Dhurandhar later wondered: Why isn’t there a great villain role for Arjun Rampal?
After Raajneeti and Om Shanti Om, Arjun Rampal once again played the role of a villain as Major Iqbal in Dhurandhar. Yet, Bollywood is yet to create a memorable antagonist for the actor.
What’s interesting is how Aditya Dhar has underutilized Arjun Rampal’s portrayal of the villain stalwart franchise so far. Of the plethora of adversaries in the blockbuster debut, Rampal’s Pakistani ISI boss, Major Iqbal, stands out as the one with the least footage. Yet Dhar has already, in a way, maximized the character’s impact.
At a glance, Trumpcard villains stalwart There’s Akshaye Khanna as Rahman the dacoit, playing the requisite Bollywood prototype with vim and writer-backed punchlines, there’s even an entrance dance set up FA9LAThe chartbuster which has now set a Guinness World Record. But Rampal’s essence was somewhere else. Writer-director Dhar cleverly used the antagonist Iqbal to set the mood of the film before its release in the trailer.
If the first scene of a film’s trailer provides the big bang and defines what is going to happen, the first blow to brutalize the audience’s senses was delivered by Rampal’s Iqbal. In that opening scene of the trailer, he blithely spews lines about Pakistan’s post-1971 depression and vows to “shed the blood of India with a thousand cuts”, even as he lazily drags out his cigar and then begins to brutally torture a captured Indian spy with fish hooks and chains.
Dhar had presented an extraordinary scene of Rampal’s villainy. stalwart Part 1 in its entirety, ahead of the film’s release.
However, remarkably enough, long after seeing the trailer and the film, as we prepare Dhurandhar: RevengeThe eerie silence about Major Iqbal keeps screaming in the mind. Fans have seen an exciting villain and a great deal of success in Major Iqbal stalwart 2 may depend on how cleverly the script pits Iqbal against Ranveer Singh’s hero Hamza Ali Mazari, whose background will be revealed in the sequel as Jaskirat Singh Rangi.
Here is the official trailer of Dhurandhar:
Why can Arjun Rampal be the perfect villain?
With his seriousness, towering presence and ability to transform from deceptively charming to downright devilish in front of the camera, Arjun Rampal always had the image of an ideal film villain.
The characteristics made him a perfect fit as Major Iqbal, a menacing character reportedly based on more than one powerful agent of destruction – among them Ilyas Kashmiri, a Pakistani special forces operator turned Islamic jihadist terrorist who was also an insurgent operative carrying out attacks against Indian troops. casting team of stalwartDirected by Mukesh Chhabra, it did a pretty good job and cemented Rampal as the extremely ruthless Major Iqbal.
Still, seeing the actor go as Major Iqbal stalwartThis thought comes to your mind: Why is there no great villain role for Arjun Rampal yet? Despite his ability to be terrifying on screen without much effort, why hasn’t Arjun Rampal had a truly great villain role after a career spanning a quarter of a century and a National Award supporting his proven acting skills?
Probably the answer to the question comes on its own. In Bollywood, where posing, gesturing and going over the top traditionally marks ‘noble’ villainy, and commercial cinema is still dominated by that stereotype, the ability to behave with restraint while evoking bad emotions doesn’t find many takers.
It’s no surprise that Arjun Rampal’s roster of screen villains worth remembering can be summed up with a handful of releases. Among these, his performance as vile billionaire Mike Mehra Om Shanti Om (2007) and the ruthless politician Prithviraj Pratap Politics (2010) will be much appreciated.
Om Shanti Om, Politics, Ra.One, but…
produced by shahrukh khan Om Shanti Om This happened in the year when Rampal received the National Award as Best Supporting Actor rock on!! in 2008. With SRK alongside sizzling newcomer Deepika Padukone, and a soundtrack that became popular even before the film’s release, this Farah Khan directorial would, you would think, not need the mention of a villain to make the right noise.
Except that it happened. It was simple: Om Shanti Om, Being a reincarnation story, there was a need for an evil person to take on the hero and heroine, so that both of them can wake up after a gap in another lifetime and take revenge. This is where Rampal as Mike stepped in, adding a veneer of sophistication to a man who would stop at nothing.
Still, Mike Mehra in Om Shanti Om Gabbar Singh was far from joining the club of great villains of Bollywood like Mogambo, Kancha Cheena, Langra Tyagi or Khilji, simply because despite being a blockbuster, neither the film nor the character had the ability to resonate in the mind. Nor was Rampal’s other excellent villain portrayal: in Prithviraj Pratap Politics.
Prakash Jha’s Politics It was partly allegory, partly political saga and entirely entertaining drama. The film was based on a solid script and well-written characters. As Prithviraj, the emotionally charged and impulsive political veteran who openly displays his criminal tendencies, Rampal himself was perfect. Yet, while the film made for a compelling watch, Prithviraj came across as a very derivative character. While playing the role of a corrupt politician, Rampal was merely being forced to repeat what many other actors had done before him.
All these years, there were not many villain roles for Arjun Rampal in Bollywood. You may remember a stranger (2005), Ra One (2011) and dashing (2022), of course. These were interesting performances but suffered from weak writing.
To fit into the Bollywood scheme of things
However, for Rampal, the challenge of making his personality ‘fit’ into Bollywood’s plans extended to positive roles as well. Since her debut in Rajeev Rai’s romantic drama in 2001, Affection, romance and loveThe actor has never been categorized as a traditional Bollywood hero – just as he has never quite found a place as a traditional villain for hardcore commercial cinema. Over the years, hero roles became rooted in realism – e.g. rock on!!, Father, denied Or Satyagraha – It may have helped him avoid the trap of image, but in a world ruled by image-obsessed fans, it has also kept him from traditional superstardom.
with focus on Dhurandhar: Revenge Now, there’s only one question on every fan’s mind: will Aditya Dhar’s film give Major Iqbal a satisfying finale – a death so spectacularly bloody, perhaps, that it ranks high up there with Gabbar Singh cinder?
