New Delhi: The days of the ‘specialised’ Hindi film villain, who was portrayed as the epitome of evil, is over ever since storytelling underwent a major change in the last decade, says the Bad Man of Bollywood Gulshan Grover. Now films have no clear black and white demarcations.
“The typical villains have physically disappeared from the scripts. As the industry is changing and more of comedy and drama films are coming up, there are very few such roles left,” Gulshan told IANS on phone from Mumbai.
The actor started his Bollywood career in 1980 with Hum Paanch. Some of his best remembered negative roles were in Sohni Mahiwal, Ram Lakhan, Shola Aur Shabnam and Khiladiyon Ka Khiladi. He has also been a part of Hollywood movies like Jungle Book 2 and Panic.
Gulshan was named the ‘Bad Man’ of Bollywood due to the negative character he portrays on screen. The other well-known villains of his time are Kader Khan, who later became a character actor, Ranjeet, Shakti Kapoor, Amjad Khan and Kiran Kumar, who too became a character actor.
And Gulshan is happy with the evil tag.
“I have created this tag for myself and I am happy with it. I take pride in being called one,” he said.
The 55-year-old will now be seen in a positive role as a Rajasthani dhaba owner in I Am Kalam.
The forthcoming movie directed by Nila Madhab Panda tells the story of a young slum boy who is inspired by former president APJ Abdul Kalam.
The film has been screened at various international film festivals like Giffoni International Film Festival, Italy, BFI Times London Film Festival, New York International Children Film Festival and is set to hit the screens on Aug 5. (IANS)