Baddies are back with a bang

Mumbai: With Sanjay Dutt`s menacing looks and blood curdling laughter all over the place, it seems dreadful villains have struck again big time in Bollywood.

`Kitne Aadmi Thay`, `Prem, Prem Naam Hai Mera, Prem Chopra`, `Mogambo Khush Hua`, `Saara Shehar Mujhe Lion Ke Naam Se Jaanta Hai`-- all these dialogues coming from bad men of Bollywood are etched in cinematic history and still send shivers down the audiences spin. The iconic character of dacoit Gabbar Singh in `Sholay` played by Amjad Khan is something one can never forget and so were his famous dialogues like - `Kitne Aadmi Thay`, `Ab Tera Kya Hoga Kaalia`, and `Are O Sambha`. Another lovable baddie was Amrish Puri. He terrorised everyone with his deadly appearance, loud voice and his unique baritone when he said `Mogambo Khush Hua`. Ajit as Lion, a suave-sophisticated villain with his individual style and memorable catch-phrases like `Mona Darling`, `Mona Loot Lo Sona`, `Lili Don`t Be Silly` went on to become a rage. Actor Kulbhushan Kharbanda as `Shakaal` with his slick style and charisma scored high on cruelty. Even Anupam Kher as Dr Dang in `Karma` was oozing with negative energy. Other all time famous villains of Bollywood include Prem Chopra, Pran, Danny Denzongpa, and Gulshan Grover, who often got the best lines and looks, overpowering the movie hero. The celluloid then saw a dull period for a while when baddies did not make much of an impact. But the lull seems to have come to an end as we see the spooky Sanjay Dutt in the promos of `Agneepath` remake, produced by Karan Johar. The deadly Dutt is proof enough of strong villains making a comeback on screen. Even perfectionist Aamir Khan, who shied away from playing negative roles will don the dark cloak of a villain in `Dhoom 3`. And Vivek Oberoi is set to be the super-villian in `Krrish 3`. "The quintessential format of Hindi cinema has made its entry again where there is a villain, a hero, a heroine...and who better than Sanjay Dutt to flag off the thing of a villain," Johar had said. Dressed in a black outfit, the `Khalnayak` who plays Kancha, originally essayed by Danny Denzongpa, wears a silver ring on top of his left ear and has tattoos engraved on his arms. His wicked smile, puffed-up eyes in the upcoming film did scare Dutt himself. Dutt feels villains have always been powerful in films and that there is a reason for it. "If you look at `Batman` or `Spiderman` series the villain is very powerful and there is a reason for it," he said. The `Dhoom` franchise that is known to have classier villains, essayed by John Abraham and Hrithik Roshan in the first and the second part, will now add Aamir to its list of bad boys. Aamir will have a very stylised look in the film. "`Dhoom` is an entertaining franchise. Every time I hear the theme track, it brings a swing to my step. I had never thought I would fit into it, but I loved the script. I am looking forward to being one up on Jai and Ali (the characters played by Abhishek Bachchan and Uday Chopra respectively in the series)," Aamir had said. Earlier, the larger than life bad men of Bollywood had etched their places in the hearts of audiences forever; now with baddies coming back with vengeance moviegoers can rejoice the good versus evil masala. There is so much power in negative characters that B-town actors love to be `bad` guys on screen at least. For Shahrukh Khan portrayal of negative characters started with Abbas-Mustan`s thriller `Baazigar`. Thereafter he played the role an obsessive lover in films like `Darr` and `Anjaam`. But it was in Farhan Akhtar`s remake of `Don` where he played a completely bad guy, a stylish don. "Evil or devil, black or little grey characters, be it in books, stories, films or television have some sort of attraction. I have played good and bad guy on stage. Now after 15-20 years, I got a chance to play bad guy in `Don`. There is a justification for the character to be negative...to be bad. I enjoy doing it. As an actor, it is one of the greatest highs to play a villain," he said. Even Hrithik Roshan showed keen interest in playing the villain for `Krrish 3`, which is now essayed by Vivek Oberoi. "When I heard the script I wanted to play the hero and the villain. I wanted to play double role. I used to tell my father there is no actor to do it. But then he was like we will get someone and he signed Vivek. When I saw him (Vivek) giving the shot he was too good in that role ," Hrithik said in an interview. PTI