Bollywood's Villainisation Of Psychological Disorders

The ’90s saw a rise and popularity of villains suffering from longterm trauma that was painted as their 'bad boy'ness. In his book, pure evil, author Balaji Vittal provides a detailed analysis of some of Bollywood's most career-making villainous performances

- Balaji Vittal

Villains come in various shades of evil, but the '90s saw a rise and popularity of villains who were evidently suffering from long-term trauma, which manifested itself into various psychological illnesses, But instead of treating them with understanding or sympathy, the characters were painted with negative shades, doomed to die by the end of the film. From brutality and psychopathic tendencies to abandonment issues and obsession, the gamut was experimented with in Bollywood till the early 2000s.

Maybe changing times brought in healthier perspectives. Additionally, the black-and-white hero-villain structure also started disappearing from mainstream cinema after the gangster phase of Bollywood. So, when a Bhool Bhulaiyaa happened, the psychological disorder was treated with compassion and ingenuity. Although, that is not something one can say about Akshay Kumar's last release, Atrangi Re, which deals with paracosm irresponsibly, turning it into a hook for comedy. While we might not villainise psychological disorders anymore, does mainstream Bollywood understand how to sensitively portray it on screen? In this excerpt from Balaji Vittal's Pure Evil, we read about how characters afflicted with mental illnesses became some of the most career-making performances for actors like Nana Patekar, Shah Rukh Khan, and Manoj Bajpayee.