger than ideals. Such a feat cannot be forgotten.
3. ANNA
Film: Parinda
Actor: Nana Patekar
A time bomb waiting to explode. This is Anna until the pre-climactic moments of Vinod Chopra’s Parinda. The subtlety and the coldness that you see in Patekar’s performance is all a façade for what is hidden inside. Patekar added seriousness to villainous characters through his performance by communicating intelligence. The fact that Vinod Chopra also provided Anna with a detailed past simply pushed Patekar’s interpretation of the character to greater heights. His subtlety was used to bottle up his pain. At the end of the movie when Anna is seen being burnt alive, one is happy at the death of evil. However, every viewer would find him or herself thinking more about Anna and his death than about Jackie Shroff and his win.
2. MOGAMBO
Film: Mr. India
Actor: Amrish Puri
“Mogambo khush hua.†When you have a name like Mogambo, you can be quite hard to forget. Add to the name a flashy costume, blonde hair, a voice that could trigger a cardiac arrest, and place all of this in an exceptionally fantastic film through Amrish Puri and you get a monster created by Shekhar Kapur. Mogambo runs a tyrannical regime and all he wants is to divide India first and then take it over. Almost satirically molded like a Hitler-esque character, Amrish Puri followed up his Molaram act in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom with yet another character that scared the living daylights out of kids like me.
1. And the baddest of all is: GABBAR SINGH
Film: Sholay
Actor: Amjad Khan
Sholay is the greatest Indian film ever made and Gabbar Singh is not only the greatest villain of all time but arguably the most memorable character ever created in Hindi cinema history. Every line uttered by Gabbar in Sholay is immortal and it is not unusual to find people like me who can recite all his lines on cue. The role that was initially supposed to be played by Danny Denzongpa made Amjad Khan a superstar overnight. However, Amjad Khan also made Gabbar Singh a superstar. Gabbar Singh was the first character to endorse products in India. The ruthless bandit became a label. In short, Gabbar was a phenomenon. No one had ever seen a villain scarier, dirtier, or more confident. However, one would have to admit that if it weren’t for the strength of his dialogues (written by geniuses Salim-Javed) Gabbar Singh would have never been the same. As far as I am concerned, Gabbar may have been the bad guy but he was the real hero of Sholay! You know what I mean.
Some other bad guys who missed the top 10:
Hilal Kohistani (Jackie Shroff/Mission Kashmir), The Killer (Urmila Matondkar/Kaun), Gokul Pandit (Ashutosh Rana/Dushman), Abhrush (Danny Denzongpa/Pukar), Balwant Rai (Amrish Puri/Ghayal), Rahul (Shahrukh Khan/Darr), Captain Andrew Russel (Paul Blackthorne/Lagaan), Kaancha Cheena (Danny Denzongpa/Agneepath), Velji (Paresh Rawal/Sir)
Edited By arsh on 1063406803
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