Villains on celluloid (and in real life) are necessary evils without whom ‘hero’ doesn’t get the credit of being termed ‘good’. From Sukhilal to Gabbar and from Dr Dang to Mogambo, the rustic and suave variants of villains have enthralled the audience with some memorable performances. Quite often, these are the exaggerated images of the ugly and the wicked in real life.Through such images one can construct the social, economic and political reality prevailing in the society at that time. Even at the cost of being repetitive, villains have earned the appreciation of viewers over the decades. Tracing the advent of villains in Bollywood cinema, Tapan Ghosh locates the unending dual between the hero and villain in the backdrop of the battle of the good and the bad in our mythologies. How else have the audience been unwittingly trained to distinguish between the good and the evil, and invariably feel happy when good triumphs?
While the genre of villains has evolved in mainstream cinema, from the cruel moneylender to the charming conman, the script has remained rooted between the familiar tale of the good and the bad. Could it have been any different? Given the fact that cinema has been the most popular version of applied mythology in contemporary India, it only shows reality through the prism of imagination that runs in tandem with the vibrant traditional beliefs.
Having been a jury member of the Central Board of Film Certification, Tapan Ghosh delves on the social, cultural, political and philosophical dimensions of villainy. The villains may have transformed to match the contemporary reality; the essential of villainy has remained much the same. No wonder, filmmakers have worked overtime to create larger-than-life images of villains such that with each outing the audience can locate themselves within the environment in which the villain operates. Quite often, it is the villain who seems close to reality than the hero!
The evil and the empire of the evil have been dealt in greater detail, narrating its characterization and relevance to the script. The author has been meticulous with details on each of the villains and the vamps, paying rich tributes to the art of villainy as it evolved in Indian cinema over past hundred years. It is a veritable who’s who on Bollywood Baddies.
Though not dealt in as much detail, the author mentions in the passing that the triumph of the good over the bad is often through the same violent means. It is only when the hero gives drubbing to the bad guy that not only is the means justified but the ends too. Else, how could the audience contrast democratic violence by the hero in comparison to the nihilistic violence by Gabbar in Sholay? No wonder, therefore, that there is little chance that the earth could ever be redeemed from the presence of villains. An instinctive operation of this rule has guided humanity, irrespective of the boundaries of religion, culture, and creed.
Bollywood Baddies is an engaging take on the ‘unsung’ heroes of our cinema, and on the psychology of their persistence in our lives both on and off the screen.
(Dr. Sudhirendar Sharma is author (development journalist), academic (offers lectures), advisor (provides consultancy) and activist (providing knowledge backup) rolled into one, based in New Delhi.)