Nayak or Khalnayak

They���ve done more than their fair share of running around trees and wooing heroines. Now, it seems Bollywood���s leading men are all set to explore the dark side on the big screen. Arjun Rampal did it in Om Shanti Om, as did Saif Ali Khan in Omkara and Ek Hasina Thi.
Newcomer Imran Khan will be playing a negative role in the upcoming Kidnap, a far cry from the boy-next-door role he portrayed in his debut film.Shah Rukh Khan will return to the villainous ways that boosted his career in the 90s when he plays the baddie in Dhoom 3. BT finds out how convincing heroes have been as villains.
Film critic BB Nagpal feels an actor can portray grey shades convincingly only if he has a tough and rugged look. ���SRK hasn���t been able to do justice to all the negative roles he���s played because he doesn���t have that hard look,��� he says. ���Actors also try to come up with a certain body language, which doesn���t really work if they don���t have a tough look,��� he adds. But someone like Amitabh Bachchan, who���s done negative roles in Aankhen and RGV Ki Aag, is an exception. ���He can make a negative role come alive and manage to be evil because of his sharp and strong features,��� Nagpal adds.
Director Prakash feels the script should be well-written and the character should be presented in a convincing way. ���That���s what brought Langda Tyagi, the character that Saif Ali Khan played in Omkara, closer to the audience,��� says Prakash.
Director Guru Datt also feels that scripting has a major role to play for the evil character to stand out and look real. ���If the storyline and the role aren���t strong enough, it won���t work,��� Datt adds.
BB Nagpal says that audiences attach themselves to the positive image of on-screen heroes so much that they find it difficult to relate to them when they play a role that goes against that image. But he also says that newcomer Imran Khan stands a chance of portraying a baddie convincingly enough in his upcoming film Kidnap. ���He���s a fresh face and the audience will still be open to accepting him in a different role,��� Nagpal adds.
So, what tempts our heroes to take up negative roles? Guru says actors today want to do different and interesting roles. ���They don���t want to be stereotyped and want to take up roles that are more challenging,��� he points out.
Actor Ashwin Mushran feels that audiences are open to seeing actors in a variety of roles. ���Some actors have done a great job of portraying grey shades. Saif Ali Khan was impressive in Omkara,��� says Ashwin.
sangeeta.dass@timesgroup.com