Bollywood films of the 70s and 80s were instrumental in giving birth to 'specialised villains' who stayed on the minds of the people long after they had finished watching the movies. Such was the impact of villains in earlier decades that people felt terrified of them and wished for the hero to crush the villain under his boots.
The villains were specialised to evoke hatred from the people and were very convincing in their roles.
In stark comparison, in movies that are made today, we can hardly remember the names of villains or the kind of characteristics they have.The actors playing the roles of villains may be praised and even awarded but their character fails to create that overwhelming feeling that villains of yesteryears used to evoke.
Amjad Khan, the '
Gabbar Singh' of 'Sholay' was one such iconic villain.
Ramesh Sippy gave life to the character that would be known as the biggest and the most ruthless villain of all time. His larger than life persona created such an impact on the viewers that his name remained etched in the minds of people for years.
Amjad Khan got the opportunity of a lifetime to deliver a knock-out performance, in fact, he surpassed all expectations with his superb acting. In fact, his portrayal of Gabbar Singh is considered to be the first depiction of pure evil in Hindi Cinema and his mannerisms and dialogues are still an integral part of Bollywood.
Amrish Puri's classy portrayal of the dreadful
Mogambo in '
Mr India' left a long-lasting impact on the minds of the cine-goers. His dialogue, 'Mogambo Khush Hua' is still mouthed by many as if it is still a very trendy thing to do.
Ajit Khan, popularly known as 'Loin' (Lion) was another such iconic villain. Lines like "Mona Kaha Hai Sona" and "Lily Don't Be Silly" went on to become a rage and his trademark style was copied by many, including his own son who tried to make a career out of his father's legacy. His style of acting and dialogue delivery were so trend-setting that they overshadowed the remarkable performances that he had delivered earlier.
Looking at the transformation that has taken place in Bollywood today, we can only look at it with amazement. The modern villains are hardly purely evil. Caught in between the shades of black and white, villainous characters are more grey these days. Today, we barely remember a line that the villain of a film uttered.
The Dhoom series, sees the villains as the protagonists of the film instead of the positive guy. The films entirely turn around the main concept of villainy in the film as the audiences fall more for the charm of the suave villain than the upright officer.
The movie '
Ghajini' was named after the main villain of the film. However, the villain had very little impact on the audience who couldn't see beyond
Aamir Khan's eight pack abs. The merit of the villain is hardly realized in current movies and glorification of the villain is a bit far-fetched for today's pragmatic generation.
The iconic villain has become a thing of the past as we rarely come across villains who stay in our minds beyond the movie theatre. In fact, we don't even need a villain in our films to bridge the gap between good and evil.
As seen in the recently released 'Shaitan', evil is inherent in every human being and a 'specialized villain' is not a necessity. The film explores the theme extremely well and traces the transgression of young boys and girls from good to bad to downright evil.
It is the blurring of the definitive line dividing black and white which plays a crucial role in doing away with the characteristic evil-doer from Hindi movies. Taking a look at the trailers of 'Don 2' its hard for us to decipher whether Shah Rukh is the hero or the villain of the film.
Looks like we have to lose the spiteful character that terrified us and evoked hardcore hatred in us. Gabbar Singh will never come back to terrorize his victims, nor will the Smart Boy of Hindi Cinema utter golden lines that the audience will love to follow.
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