There was a time when villains were the undisputed kings of Bollywood. They had their own styles, their own lines, and in many cases, their own fan clubs. Amrish Puri’s baritone, Amjad Khan’s swagger, Gulshan Grover’s slick menace — these men practically trademarked villainy. A Bollywood film wasn’t complete without the “bad man” twirling his cigar, cracking a whip, or booming a sinister laugh.
But then came the plot twist. The heroes and heroines, tired of always being goody-two-shoes, began wandering into the villain’s lair. And suddenly, the professional baddies found their spotlight shrinking. After all, how do you compete with Shah Rukh Khan when he decides to stalk, obsess, and murder in ‘Darr’ or ‘Baazigar’? How do you out-scheme Tabu in ‘Andhadhun’? For the first time, villains were no longer the sole proprietors of darkness — their territory had been invaded by the stars who once punched them into submission.
The result? The conventional villain has had to reinvent, downgrade, or disappear. Gone are the days when a film could survive on a “Mogambo khush hua” or “Kitne aadmi the?” catchphrase. With big stars embracing shades of grey, the villain’s role has shrunk to either a corporate tycoon in a three-piece suit, a gangster in the background, or worse — a forgettable side character who gets five minutes before being dispatched.
This transition hasn’t been entirely tragic, though. Some villains adapted brilliantly. Take Nawazuddin Siddiqui, who turned sinister charm into a career path, moving effortlessly from art-house menace to mainstream bad guy. Or Pankaj Tripathi, who showed that villains could be sly, subtle, and terrifying without needing a booming laugh. But for the old-school “specialist villains,” the hero’s encroachment has meant reduced shelf space. When Ranveer Singh plays Khilji or Alia Bhatt owns Gangubai, the villain’s thunder is stolen at the script level.
In many ways, the evolution has flattened Bollywood’s moral universe. The star who once beat up the villain now becomes the villain, leaving little room for the classic evil archetype. The henchmen, smugglers, and mafia bosses who once strutted around the sets are now relegated to token presences, while the heroes hog all the dark glamour.
Also Read: Bollywood’s love affair with villainy
Of course, it’s not all bad news. For audiences, watching their favourite stars turn dark is thrilling. But one can’t help sparing a thought for the professional “bad men” of Bollywood, who must be wondering when exactly their monopoly was snatched. It’s almost ironic — the villains spent decades losing battles to the heroes, only to finally lose their careers to them as well.
