Bollywood Villains: Top 27 Bollywood Baddies We Love (& Fear, Too!)

From scaring the shit out of us to being as creepy as possible to playing the best negative role in Bollywood movies, here‘s the top 27 Bollywood villains!

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Hey! Bollywood is loved all over the world. From unrealistic love stories to hilarious comedy to fun packed action, Bollywood movies have so much to offer. Not to forget their (sometimes ridiculous) song and dance sequences! There are a few fashionable movie characters that give us style inspiration. And there are a few relatable characters that we look upto. Also, there are negative characters that are iconic while being creepy!

Evolution of the Bollywood Baddies

If you go through the history of the villain culture in Bollywood, it has changed tremendously. The term villain was big in Bollywood industry in 70s and 80s. So, both Bollywood and Hollywood movies had the negative characters. But lately, this has changed in Bollywood. I mean, how many actors can you think about who play only Bollywood villains? I can’t think of any. Ever since the Hum Aapke Hain Kaun phase, the villain culture has diminished in Bollywood.

Now, we don’t need any bad characters to show that the hero is goody good. So, interestingly, if one goes through the Filmfare award history on wiki, there have been no nominations for a negative roles since 2007. That explains it all! Sigh! Sometimes we need the Bollywood villains in movies. I mean a movie will have so much to offer if there’s a negative character (when I say negative character, I mean complete negative role not a character with grey shades – like Hrithik Roshan in Dhoom2!)

Top 25 Famous Bollywood Villains

So all said and done, Let’s take a look at the most famous Bollywood villains!

1. Shatrughan Sinha as Chhenu in Mere Apne (1971)

Shatrughan Sinha as Chhenu has done a tremendous job. He’s the perfect rogue from the streets and also the dialogue “Usse keh dena Chhenu aayaa tha” is a popular dialogue from the movie.

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Shatrughan Sinha

2. Prem Chopra as Prem in Bobby (1973)

Prem Chopra is one of the best actors in a negative role. He portrayed the role of Prem in the 70s hit movie, Bobby. His famous Bollywood dialogue, “Prem naam hai mera. Prem Chopra,” is still synonymous with the actor. A perfect goon who goes to any extent for money. He’s one of the best Bollywood villains of 70s!

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Prem Chopra

3. Amjad Khan as Gabbar Singh in Sholay (1975)

Gabbar Singh is one of the most famous Bollywood villain names. The character was played by Amjad Khan in the movie Sholay and the dialogue, “Kitne aadmi they?” and “Arre O Sambha” are famous Hindi villain dialogues. In fact, nearly all his lines from Sholay became iconic, and have been mimicked and memed by Bollywood lovers, kids and comedians alike!

He’s terrifying as a dacoit. Apart from looting people, he’s also a kidnapper and a murderer. But he loves his dose of entertainment, too. Remember how he made Basanti dance?

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Amjad Khan

4. Ajit as Din Dayal(Loin) in Kalicharan (1976)

Din Dayal is the lion of the crime world. Though his character’s name is Din Dayal, he addresses himself as Lion. He’s into kidnapping, robbery and the 70s famous theme – smuggling. And the way he pronounces lion as loin is so damn funny.

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Ajit

5. Jeevan as Robert in Amar Akbar Anthony (1977)

Jeevan is one of the common villain names of Bollywood from the 70s. His portrayal of the role, Robert, in Amar Akbar Anthony is quite memorable. Though I watched this movie long back, I remember his character well. His dialogue delivery and those suits made him an awesome retro Bollywood villain.

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Jeevan

6. Amitabh Bachchan as Don in Don (1978)

Amitabh Bachchan as Don is the classiest vintage Bollywood villain. Successful, intelligent, popular with women, always impeccably dressed, he was the James Bond of villains! Don proved that villains can be just as swoon-worthy as any hero but yet, he mercilessly kills people! The iconic dialogue, “Don ko pakadna mushkil hi nahi namumkin hai,” was portrayed in the Shah Rukh Khan remake of the movie.

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Amitabh Bachchan

7. Kulbhushan Kharbanda as Shakaal in Shaan (1980)

Shakaal from Shaan is a cool baddie! Surprisingly, the 80s Bollywood fashion was awesome and even the villains had fashionable outfits. His military style jacket with shoulder pads still looks so trendy. And he sports the bald look, which people still remember him for.

Now, Shakaal is a badass villain who’s into smuggling and what not! But he owns a private island and lives inside a submarine with views of sharks and crocodiles. He also had super-cool gadgets that he could kill people by just pressing buttons! I love this guy’s life!

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Kulbhushan Kharbanda

8. Amrish Puri as Bhairo Nath in Nagina (1986)

The creepy-looking tantrik in Nagina was most famous for his costume – a black robe worn with a huge teeka. The snake charmer was also a bad sign because every time he was in a scene, Shri Devi’s eyes would turn grey and she did the weird snake dance. Enough creeps for one lifetime, no thanks, I’m not watching this once again!!

