Five iconic villains of Bengali cinema

Love them or hate them – villains are always an inseparable part of a cinema, a story or a drama or even in real life charming you and then delivering a killer punch. They show us what’s wrong in the society. Thankfully, many Bengali films over the years have had the honour of representing brilliant storylines and role-play for negative characters. Some of them have been portrayed by the elite class of artists and left a rich trail of cinematic heritage. It’s not about the sleazy foulmouthed ‘heroine abduction’ type villains who become immortal. They are grimmer and more subtle – the kind of villains we face in our day-to-day life or perhaps someone from the pages of history. Here is a list of five finest villains of Bengali cinema.

Who can forget the character Major Trivedi of the film ‘42’? Bikash Roy as Major Trivedi showed what a cold-blooded ruthless man means. He played an Indian officer serving the British emperor and used to take demonic pleasure to oppress freedom fighters. In that one single role-play, Bikash Roy managed to express all that is oppression and exploitation in world history. Words fall short to evaluate his acting brilliance. The character can be defined as the complete villain which we wish should only exist in reel world, not in real world.

Legend Utpal Dutt as Hirak Raja is the one evil man who buys your soul! No matter how cruel a king he was, we still love to see him again and again. But there is also a darker side. Satyajit Ray portrayal of Hirak Raja was a perfect manifestation of the dark and unknown world. While magaj dholai or mind control remains a myth, it is actually bombarded upon us through different channels in the modern world. Subliminal messaging and mesmerism is a proven fact which is openly used now. Hirak Raja seems to be a big, bad corporation controlling a corrupt government. It doesn’t give people even the freedom of thought. Using the ministers, Hiraj Raja banishes his biggest threat – educated evolved minds. He says no to true education and forcefully makes them captivated.

Who doesn’t fear an angry dad? Kamal Mitra as B.K. Roy – the angry and strict father of Uttam Kumar in ‘Deya Neya’, is every son’s worst dream. He tries to destroy his son’s singing career because he believes singing and music is an inferior profession. Kamal Mitra was the ideal actor to play the character for his grave persona of a disciplinarian martinet. His voice, appearance and acting talent automatically make him the leading angry father of global cinema. Since then, many actors have tried to copy his role as B.K. Roy, the angry father but never succeeded.

Chhaya Devi’s portrayal of Mrs Basu in ‘Saat Pake Bandha’ is no doubt regarded as one of the masterpieces. As Suchitra Sen’s mother she interferes in her daughter’s conjugal life every time and it leads to a broken marriage. The word ‘villain’ might not seem appropriate here; Mrs Basu’s character was rather negative. Nobody could have portrayed this character better than Chhaya Devi. Mrs Basu’s toxic behaviour is quite common in the society. It’s not a general threat, so we tend to accept it in our lives but eventually, it fills us with negativity. Not all villains shoot a gun; some have the gift of sharper tongues and colder hearts.

Maganlal Meghraj is touted to be the most famous villain in Bengali cinema and the character was portrayed by the legendary Utpal Dutt. Villains like Maganlal are too clever and cunning like a fox. He knows how to corrupt the system, his opponent’s weak point and doesn’t care about anything that’s not related to money. He would even sell the nation if he could gain profit from it. But the thing is more dreaded he becomes, the more Feluda tightens his grip on him. The duel between Maganlal and Feluda is like the battle between Moriarty and Holmes.