Highlights
The Indian film industry has always been a pool of talents where artists from different regional films industries enter Bollywood. Not only the heroic roles but the stars from the South Indian films have been able to woo the audience with their performance as well as complex villains. The focus of this article is to bring out the experiences of some of the South Indian actors who have transformed themselves from being the regional heroes to some of the most dangerous villains in Bollywood. They have added a new dimension, complexity and at times even empathy to the negative roles that they portray and have changed the face of Hindi cinema’s villains.
1.Vijay Sethupathi – Jawan
Tamil actor Vijay Sethupathi who has proved his versatility in Tamil films made a great Bollywood debut with ‘Jawan’ as a villain opposite Shah Rukh Khan.
2.Madhavan – Saithan
Though R. Madhavan is famous for his romantic hero roles, his role in the Tamil thriller Saithan remade in Hindi, showed his capability to go dark and negative, which can pave way for negative roles in Bollywood.
3.Nassar – Rowdy Rathore
Nassar, a veteran actor of south Indian cinema, gave a strong presence to Bollywood through his role in “Rowdy Rathore.” His portrayal as the main antagonist of the movie gave the film a strong opposition.
4.Vikram – Raavan (Hindi)
Tamil cinema’s powerful performer Vikram rose to the expectations of portraying the character of Dev in Mani Ratnam’s bilingual ‘Raavan.’ Though not entirely a negative character, the character of Dev was a grey one and Vikram proved that he can do negative roles in Hindi cinema as well.
5.Prithviraj Sukumaran – Bade Miyan Chote Miyan
Prithviraj Sukumaran of Malayalam cinema was quite effective in the Bollywood movie “Bade Miyan Chote Miyan” His portrayal of a grey character made it difficult to categorize him as hero or villain.
6.Prakash Raj – Singham
The hero who is originally popular in South Indian films, Prakash Raj made his mark in Bollywood with a negative role in ‘Singham’ and his portrayal of the villain was simply outstanding.
7.Rana Daggubati – Housefull 4
Rana Daggubati is well known for his Telugu films and his heroic characters but he took a completely different avatar and did a full on comedy villain role in “Housefull 4”.
