My Yahoo! Movies column, first published here.
This week, we look at the several
occasions where a newcomer (only a few films old, if not the debutant) was given
the role of an over-the-top villain in a lavishly mounted saga – often pitting
him against established stars of the times. The unpredictability that a
talented newcomer brings to a role probably overcame all the resistance in
going with an unknown name.
The best example of this trend is
obviously, Gabbar Singh in Sholay.
When the Sholay script was complete, it was unanimously agreed that the most
pivotal character was going to be Gabbar Singh – the daku who was nothing like
the on-screen dakus seen till then. For this role, Danny Denzongpa was signed on
but he had to drop out because he had already committed to do Feroz Khan’s Dharmatma. Since none of the villains
of the day fitted the bill, Ramesh Sippy decided to back a newcomer called
Amjad Khan. Amjad had a strong grounding in theatre but there was much
scepticism in pitting him against three of the country’s top actors. Amjad
himself was very nervous about the role and the industry found his unusual
voice to be unbecoming of a fearsome villain but the audience of Sholay thought otherwise. Gabbar Singh
went on to become the most popular villain of all times, fearsome and magnetic.
And the role turned Amjad Khan into one of the top villains (and later,
character actors) of the industry.
Ramesh Sippy repeated the same trick in
his next film, Shaan.
For what was going to be one of the most
expensive films made till then, he chose Kulbhushan Kharbanda to be Shaakaal –
a villain who seemed to have walked straight out of a Bond film, complete with
island hideouts, pet crocodiles and ambitions of world domination. Kharbanda
shaved off his hair and delivered sadistic lines with his customary
clenched-teeth-relish (“Dheere dheere yeh
zehreeli gyais...”). Prior to this, Kharbanda was only seen in arthouse
cinema and this role brought him bang in the middle of Bollywood.
Like in Sholay, the villain was pitted against three top stars of the
industry. Like in Sholay, he played a version of the Russian Roulette (with
rotating chairs instead of rotating gun chambers). And poured untold misery on
the entire cast. But somehow, the magic of Gabbar was missing. You could say it
was the curse of Sholay that everything about Shaan was compared to its
predecessor and found wanting. Shaakaal was no exception.
Kulbhushan Kharbanda did not do too many
negative roles after this but became one of the better known character actors
in mainstream and parallel cinema, a career that is still going strong.
It is somehow difficult to conceive that a
character actor as well-recognised as Rajesh Vivek would have been a debutant
at some point of time. He looks older than time itself!
But he was ‘introduced’ in Joshilaay as Jogi Thakur, yet another
dacoit who went about killing people as if it was a game. The standard daku
territory of Chambal ravines changed to the rugged terrains of Ladakh as Jogi
Thakur was chased by the garrulous Sunny Deol and laconic Anil Kapoor – each
having a different reason for getting to him.
Joshilaay
was written by Javed Akhtar – one of the men who created iconic villains like
Gabbar and Shaakaal (who were also played by newcomers) – and the character of
Jogi Thakur had the same crazy unpredictability that distinguished those
characters. His flowing mane and imposing frame gave out a frisson of menace
whenever he appeared on screen and it was a style which Vivek would borrow from
several times in the future.
Rajesh Vivek’s innings in Bollywood has
been a stellar one with important roles in films like Lagaan and Swades –
which started as a mega-villain in Joshilaay.
When Rajkumar Santoshi made China Gate – his version of
vigilantes-defending-villagers involving disgraced Army officers and a manic
daaku, he borrowed a trick out of Sholay
too. His villain – Jageera – was probably madder and more brutal than Gabbar
and played by a rank newcomer, Mukesh Tiwari.
The actor with pitted against thespians
like Om Puri, Naseeruddin Shah and Amrish Puri but he managed to come out with
flying colours. His matted hair, unruly beard, stained teeth, dirty clothes and
an eccentric diction were carefully cultivated over a significant period of
time and the effort showed on screen. He
got a lion’s share of the catchy dialogues (that won the award for Best
Dialogue at Filmfare Awards) and was by far the most memorable character in an
otherwise underwhelming film.
Mukesh Tiwari – after his bloodthirsty
debut (“Mere man ko bhaya, main kutta
kaatke khaya...”) – has transformed into a versatile character actor with
successful comic (Vasooli in the Golmaal
franchise) and dramatic (Bachcha Yadav in Gangaajal)
roles under his belt.
Post Satya,
Manoj Bajpai’s stock was at an all-time high and his next film – Shool – received a lot of attention
despite being a rather grim, low-budget take on the violent world of Bihari
politics.
He played the upright police officer up
against a corrupt system, which was represented by Bachchoo Yadav - an
infuriatingly nasty politician. The role was played by Sayaji Shinde (in his
first major role). His staccato dialogue delivery, manic laughter and crazily
lurching eyes became a sort of a template for all ‘nasty neta’ roles in the
near future. The character borrowed several traits from various real-life netas
and created a solid impact, holding his own against Bajpai’s histrionics.
Sayaji Shinde became a regular in the
supporting cast of Hindi as well as Marathi cinema, often repeating the Shool template of the nasty politician.
Priyadarshan – before his brainless comedy
phase – has done some excellent dramatic films with moments of high
entertainment. Gardish was one such
film.
The villain of Gardish – the fearsome local don, Billa Jilani – was played by the
hulking Mukesh Rishi, who had just appeared in a few bit parts till then. In Gardish, he was given a build-up like
no other villain of recent times. His entry scene in the film was orchestrated
to a crescendo as we kept seeing his villainous acts and their terrorized
aftermath – but never himself. When he did – in a fight scene with hero, Jackie
Shroff – ‘Billa’ had already arrived. Rishi’s towering frame was used to
maximum effect as he dwarfed everyone in the vicinity and remained ominously
soft-spoken throughout the movie.
Mukesh Rishi went on to become a major
villain of the 1990s including the iconic Gunda
(where he played Bulla, of ‘rakhta hoon
main khulla’ fame). He even made a well-noticed detour into character roles
by playing Inspector Salim in Sarfarosh.
It is not often that someone playing an
out-and-out villain gets the Filmfare Award for Best Debut. In fact, it has
happened only once – with Vidyut Jamwal for Force.
He played the younger brother of drug lord
(played by Mukesh Rishi, of Gardish
fame: see above) and managed to put up a very scary opposition to John Abraham
and his cohorts. His sculpted body, deadpan expression and very slick action
moves made him a worthy adversary to John’s police officer. As Vidyut took off
shirts to John’s provocations (of also taking off shirts), he gave some serious
competition to the other doyen of shirt-taking-off – Salman Khan.
While the movie did not do too well,
Vidyut’s villainous turn was noticed and rewarded with awards for newcomers. He
has kicked off his action-hero career in Bollywood with Force and has started
to appear in heroic roles as well. After all, it would be a shame to waste
those many abs on a villain!
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