The heroes are always the ones in the limelight. Our favourite films wouldn’t be the same without them. Our obsession with villains probably started due to Hollywood movies, where brilliant performances were delivered with great scripts. While we mostly root for the hero in a Bollywood movie, there have been several times when the villains of the film just grabbed our attention. After many, many years, audiences remember the dialogue and the character of the villain, rather than the hero. Here are 7 villains from Bollywood movies that stole the limelight from the hero, and became icons for fans of Bollywood.
Shakal
Movie:- Shaan (1980)
Villain:- Kulbhushan Kharbanda (Shakal)
Famous Dialogue:- “Ajeeb janwar hai — kitna bhi khaye bhookha hi rehta hai”
Hero’s Character:- Vijay Kumar, Ravi Kumar, Rakesh
Hero:- Amitabh Bachchan, Shashi Kapoor, Shatrughan Sinha
Heroine:- Parveen Babi (Sunita)
Shaan is a 1980 Indian Hindi-language action-crime film directed by Ramesh Sippy and written by Salim–Javed. The film stars Sunil Dutt, Shashi Kapoor, Amitabh Bachchan, Shatrughan Sinha, Parveen Babi and Kulbhushan Kharbanda. The plot focuses on Vijay (Amitabh Bachchan) and Ravi (Shashi Kapoor) who swear to avenge their brother DSP Shiv Kumar’s (Sunil Dutt) death along with Rakesh (Shatrughan Sinha).
Mogambo
Movie:- Mr. India (1987)
Villain:- Amrish Puri (Mogambo)
Famous Dialogue:- “Mogambo Khush Hua”
Hero’s Character:- Arun Verma, Mr. India
Hero:- Anil Kapoor
Heroine:- Sridevi (Seema Sohni)
Mr. India is a 1987 Indian Hindi-language superhero film directed by Shekhar Kapur. Starring Anil Kapoor, Sridevi, and Amrish Puri, the duo Salim–Javed wrote the screenplay and story, marking their last collaboration. It focuses on Arun Verma (Anil Kapoor), a poor street violinist and philanthropist who receives a cloaking device that grants him invisibility. While renting out his house to pay his debts, he meets the journalist Seema Sohni (Sridevi) and falls in love with her.
Gabbar Singh
Movie:- Sholay (1975)
Villain:- Amjad Khan (Gabbar Singh)
Famous Dialogue:- “Jab tak tere pair chalenge uski saans chalegi … tere pair ruke toh yeh bandook chalegi”
Hero’s Character:- Veeru, Jai
Hero:- Dharmendra, Amitabh Bachchan
Heroine:- Hema Malini (Basanti), Jaya Bachchan (Radha)
Sholay is often regarded as one of the greatest and most influential Indian film of all time. The film is about two criminals, Veeru (Dharmendra) and Jai (Amitabh Bachchan), hired by a retired police officer (Sanjeev Kumar) to capture the ruthless dacoit Gabbar Singh (Amjad Khan).
Alauddin Khilji
Movie:- Padmaavat (2018)
Villain:- Ranveer Singh (Alauddin Khilji)
Famous Dialogue:- “Jung ka ek hi usool hai — jeet”
Hero’s Character:- Maharawal Ratan Singh
Hero:- Shahid Kapoor
Heroine:- Deepika Padukone (Padmavati)
Padmaavat is a 2018 Indian period romantic action film directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali. Based on the epic poem of the same name by Malik Muhammad Jayasi, it stars Deepika Padukone as Rani Padmavati, a Rajput queen known for her beauty, wife of Maharawal Ratan Singh, played by Shahid Kapoor. Sultan Alauddin Khilji, played by Ranveer Singh, hears of her beauty and attacks her kingdom to enslave her.
Kancha Cheena
Movie:- Agneepath (1990)
Villain:- Danny Denzongpa (Kancha Cheena)
Famous Dialogue:- “Kamzor ki dosti … taqatwar ke vaar ko kam kar deti hai”
Hero’s Character:- Vijay Deenanath Chauhan, Krishnan Iyer
Hero:- Amitabh Bachchan, Mithun Chakraborty
Heroine:- Neelam Kothari (Siksha Chavan)
Agneepath is a 1990 Indian Hindi-language action crime film directed by Mukul Anand and written by Santosh Saroj and Kader Khan. It stars Amitabh Bachchan as Vijay, a man who sets out to avenge the death of his father and injustices done to his family by joining the Mumbai underworld. The film was inspired by the life of a Mumbai gangster Manya Surve.