Bad spells good for Bollywood stars

Take a look at some of the reel life 'heroes' exploring their dark side including Aishwarya, Abhishek,Shah Rukh, Aamir, Akshay and Kareena to name a few.

The character of Beera in the film Raavan makes Abhishek Bachchan look sinister, but this is not the first time that Abhi is playing an anti-hero. He first made a mark as a dark character in Mani Ratnam's Yuva which won the star a lot of critical acclaim.

The role of a sexy clandestine villain in the 2004 film Khakee, earned the Bollywood superstar Aishwarya Rai a lot of credit and showed her versatility as an actor.

Bollywood Badshah got noticed and won his first Filmfare for the film Baazigar that showed the then chocolate boy's negative side. He was almost stereotyped in the industry for his negative roles. He played an obsessed lover in movies like Darr and Anjaam. In Farhan Akhtar's Don King Khan again showed his popular dark side.

Big B got a little experimental and played the role of a cop in Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra's Aks, who is possessed by a killer's evil spirit. The movie was well received by critics but bombed at the box office.

The very experimental Aamir Khan was seen playing a terrorist in the 2006 hit film Fanaa, directed by Kunal Kohli. This was the first time that Kajol was paired opposite Aamir khan and both actors received a lot of critical acclaim for their performance in the movie.

Saif Ali Khan has played a fair bit of negative characters in different movies. Be it the role of an underworld associate in Ek Hasina Thi, a killer with conscience in i>Being Cyrus, a jealous political enforcer in Omkara or a terrorist in Kurbaan. Saif has always proved himself as a potential 'bad boy' of the industry.

'Khiladi' Akshay Kumar played a negative character in the 2001 action thriller Ajnabee, alongside Bobby Deol, Kareena Kapoor and Bipasha Basu. Bips also showed her 'good girl gone bad' side in the film but the movie was more famous for the off screen clashes between Bips and Kareena, than anything else.

Bebo sizzled as a bad woman in the film Fida, opposite Shahid Kapoor and Fardeen Khan.

After playing a male protagonist in most of his movies, Ajay Devgn has shown his versatility as an actor by playing villainous roles in Khaakee, Kaal and Rajneeti.

The sexy siren Bipasha Basu raised eyebrows with her bold and dark character in the film Jism opposite John Abraham.

Priyanka Chopra became the second woman ever to win a Filmfare Best Villain Award for her role in Abbas-Mustan's Aitraaz. She played a seductress, who tries to woo Akshay Kumar away from his wife played by Kareena Kapoor.

Sanjay Dutt a.k.a. Sanju Baba shook the country when he was sentenced to jail for possession of illegal weapons. Thereafter in 1993 he re-entered Bollywood with Subhash Ghai's Khalnayak. Connection of Dutt's recent jail term and the name of the film massively appealed to the audience, and it went on to become a super hit. Later in 1999 he played another negative character of Raghu in Mahesh Manjrekar's Vaastav, that won Sanjay his first Filmfare Award for Best Actor.

Shahid Kapoor shed his 'loverboy' image with Vishal Bhardwaj's comic thriller Kaminey, where he was seen playing a double role.

Known as the 'it girl' of Bollywood, Urmila Matondkar stunned everybody with her portrayal of a psycho killer in Ram Gopal Verma's Kaun? and as an obsessed lover in Pyaar Tune Kya Kiya.

Vidya Balan left the audience speechless with her performance as ‘Manjulika' in Priyadarshan's Bhool Bhulaiyya.

Arjun Rampal plays a suave, sophisticated and vicious producer 'Mukesh Mehra' in Farah Khan's Om Shanti Om. This was his first negative role.

For the first time a debutant actor was launched in the industry in a negative role. Neil Nitin Mukesh clearly proved that looks can be deceptive, when he was seen in the movie Johnny Gaddar, where he single-handedly wipes off an entire mafia gang.

The bubbly Preity Zinta plays the role of a schizophrenic spoilt brat in the movie Armaan.

The very dashing John Abraham showed his acting talent by playing negative characters in movies like the very recent New York where he plays a terrorist and Zinda where he takes revenge from Sanjay Dutt for his sister's forced suicide.

Critically acclaimed actress Tabu played the role of 'Nimmi' in Vishal Bhardwaj's Maqbool where she persuades lover Irrfan Khan to kill her husband, played by Pankaj Kapoor.

Esha Kopikar played the role of a homosexual who is obsessed with her female roommate, Amrita Arora, in the controversial film Girlfriend.

In the legendary movie Mother India, Sunil Dutt plays the role of Nargis's son 'Birju', who becomes a bandit and constantly disturbs the peace of the village. The movie showed Sunil Dutt in a negative role but he became a real life hero for actress Nargis. Nargis and Dutt married soon after the release of the movie.

The innocent looking Manisha Koirala played a suicide bomber in Mani Ratnam's Dil Se. Even though the movie did not do wonders at the box office, Manisha and Shah Rukh were appreciated for there performance in the movie.