7 mainstream actors as badass villains on screen

There was a time when actors like Amrish Puri, Prem Chopra, Amjad Khan, Ranjeet and Gulshan Grover were celebrated as baddies on screen and hated by audiences for turning the world of the ‘hero’ upside down. These days, even mainstream ‘heroes’ are turning bad and looking at roles with gray shades for versatility. Actors these days love to be hated and are not shying away from playing a dark, negative character on the big screen. The Badshah of Bollywood, superstar Shahrukh Khan also started his career in Bollywood with dark characters. Whether it was his role as the psychotic lover in Darr or the revenge-seeking, manipulative young killer in Baazigar, SRK’s portrayal of dark characters was a class apart. Here are 5 other mainstream actors/actresses who turned into a badass villain on screen.

Kajol: Many actresses have played the high-heeled, cigarette-smoking, glamorous vamp in a movie. Kajol stunned people with her role of a mad-in-love serial killer in Abbas-Mustan’s thriller Gupt. Reports suggest that she will be seen in a negative role again in Dabangg 3.

Priyanka Chopra: Not many actresses are bold enough to play a baddie right at the beginning of their Bollywood careers. However, newly crowned beauty queen Priyanka did just that, when she played the evil, scheming woman falsely accusing a man of molestation in Aitraaz. What’s more, she is also making her Hollywood debut with a negative role! Priyanka will be seen as the baddie Victoria in Baywatch.

Ranveer Singh: In yet another period drama and his third outing with director Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Ranveer will be seen playing a negative role for the first time in his career. If things go well, Ranveer will be seen in the role of the evil king Alauddin Khilji in Padmavati.

Vidya Balan: Vidya has played everything from a romantic leading lady, to a thief, a cop and an item girl. However, her role of a possessed dancer in Bhool Bhulaiya and the intense dark character she played in Ishqiya proved her acting prowess.

Sanjay Dutt: Sanjay Dutt has been the bad man and the gangster a lot of times in movies. But his role of the deadly Kancha Cheena in the remake of Agneepath will be remembered as one of the most iconic villains in the history of Bollywood.

Akshay Kumar: From being the action and romantic hero on screen, Akshay Kumar also became the baddie in the thriller Ajnabee, where he played the role of the manipulative murderer and thief Vikram.

Riteish Deshmukh: Fans would mostly picture him as the actor with the funny bone as Riteish has mostly done multi-starrer comedies and sex comedies. But his role of the creepy, psychotic serial killer Rakesh in Ek Villain was a benchmark in his career.

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