Once upon a time, Bollywood heroes were Gods in white shirts. They fought injustice, wooed heroines with dimpled smiles, and sang duets in exotic locations. The villain? He was the obvious bad guy, doomed to be thrashed in the climax. But fast forward to today, and the roles seem to have switched. Our leading men are increasingly trading in their halos for horns, stepping into villainous, negative, or at least questionably grey characters.
Why? Well, the serious answer is that audiences have matured, global cinema has raised the bar, and flawed protagonists feel more authentic. But the not-so-serious answer is even juicier – when your boy-next-door hero routine starts gathering dust, and your charm isn’t packing theatres anymore, there’s always the dark side to keep you visible. After all, if you can’t shine as the hero, why not sizzle as the villain?
Shah Rukh Khan, ironically, figured this out before most. In the early ’90s, when conventional romantic roles weren’t coming his way, he chose to play dangerously obsessive lovers in ‘Baazigar’ and ‘Darr’. Those roles made him a star, proving that bad boys sometimes have the best lines. Saif Ali Khan, who spent years romancing chiffon-clad heroines in Switzerland, found his real career breakthrough when he ditched the rom-com and went rogue as Langda Tyagi in ‘Omkara’. Ranveer Singh, ever the showman, chewed the scenery as Alauddin Khilji in ‘Padmaavat’—so much so that the film’s hero and heroine practically became supporting acts in his performance.
"Shah Rukh Khan in Baazigar was pure brilliance. Revenge mode activated, acting at its absolute peak. An iconic performance that still gives chills! #Baazigar #SRK"pic.twitter.com/vcihiYYlZ3
—(@_livlovlaugh) November 19, 2024
More recently, the trend has only grown. Hrithik Roshan flexed his darker side in ‘Agneepath’, Ayushmann Khurrana gleefully muddied moral waters in ‘Andhadhun’, and Ranbir Kapoor, tired of boyish charm, embraced raw brutality in ‘Animal’. Each time, audiences lapped it up. It seems the more wickedly our heroes behave, the more we can’t look away.
13 Years of #Omkara
— Bollywoodirect (@Bollywoodirect) July 28, 2019
"Bewakoof aur chutiye mein dhaage bhar ka farak hota haiga bhaiya. Dhage ke ingay bewakoof aur ungay, chutiya. Aur jo dhaaga kheeche lo, to kaun haiga bewakoof aur kaund hai chutiya, carod rupiye ka prasan hai bhaiya #LangdaTyagi" #SaifAliKhan @VishalBhardwaj pic.twitter.com/2dUwUCB58V
And maybe that’s the real secret. In an industry obsessed with reinvention, playing it safe as the eternal good guy isn’t enough anymore. A dash of villainy offers not only artistic challenge but also career insurance. Because let’s be honest—nobody wants to fade quietly into supporting roles when you can roar back in the spotlight, even if it means being the monster on screen.
So the next time a Bollywood star announces he’s “exploring grey shades,” take it with a pinch of salt. It may be an artistic choice, or it may simply be survival instinct. After all, when the hero’s shine starts to dim, the villain’s darkness looks like a pretty good spotlight.
