Bollywood heroes go bad for the big screen

Be it Shah Rukh Khan in 'Don' (pictured), Aamir Khan in '1942 Earth', Kajol in 'Gupt' or Priyanka Chopra in 'Aitraaz', the audience have loved their heroes turn bad in films. On their part, Bollywood biggies have loved exploring the dark side on screen, too. Here’s a list of heroes who are set to present their villainous side on screen, as well as ones who excelled in such roles in recent years.

SANJAY DUTT: He scored as the menacing Kancha in ‘Agneepath’ (2012) (pictured) and is back to evil ways this year with ‘KGF Chapter 2’. After the trailer release, Dutt’s fans are excited to see him as the antagonist Adheera in the film. The actor has scored with negative roles in ‘Panipat’ and ‘Khalnayak’, too, in the past. He has said Adheera is “one of the craziest characters I have played so far”, describing the character as “fearless, powerful and ruthless”.

SAIF ALI KHAN: Back in 2006, he won the audience and critics’ love with his portrayal of the vile Langda Tyagi in ‘Omkara’. Last year, he impressed in ‘Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior’ portraying Aurangzeb’s royal guard Udaybhan Singh Rathore who was pitted against Ajay Devgn’s Tanhaji Malusare.

Khan will back as villain in Om Raut’s directorial ‘Adipurush’, starring Telugu star Prabhas. Ali Khan has described the project as “phenomenal” adding that he looks forward “to clashing swords with the mighty Prabhas and to play a role that is electrifying and demonic”. Meanwhile, fans can also catch Khan in shades of grey in the upcoming ‘Tandav’, dropping on Amazon Prime on January 15.

VICKY KAUSHAL: After impressing the audience with performances in ‘Masaan’, ‘Sanju’ and ‘Uri: The Surgical Strike’, Kaushal will be seen as Aurangzeb in Karan Johar’s upcoming ‘Takht’. The historical drama revolves around Mughal emperor Aurangzeb and his brother Dara Shikoh, and their fight for the throne.

JOHN ABRAHAM: There are unconfirmed reports that Abraham playing the role of the villain in the upcoming film ‘Salaar’, which also stars Prabhas. While he is yet to comment on it, fans would recall that Abraham made a smashing anti-hero in ‘Dhoom’ (2004) and ‘Race 2’ (2013).

KUNAL KEMMU: He began his career as a child actor, and went on to make an impact with his positive roles in films such as ‘Kalyug’ (2005), the ‘Golmaal 3’ (2010) and ‘Golmaal Again’ (2017) and ‘Go Goa Gone’ (2013). Kemmu has already tried an antagonist’s role in ‘Kalank’ (2019), but his really sinister outing was ‘Malang’ last year. The Mohit Suri directorial cast him as a brutal, psychopath cop who deceptively appears to be a nice guy.

AKSHAY KUMAR: Back in 2001, his character Vikram in ‘Ajnabee’ created obstacles in the lives of Raj (Bobby Deol) and Priya (Kareena Kapoor). Then in 2018, he got back to being a villain on screen in the Rajinikanth-starrer ‘2.0’. Kumar, has mostly featured in films with patriotic themes or stories with a social cause in recent times, and as the birdlover Pakshi Rajan in ‘2.0’ he was a villain with a cause.

RANVEER SINGH: He has acted as a romantic hero, a courageous cop and a historical warrior on his way to superstardom. The audience also equally loved him as the menacing Alauddin Khilji in Sanjay Leela Bhansali directorial ‘Padmaavat’, which released in 2018. Although heavily fictionalised in interpretation, Singh made Bhansali’s Khilji an extremely laudable act with his menacing screen presence.