The era of villains in Bollywood will end with me – Gulshan Grover

The word ‘prolific’ suits Gulshan Grover more than anyone else. For not many in our industry can command the credit of having acted in more than 400 films. In his scintillating career that is dotted with some memorable villainous performances, Gulshan has also been successful in starring in some notable roles in the west. The veteran actor will now be seen in Saif Ali Khan starrer Bullett Raja where he plays the main villain. Tellychakkar.com caught up with the quintessential bad man of Bollywood for an exclusive tete-a-tete. Tell us something about your character in Bullett Raja? I am the main villain of Bullett Raja. I am the creator of the conflict, the person responsible in changing the course of the life of Bullett Raja, the person who gives Raja some real tough times and some taste of picking up a fight with a powerful adversary, Bajaj. And when supposedly in the film a younger, smaller and insignificant somebody tries to mess with someone powerful and mighty, then he inevitably has to get a taste of something that he has asked for. How different is your villainous act in Bullett Raja different from your earlier negative roles? If you see my career, you will observe that my earlier roles have been extremely dramatic. Dramatic in look, dramatic in presentation and in everything else. But in this film it is the rejuvenation and reinventing of a villain who is powerful and strong but at the same time not dramatic in the way he looks or behaves, I would say is different. So happy to be back playing the main villain after long? (Smiles) Of course. I am very happy that I am playing the main villain in a film directed by Tigmanshu Dhulia. Bollywood today is running short of villains unlike the glorious 90s when you and Amrish Puri ruled the roost. Why don’t we see any new villains emerging from the younger lot? Well, it’s not like these new guys are not good actors. They are excellent actors. In fact they are far better than most of us. But in this generation opportunities are not enough. Earlier I used to have about 30 films a year in hand. Every week I used to have a release and in every film I used to be the baddie. So those many films where a young actor can play a baddie are not made today. And it’s not easy to be a baddie and be a star like how I have been. Now take for instance this film. There are other actors who are also playing negative roles in this movie but after this movie they will go back to doing what they normally do in other movies. Also to be a baddie you need tremendous amount of courage, talent and focus. Who do you think will be the next Gulshan Grover of Bollywood? Unfortunately, the specialized villainous era will end with me. There will not be a specialized bad man era after me because there is not enough work in the industry for some to be a star and be a baddie or for someone to have enough money and enough satisfaction at the same time. And what could be the reason for this? Is it because there is no demand for villains in the market today? Yes it’s mainly because of the market which has undergone an evolution. If you look at the poster of Bullett Raja can you see the face of the villain there? You can’t. This has got much to do with the marketing machinery. These professionals are still not sure whether a villain can bring in the audience or a certain amount of sizzle. The day you see half of my poster with Saif or a dedicated poster of mine, I will say the villain in our industry has really arrived. Finally leave us with a few of your memorable lines that people still like to hear… There are three which I get to hear from people even these days. One is ‘Bad man’, the second ‘Sapna Shankar Bihari ko tere saath gaana gaana hain’, ‘Maya teri toh palat doonga kaya’. These dialogues are immensely popular even now. There are one-liners in Bullett Raja as well which I can’t reveal at this moment (winks).