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Some people prefer white, others prefer black. But what many intelligent actors jump for are the interesting storyline with an ecstatic grey character to fondle with.
Gone are the days when Pran or Amrish Puri along with Kulbhushan Kharbanda and Ranjeet were considered to be the only antagonists of any Hindi film. Today, mainstream actors and the so-called positive character playing heroes and heroines opt to play grey shades. Experimentation is the call of the season as numerous B-town stars are queuing up for a challenging but villainous role in their films. With 2012 drawing to a closure, we celebrate the actors and actresses who bedazzled us with their negativity and strength this year.
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Nominations at a glance!
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No one could have actually anticipated the return of Bollywood’s Khalnayak to form with the menacing Kancha Cheena, but Sanjay Dutt hammered the statement and how! With a more than brilliant portrayal of the much famous villain reprising the original with immense equanimity, the man who breathed life into Vaastav, Khalnayak and Khauff playing the baddie before ranks high on our list. No two ways!
A classy performer of sorts, it came as a huge surprise for all Agneepath fans as news of Rishi Kapoor adorning Rauf Lala hit headlines. A film where raging antagonists overpowered protagonist-ic elements in the movie itself, Rishi Kapoor as the staunch ugly pimp Rauf Lala was bewildering. Hence a well deserved nomination.
An industry starlet who took the negative route to stardom playing a grey character right in his maiden venture, Neil Nitin Mukesh scored high on our wolverine list as he packed in Spider with assumed punch! In an innately lack luster plotline he kind of rejuvenated the role of a baddie with refreshing panache. What a Player he is! We ought to agree to that though.
Slightly tilted and inclined towards the unconventional territory of Bollywood, this young gun from tinsel town has taken measured steps into establishing his name in filmdom. With beautiful performances in films like Shaitan and That girl in Yellow Boots credited to him, Gulshan took the big leap playing the villain in Vikram Bhatt’s erotic thriller Hate Story. The film tanked at the box office but his portrayal of a vengeance filled entrepreneur rose high on vindication.
Bipasha Basu who set a benchmark for other actresses after taking the grey route with her bold Jism playing a vicious Ajnabee with oomph, this dusky Bong babe has set the money spinning for her producers when she slipped into the red and black gowns of blood and black magic in Raaz 3. Her Shanaya Shekhar stands as an epitome of revenge, vengefulness and retribution, parceling in oodles of glamour in a narrow slit robe. For more than that, her eyes did all the speaking.
A sultry B town diva who sizzled on screen in every frame she appears suddenly took an eventful U-turn as she culled for a challenging exercise of playing a media tycoon with grey shades. The film sank without a trace but Neha Dhupia was critically applauded for her pursuance. Brownie points to her for trying something completely different, shying away from the limited genre of bold films that she has been a part of.
One of the most versatile and the finest talents that India has ever witnessed, this extremely humble superstar essayed the role of a humbug Swami with consumed acme and arête. Leading the battalion of swamis was Mithun Chakraborty, who charmed the audience with his funny histrionics and conspired mastermind. In a film that was aesthetically meant to reform the social warts that plague the Indian society, Mithunda’s Leeladhar Swami was definitely the cherry on the cake, complimenting Paresh Rawal’s Kanjibhai with transcendence.
The menacing villain who proved his mettle with a meticulously scripted negative act in Rohit Shetty’s Singham geared up to don the negative yet again in superstar Salman Khan’s magnum opus Dabangg 2. Playing the shrewd and corrupt politician Bachcha
Lal with innate fervour and quality, Prakash Raj delivered a boisterously bewitching performance and surprised all of us yet another time. The grueling action sequences and the witty dialogues added to the charm!
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