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Amrish Puri

9. Sadashiv Amrapurkar as Chaturvedi in Aakhree Raasta (1986)

Here’s the first big rapist in our list of Bollywood villains! Chaturvedi raped his follower, David D’Costa’s (played by Amitabh Bachchan) wife and even sent him to jail for it. He’s the baddie you want dead ASAP! Also, he’s making a bad name for politicians.

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Sadashiv Amrapurkar

10. Amrish Puri as Mogambo in Mr. India (1987)

Mogambo is one of the famous and most evil Indian villains. The role was played by Amrish Puri (who’s the most popular villain of the 80s Bollywood movies) and he’s still known for it. The famous Mogambo dialogue, “Mogambo khush hua,” became synonymous with the actor.

So, Mogambo is a general who wants to conquer India. He’s a super cool villain with a private island and, an army of henchmen who salute him with “Hail Mogambo” day in and day out. He has destructive missiles and rockets and a great personal style! Like he sports a military-inspired jacket with embellishments and fringes. Also, check out his blonde hair and brows, too. He loves gadgets, too, and now he’s after an invisibility technology to conquer India.

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Amrish Puri

11. Anupam Kher as Shyamlal in Tezaab (1988)

Shyamlal is an ideal bad father and is one of the famous Bollywood villains. He makes his wife dance in bars and takes the money she earns. He’s a drunkard, kills his own wife. And then demands his daughter to follow in her mother’s footsteps. The worst evil father I have ever seen.

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Anupam Kher

12. Mohnish Bahl as Jeevan in Maine Pyar Kiya (1989)

Jeevan is one of the famous Bollywood villain names that comes to mind when you think about negative characters. He even tries to rape his friend’s girlfriend. Eww! I used to hate this guy back in the 90s! And still, hate him. But he taught us all an important lesson with his famous dialogue, “Ek ladka aur ladki kabhi dost nahi hote!” Point taken, Jeevan!

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Mohnish Bahl

13. Nana Patekar as Anna Seth in Parinda (1989)

Anna Seth is a don. He owns an oil factory, to cover up his illegal activities. And what a fancy name for a gangster? He kills his own men mercilessly. It was sad to see him killing the hero (Anil Kapoor) and heroine (Madhuri Dixit) on their wedding night. What a heartless person?!

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Nana Patekar

14. Danny Dengzongpa as Kancha Cheena in Agneepath (1990)

Danny Dengzongpa as Kancha Cheena is famous till date. Cheena is an underworld don, a kidnapper and what not! Cheena’s character became more famous than the hero, Amitabh’s, because of his dialogue delivery and his looks. His suits and sunglasses were stylish. He’s one of the famous 90s Bollywood villains.

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Danny Dengzongpa

15. Shah Rukh Khan as Ajay in Baazigar (1993)

Shah Rukh always plays the Bollywood hero perfectly. But yet he needs a mention in the list of top 10 villains of all time in Bollywood. Baazigar was the ultimate revenge-driven story. The protagonist, Ajay, goes to great extents to avenge his parents’ deaths. He makes a girlfriend only to heartlessly kill her and disguises himself to date her sis – all so he can ruin their dad’s life and business. He’s so, so mean. And he knows that revenge is best served cold. *chills*

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Shah Rukh Khan

16. Shah Rukh Khan as Rahul in Darr (1993)

Shah Rukh Khan did a tremendous job as a villain in the early years of his career. He played the role of a creepy stalker that’s popular in the Bollywood villains of 90s. He’s that creep from your college who knows about everything about you but also doesn’t have the guts to speak to you. But he’s also a psychopath who’ll do anything to have the girl of his dreams. Even if it meant killing her husband and driving her insane. Poor girl. You drove Juhi Chawla crazy in the movie. But it was the 90s, so there would be a good guy to demolish the bad one. And who’s better than Sunny Deol?!

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Shah Rukh Khan

17. Sanjay Dutt as Ballu in Khalnayak (1993)

Ballu is a gangster whose looks are enough to tell that he’s a Bollywood villain. Though he turns out to be the badass due to poverty, he has committed many sins. His killer looks and hairstyle make the villainish look complete. The Bollywood action scenes are something to look out for! But he also loves some music and can make Madhuri Dixit dance to a “Choli ke peeche!”

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Sanjay Dutt

18. Shakti Kapoor as Gogo in Andaz Apna Apna (1994)

Gogo is Shilpa’s favorite Bollywood villain of all time! Lol. She likes realistic villains, perhaps. Shakti Kapoor played a villain in a comedy movie. So, it’s hilarious to watch the character. He calls himself Crime master Gogo (if Gogo itself wasn’t funny enough) and wears a black and red cape and the very evidently stuck and rolled mustache. The ponytail completes the supervillain look. He’s a kidnapper but is all cool when he’s arrested ‘cos justice! So nostalgic. No brainer movie and such innocent characters. Take me back to 90s immediately! Oh, and it’s a part of his resumé that he’s Mogambo’s nephew!

