7 actors who aced negative roles in movies

Acting in a comedy and portraying the role of a villain are probably the hardest things to do for an actor. In comedy, you have to have your comic timing just right. You have to perfect the way you’re speaking and it has to seem natural over anything else. Only that makes your character look believable and thus making it funnier. Being a Villain on the other hand, forces the actor to portray complex emotions and show human frailties which is poles apart than the usual positive characters. The actor has to feel like the character, they have to feel that negativity and hate for others which makes the character look authentic. As Emraan Hashmi put it once, “Grey characters often are more realistic than others.” We take a look at some of the best negative characters that we have witnessed in Bollywood over the years and the actors who aced playing them. 

1. Shah Rukh Khan 
Don (Don / Don 2) 


Don was the remake of the original “Don” which starred Amitabh Bachchan. The pressure to remake such an iconic character from an Amitabh Bachchan film obviously must have been huge. But, Shah Rukh Khan didn’t disappoint fans as he was very convincing in his portrayal of an underworld don. There was also a sequel to Don in which Shah Rukh Khan maintained the same aura of the character. The sequel apart from the characters had a completely original story. And Shah Rukh Khan got his role as Don spot on yet again. His mannerisms, his body language and his style of talking had us convinced that he can pull off any role with ease. Reportedly, Don 3 is also in the works and Shah Rukh Khan is expected to begin shooting for it once he has completed Zero. We hope that it is sooner rather than later as we can’t wait to see him in this badass avatar once again.

Rahul Mehra (Darr)  


Darr was a story about Rahul Mehra (Shah Rukh Khan), a man who’s obsession and love for Kiran Awasti (Juhi Chawla) frees him from all fears of life and death. Even though she gets married to Sunil Malhotra (Sunny Deol), his obsession for her doesn’t end. A man who does not fear anything will go to any extent to get what he wants and Rahul Mehra just does that. In this movie, Shah Rukh Khan nailed the role of this obsessive psychopath. This is also the movie in which Shah Rukh trademarked his “K..K…K…Kiran” dialogue which is popular even today.

Ajay Sharma (Baazigar) 


Baazigar shocked everyone with the violation of the typical Bollywood formula for the fact that it centers around the anti-hero. However, it yet managed to be one of the highest grossers at the box office that year. Shah Rukh Khan received much critical acclaim and also tremendous popularity for his role in the movie. And rightly so, the film belonged to Shah Rukh Khan who blew everyone away with his portrayal of the anti – hero and his balanced performance of a complex character.

2. Sanjay Dutt

Kaancha Cheena (Agneepath) 


Sanjay Dutt was seen as Kaancha Cheena in the remake of Agneepath, a role that was originally portrayed by Danny Dengzongpa. The character was already a legendary one so Sanjay Dutt had to bring his A Game to match that for the movie. And Sanjay Dutt definitely did not disappoint. Right from his bulked-up look to his dialogue delivery, everything Sanjay Dutt did made his negative role in the movie more authentic.

Balaram Prasad ‘Ballu’ (Khalnayak) 

3.John Abraham 

 Kabir (Dhoom) 


High speed chases, extra-ordinary camera work and wizardly good technical effects, Dhoom was a refreshing change for the cinema goers. This could be termed as the Indian version of The Fast And The Furious. The movie was about a police officer Jai Dixit (Abhishek Bachchan) chasing his number one target Kabir (John Abraham) who after escaping under his nose a few times now wants to raid a casino. Dhoom, like Don showed the negative character in a cool avatar and was given more importance in the film than what people are used to. John Abraham fit in perfectly for the character.


Manya Surve (Shootout At Wadala)

This Bollywood crime thriller dramatizes the first-ever registered encounter by Mumbai police in 1982, where gangster Manya Surve was shot dead. Shootout at Wadala just like it’s prequel Shootout At Lokhandwala was a story about a gangster’s assassination. John Abraham was extremely convincing in his character of a gangster. His excellent dialogue delivery and a bulked up body helped his character look more believable.

4.Ranveer Singh

Sultan Allauddin Khilji (Padmaavat) 

Rani Padmavati (Deepika Padukone) is said to be one of the most beautiful women to ever exist. This real-life story is the epitome of love and sacrifice between Rajput Queen Padmavati and Rana Rawal Ratan Singh (Shahid Kapoor), the Rajput ruler of Chittor. Their perfect life takes an unfortunate turn when Allauddin Khilji's (Ranveer Singh) lustful eyes gaze upon Queen Padmavati. Alauddin Khilji is known as one of the most brutal rulers of the Khilji dynasty, ascending to the throne by killing his father-in-law, his brothers-in-law, and their uncles. He was known for attacking states only for their land and women. Indeed, the motive behind the attack on Chittor is none other than royal Rani Padmavati. Ranveer Singh gives Bhansali’s period epic the edge it fully deserves. Whether he is going at it on his wedding night with a woman who is not his bride, swaying in a bath tub as his gay aide serenades him, suggestively sprinkling perfume on a swooning courtier or blowing kisses to his own reflection, Ranveer’s portrayal of Allauddin Khilji was something Bollywood had never witnessed before. The character of Khilji was so dark and intense that even playing the character on screen took a toll on Ranveer Singh. When asked about the same Ranveer said.”It was a huge risk. I was very apprehensive about taking the risk but Bhansali was very persistent in his pursuit of me and he is the one who convinced me that I would be able to pull it off. I went with his conviction. I can never say no to Bhansali, given the amount he has contributed to my career and to me as an artiste.” According to a report, Ranveer once even misjudged a situation off-camera on the sets and was about to physically assault someone for a minor mistake while still being in his Khilji mode. The actor said that he said to himself, "Wait a second, this is not real." and suddenly his instinctive reaction was that of the character's and not his own. However it is safe to say that all that hard work by Ranveer Singh certainly did not go to waste as his performance in the movie received amazing reviews and Padmaavat is on course to being a blockbuster.

