The Rise Of Villains in Bollywood

 A wise man once quoted, “It`s good to be the bad guy.” Villain, a word that once upon a time had an extremely negative perception attached to it. A term that was met with disgrace, and was meant to be frowned upon. As kids, we loved role-playing as the cape-wearing superhero who’d fly all across the city (or in other words, jump from couch to couch) and pretend to rescue hostages. Every time we saw the bad guy getting punched, we nearly blew our vocal cords from the intense cheering. The antagonist was meant to be hated…or so we thought. Everything is subjected to change with time, and that includes our perception of things that we initially despised. Over time, the once hated villain came to be glorified. There`s a reason why everyone remembers the iconic character of Mogambo played by Amrish Puri, more than the ‘good guy’ played by Anil Kapoor. Suddenly, people got bored of your generic kind-hearted protagonist, and it became ‘cool’ to side with evil. But how did this change occur overnight? Let us dig deeper into the psychology that goes into making a ‘good’ bad guy.

 

To be impressed by a certain character, the audience needs to connect with him. The mistake that most movies initially made, is having a very basic protagonist with a bland personality. The values of kindness, purity, selflessness, compassion are all ones to idolize. But if every other lead in commercial movies is shown to abide by these values, they grow repetitive and their uniqueness is lost, thereby making the character forgettable. On the contrary, efforts were being put into shaping a villain`s personality. Not only were their actions fueled by a motive, but the motive itself was in existence because of a justified reason. The new practice of providing a backstory to the antagonist established itself as a new trend. A good guy didn`t always have the most convincing reason to be good, but the bad guy more often than not did. And this made it easier for him to be understood, thereby winning the sympathy of the audience.

 

But did the negative character always have a backstory to support his evil tendencies? Did he always manage to win the sympathy of the audience? Of course not! Then how was he able to get to a stage wherein he was more appreciated than the ‘face’ of the movie? Simple reason: The traits associated with him. The human mind is designed to constantly be challenged, and so it is necessary to keep the watchers constantly entertained. A simple yet handy way is to achieve that target, is to use a certain character as a medium to make a particular movie more interesting. And this can be done by various methods that resonate well with a large spectrum of people, like assigning memorable catchphrases to a character to make his presence stand out. And sometimes, that character happens to be not the heroic protagonist, but the devilish antagonist whose original purpose is to make you feel uncomfortable. There! 20 minutes in and a child in the audience repeats, in sync, “Mogambo khush hua!” Followed by an adorably mimicked laugh.

Another major element that goes into making an iconic villain, that often gets overlooked, is the importance of cinematography. A major reason why movies are known to not just control but also toy with our psychology is because the director precisely knows how to structure a certain sequence to get the right emotions out of us. And this is obtained through skillful and well-thought cinematography. In this age, the procedure is advanced and each shot is executed with intricate planning, with no room for spontaneous decisions that could lead to vague interpretations. More often than not, there is an intention behind every second that is available for you to enjoy. And if the intention behind a certain scene is to hype up the bad guy, then rest assured his presence is sure to send a chill of thrill down your spine. Remember Kancha Cheena`s entry in Agneepath? I`m not referring to Sanjay Dutt here, but Danny Denzongpa, who is fondly remembered for his iconic villainous performances during the 90s. The shot begins with capturing his knees and slowly ascends to reveal his face as he rips off the papers and sends them flying. The wind brushing against his hair recklessly was the icing on top of the cake. It almost felt as if the wind around him was at the mercy of his powerful aura. And that made us, as the audience, feel overpowered, despite being behind the big screen. Such is the impact that good cinematography can have on your average viewer. It drives the hair on your skin to stand up (unless you`ve recently waxed).

 

But had the scene been as impactful, if it was Paresh Rawal enacting it? Obviously not, Danny`s charm coupled with his meticulous acting was what brought the best out of that shot. That unimpressed frown alongside his brisk hand movement while releasing the papers, is what invigorated the scene. The point being made here is, you could have a character with the most sympathizing backstory, assigned with some of the most memorable catchphrases, along with an extremely skillful cinematographer at your assistance. But it all wouldn`t matter if you didn`t have the right actor to execute that role to near perfection. An actor is a connecting link between a character and the audience. Therefore, the biggest responsibility is on his shoulders. It is feasible to blame the writer for a character that you don`t find appealing. But the bigger deal is when an actor is not able to convey a certain character the way he was written. Therefore, any actor is obliged to carry the weight of viewers as well as his crew, on each shoulder. And if he is playing a role as crucial as the antagonist`s, then the stakes are extremely high and so are the expectations. But one who manages to deliver, whose immense talent overpowers the pressures on him, goes down in textbooks for his legacy. Amrish Puri, Danny Denzongpa, Amjad Khan, and even Ashutosh Rana are some notable names out there, that are on the tip of any Bollywood fanatic`s tongue.

To brief up the entire extract in a nutshell: A good villain is not one that you hate. It is one that you love to hate!