Bollywood has no shortage of villains. In fact if you were to look back at the 1930s especially if you were to look at the movies after Alam Ara debuted, the first talkie. Let us talk about Manthan, the movie based on the mythological legend of the churning of the ocean. It introduced to the world Chandra Mohan Watal, as Rajguru, who with his large, penetrating grey eyes and oceanic depths of violence terrified all viewers alike and later on made him the highest paid villain of India.
His friend, Motilal, both sharing the love of drink and women and gambling, an already lethal trio made much more so by their mercurial personalities, was the complete opposite. He did not rely on his eyes or outspoken villainy, he instead acted as if he were talking to the audience and instead performed in more morally ambiguous roles, like those of conmen. He became the highest paid actor overall in India. Both died penniless, a tragicomedic but predictable ode to their outrageous lives, and I wonder what they would think of it, if they ever did so.
The villain bandwagon then sought its glories in the name of the lecherous duo, Prem Chopra and Ranjeet, the ever elegant Ajit and Pran, with their trademark cigarettes and the now immortalised as the ruthless Gabbar, Amjad Khan. Amitabh Bachchan was more the antihero instead of the villain, although he capitalised on this shade in his 70s heyday in the superhit movie Don(1978).
So for all Shah Rukh fans, no Khan is not the original Don of Bollywood, Amitabh Bachchan with his yellow tinted shades and tall frame of bravado and egotism has secured the spot in the song Are Diwano, Mujhe Pehchano, a song that endures till date like the movie, and the good news being after directing the two successful Don and Don 2 in the 2010s, Farhan Akhtar after donning many hats, has donned the directorial hat and shall start shooting for Don 3 in October.
Don ko pakadna muskhil nahi, namumkin hai.