5.Emraan Hashmi 

Shoaib Khan (Once Upon A Time In Mumbai) 
 
Once Upon A Time In Mumbai was a less brutal and hard-core depiction of the underworld as compared to other Bollywood movies like Satya or Company. It was a story about an underworld don Sultan Mirza (Ajay Devgn) who enters the business at a very small age but soon works his way to the very top. Shoaib Khan (Emraan Hashmi) is a son of a police inspector. His Father requests Sultan Mirza to let Shoaib work for him to which Sultan agrees and hands him a job of handling an electronic appliance store. But for Shoaib that job was not good enough as he requests Sultan Mirza to work directly under him. Shoaib proves himself to be a worthy employee of Sultan and by doing this he gains his trust. When Sultan needs to go leave the city to attend to some business he decides to leave control in the hands of Emraan Hashmi. Shoaib as a character was filled with greed for power and to get that power he was willing to go to any extent. And when he got that power in his hands things naturally were expected to get out of hand. Emraan Hashmi did an excellent job in the portrayal of the character. His transformation from an over ambitious small time thief to a man who went against the person ruling the city was an amazing experience to watch. His dialogues like “Zindagi ho toh smuggler jaisi ... sari duniya raakh ki tarah neeche aur khud dhuen ke tarah upar.” became extremely popular and also shows his character’s hunger for power.

6.Nawazuddin Siddiqui

Shiv Gajra (Kick) 


On a train journey in Warsaw, psychiatrist Shaina (Jacqueline Fernandez) meets Himanshu (Randeep Hooda), who is a police officer from India to discuss their prospective marriage. Both are reluctant to enter into an arranged union but become friends and strike a deep conversation where Shaina reveals her previous relationship with the Devi Lal Singh aka Devil (Salman Khan) , a man who lived only for his 'Kick' aka an adrenaline rush . Despite all this, they embark on a whirlwind romance, until one day he breaks up with her for a new 'Kick' and walks away never to return. Himanshu in turn regales her with his escapades as an officer but mentions that he has finally met his match, an intelligent thief. What they are both unaware of is that their stories have one thing in common, Devi. Nawaz played the main antagonist, Shiv Gajra, in Kick. Unlike his other big films, From the cheap thrills that Gajra enjoyed to his histrionics and pure meanness, Nawaz’s character graph was pretty impressive. If you have watched the film, it is Gajra’s demonic laugh that stays with you, so much so that even Salman tries to ape the mean laughter after killing him. Siddiqui's role may be minuscule in the two-and-a-half hour-long film, but he makes the most of it, even overshadowing Salman and Randeep Hooda.

7.Riteish Deshmukh 

Rakesh Mahadkar  (Ek Villain) 


The movie was a story about Aisha Verma (Shraddha Kapoor) a woman who always saw the silver lining in clouds, the glass as half full, to sum it up she always saw the positive side of things no matter how bad the situation. She meets a guy called Guru (Sidarth Malhotra) a gangster deprived of emotions. Eventually the two become friends and fall in love. After which, Aisha reveals that she is suffering from a terminal illness. The two get married and move to Mumbai for Aisha’s treatment. Once when Aisha is talking to Guru on the phone a mysterious hooded man appears out of nowhere and kills her. That person was Rakesh Mahadkar (Riteish Deshmukh), an unsuccessful man who is continuously taunted by his wife Sulochana (Aamna Sharif) for being useless and poor. He vents out this frustration by killing women if they ever speak rude to him. When Guru finds out that Aisha is murdered, he is determined to track down the person who killed the love of his life. After finding out Rakesh is the culprit he beats him and takes him to the hospital himself. At the hospital he explained him that for the revenge of his wife he will have to die eventually but he won’t get a quick death. Guru wanted to make him suffer as much as possible before he killed him. Later, Rakesh decided to outsmart Guru, as he taunts him over the phone before killing Aisha's father, and then surrenders himself to the police. Rakesh expects Guru to kill him so that he would become a "hero" in the eyes of his wife and everyone else, while Guru would become a "villain". Although the movie did not perform greatly at the box-office Riteish’s role as Rakesh saw him receive a lot of praise. Playing a psychopath and making it look believable is never easy but Riteish did an amazing job at it.