The Polished Face of Villainy in New-Age Malayalam Cinema

Gone are the days when evil used to have a recognizable face and appearance in both real life and reel life. Bloodshot eyes, thick and handlebar moustache, big black wart on the upper cheek, unkempt hair, demonic voice and laugh – the physical characteristics of movie villains were more or less the same in old days, very distinct from that of the heroes. There was a separate breed of artists to do negative roles. Balan K Nair, T G Ravi, Jose Prakash, and Ummar were the most popular ones.

As times progressed, the rift between the good and the bad diminished both on-screen and off-screen. Either the good became a little bad, or the bad picked up a little good - is only one way to look at it. Or, branches of Philosophy revealed the good of the bad, and the bad of the good. Cinema, which has always been a true representation of the society where it thrives, pulled in the mix-up pretty fast.

In new-age Cinema, everyone is an artist, who wants to be realistic and versatile. No one believes in filmy role models any more unlike earlier times that used to discourage heroes from doing negative roles. As a result, we have mainstream artists playing negative roles, most of the times adding the “twist” element that’s a standard ingredient in today’s commercial cinema. This is a story of the refined face of villainy in the recent Malayalam Cinema, where we’ll review the top ten instances.

Fahadh Faasil in 22 Female Kottayam:

Who can forget Cyril in 22 Female Kottayam, the Aashiq Abu film? He is the artistic expression of opportunism, treachery, and materialism that are dominant in today’s society, or something that have always been there waiting to be revealed at some point in time. Tessa, who was the victim of his devilish charms, never doubted Cyril, nor did the audience. Only a good looking, popular and positive-imaged young artist could have breathed life into the character of Cyril, convincingly and shockingly. Fahadh Faasil, who has no inhibitions of the dreaded term “image”, embraced the chance. Only a few clergymen complained.

Prithviraj in Mumbai Police:

Antagonism of the protagonist is not something new to Malayalam Cinema. But it’s not common either. Manliness is as much a quality of the antagonist or the villain, as it is with the hero or the protagonist, in conventional Cinema. If a hero is asked to be both the protagonist and the antagonist of a movie, who is also a gay character, especially before a society that views homosexuality as a taboo and thoroughly unmanly, he would definitely think twice. Though it’s not clear whether Prithvi thought twice or thrice or more times (literally), what matters is that he performed the role, and won accolades for it.

Shekhar Menon in Gangster:

Though Gangster did not impress the box office or critics, its antagonist won praise from the audience and critics alike for his sheer devilry act. The flab that the character had looked like the deposit of every infernal trait that a human could possibly have. Aashiq Abu, who can be rightly called the guru of experimentation in the present Malayalam Cinema, creatively and convincingly presented Shekhar Menon in a role that was 180 degrees out of phase with what he did previously in Da Thadiya. The same eyes that shone in innocence and humility in Da Thadiya intimidated spectators with their cold-hearted cruelty and sadism in Gangster.

Nivin Pauly in Da Thadiya:

The antagonist of Da Thadiya is perhaps the best specimen of the crooked, scheming, manipulative and avaricious businessmen of modern times. In a world where commercialism and consumerism rule directly and indirectly, Nivin Pauly’s negative character truly represented the new-age face of villainy – pleasant appearance, eloquent conversational style, gentlemanly behaviour, but all for the deeply hidden agenda of shameless materialism.

Asif Ali in Ordinary:

The villain’s identity is sometimes kept under cover until the climax scene, to retain the suspense element of commercial movies. It ought to be a character that the audience least expects to be villainous, is another rule that enhances the shocking effect of the twist. If such a character can be played by one of the mainstream younger generation heroes, all the more better! Asif Ali’s negative character in the movie is a testimony to the altered mindset of the new-gen artists who do not wish to be typecast in any particular image.

Narain in 3 Dots:

Innocence and Narain used to go hand in hand. Movies like Classmates, Achuvinte Amma have used his innocent and gentleman looks to write their success stories. When Dr Issac (Narain) of 3 Dots movie reveals his diabolic plans and vicious face before the audience in the second half after misleading them to believe he is a saintly philanthropist in the first half, at least a few spectators might have missed a couple of their heartbeats. That his negative character was a doctor in the movie is another new-age declaration or belief that no profession today holds the unquestionable sanctity that our ancient culture and beliefs had bestowed on a few of them previously.

Murali Gopi in Kaanchi:

The antagonist of Kaanchi was indeed a true fiend. He was the personification of every evil emotion that conventional cinema has ever introduced and nurtured. Right from the first frame, he makes his villainous intensions clear. He is perhaps the only negative character in this story that strongly resembles villains of yesteryears - aggressive physique and body language, cruelty-brimming dialogues and acts, male chauvinism and sadistic lust, having slavish women at his beck and call etc. Murali Gopi played the formulaic villain with menacing ease and fearless conviction.

Hareesh Peradi in Left Right Left :

Piercing eyes, razor-sharp tongue, threatening yet subdued expressions, assertive body language, lethal potential energy – the antagonist of Left Right Left movie, who was a political autocrat, required extremely villainous delicacy to be convincing. Hareesh Peradi gave each of those characteristics in the precise quality and quantity, well-directed by Arun Kumar Aravind. As the mastermind behind the sinister and crooked activities of a political party in its struggle to retain power, never appearing demonic to the external world, Hareesh’s character was a true reflection of the modern face of corrupted-to-the-core political mindset that has zero tolerance to other ideologies and beliefs.

Roshan Basheer in Drishyam:

Varun in Drishyam was the embodiment of every deplorable attribute and attitude of the new-age, hi-tech generation. Misuse of technology to abuse and blackmail the weaker sex is an alarming reality now, and Drishyam created box office success history with the same crime and its impending punishment. As the teenage villain who reeked vulgarity, disrespect, fetish, cruelty and callousness, Varun (played by the young artist Roshan Basheer) wrote a new episode of antagonism in Malayalam Cinema.

Nishan in Ee Adutha Kaalathu :

As an agent and beneficiary of Porn business, the negative character that Nishan played in the movie deserved to be detested, deplored and eliminated. The character required to look young, innocent and attractive to be convincing. Nishan, who is a Mumbai-based artist and who has been active in the Malayalam Film Industry, performed the role of the cheat with dubious innocence.

It is the Evil that catches up with the changing times sooner and thoroughly than Goodness, for strange reasons! The difference between the two is increasingly becoming vague, which must be why new-gen artists are willing to do negative roles, sometimes even volunteering for them, for the sake of versatility or experimentation.