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Shakti Kapoor

19. Paresh Rawal as Teja in Andaz Apna Apna (1994)

Yet another villain from the same movie. The concept of twins where one is good and the other, a villain, was quite a popular theme in the 90s Bollywood. So, Paresh Rawal played the role of Teja. He’s greedy to take over his lookalike brother’s property. But he also has small town dreams of going to London or opening a farm and bakery. All he wants is to be “Bread ka badshah and omlette ka raja.” Someone crowdfund his dream! I loved the cross mark on his cheek, which was his identity.

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Paresh Rawal

20. Shah Rukh Khan as Vijay in Anjaam (1994)

I think the king of Bollywood wanted to break his own record for portraying Bollywood negative characters. Vijay is a rich brat who wants everything that he wishes for. He falls in love with a girl and she rejects him. Oops! She kicked the male self-esteem. Now he does every possible nonsense acts to gain her. Really?! Dude, she’s way out of your league. She’s independent and doesn’t abide by your patriarchial rules. Anyway, Vijay is a spoilt brat so he kills her husband and offers her to choose to be with him or go to jail. Wow! *applause* What a male chauvinist pig?! And psycho!

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Shah Rukh Khan

21. Kajol as Isha in Gupt (1997)

Kajol played the role of a villain in the movie Gupt. She’s one of the first Bollywood female villains to get nominated. She was at the peak of her career and portraying a role like this only made her better. She’s similar to Rahul from Darr. Yes, she’s a stalker and a psychopath and kill people. Ah! such a maniacal female. Nevertheless, this character fetched Kajol the Filmfare award for best villain.

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Kajol

22. Hrithik Roshan as Altaaf in Mission Kashmir (2000)

Hrithik Roshan from Mission Kashmir and Aamir Khan from Fanaa are the ones who made terrorists look handsome! In Mission Kashmir, Hrithik plays a realistic terrorist with an ex-lover, a family and lots of emotion. It’s difficult not to feel for him. And he dances well!

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Hrithik Roshan

23. Amitabh Bachchan as Vijay Singh Rajput in Aankhen (2002)

Amitabh Bachchan has always been and still is a Bollywood superstar. And he’s the first name that comes to our mind when we mention top Bollywood heroes. He portrayed the character of Vijay in Aankhen. This is the movie where you hate Amitabh’s character no matter how big fan you’re!

Vijay is short tempered and ill-treats people at his workplace. When he loses his job for his misbehavior, he plots a plan to seek revenge by hiring three blind men to execute a robbery at the bank he worked for. He blackmails a blind-kid trainer to train the blind men by kidnapping her brother. Eventually, when the plan is executed, Vijay kills one of the blind men and he’s responsible for Neha’s suicide! We hate you from the bottom of our hearts, Vijay! But kudos to you for your crazy plan!

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Amitabh Bachchan

24. Priyanka Chopra as Sonia Roy in Aitraaz (2004)

Priyanka Chopra is yet another actress who fetched a Filmfare award for female negative role in Bollywood. So, the character Sonia Roy defines the term ‘vamp’ well. She marries an older man for money, tries to seduce her old boyfriend who she had ditched long back and accuses him of sexual harassment since he didn’t fulfill her desires. Ooooh! She definitely defines the Indian vamp character.

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Priyanka Chopra

25. Aamir Khan as Rehan Qadri in Fanaa (2006)

The Bollywood superstar, Aamir Khan, as Rehan Qadri in Fanaa was a perfect choice to play the character. First of all, it came as a surprise watching the hero turning into a villain in the second half. The twist worked well for the movie. Rehan is a terrorist and is on a mission in Delhi. He deviates when he falls in love with a girl but he’s so focused that he fakes his own death. And he’s back to take his crime career forward. So good to watch a terrorist’s lifestyle (only in the movie. I don’t want any terrorist in REAL life)!

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Aamir Khan

26. Arjun Rampal as Ra. One in Ra. One (2011)

Ra. One is one of the most popular but pathetic movies. But overall, the villain stole the show! The hot Bollywood actor, Arjun Rampal portrayed the role of Ra. One (the character having traces of the Ramayan character, Raavan). He’s a monstrous negative character from a game that goes wrong and he comes alive into action and harms people.

Since he’s not human, (technically, he’s not supposed to be on this list, but come on it’s one of the hot Bollywood actors, Arjun Rampal we are speaking about!) he doesn’t have any kind of feelings. Ra. One actually kills his own creator. Such a cold-hearted villain. He sports a bald look and wears a coat with a hoodie! Yet another one of the stylish Bollywood villains.

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Arjun Rampal

27. Tigmanshu Dhulia as Ramadhir Singh – Gangs of Wasseypur (2012)

Ramadhir Singh is a cold-hearted murderer and one of the famous Bollywood villains who can go to any extent for money. He murders his own trusted employee. And whoever troubles his business is killed by Ramadhir’s men. He’s known for all the gruesome murders and cunning nature. But we love him for his famous dialogue, “Tumse na ho payega,” which can be used IRL in so many situations.

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Tigmanshu Dhulia

So, these were our favorite top 27 Bollywood villains. Who’s your favorite? Do you have more to add to the list? Let us know by tweeting @shilpa1ahuja!

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