Big screen villains getting hotter

Think bad guy in movies and one no longer thinks of intimidating faces like Gabbar Singh (Amjad Khan) or Loin (Ajit). Big screen villains these days are as drool-worthy, if not better, as the heroes of most films. As if perhaps pandering to the age-old line that good girls fall for bad guys, today's villains — be it in Bollywood or south Indian cinema — are all getting hotter.

Eye candy galore
When an always-on-the-prowl Sudeep looked lustfully at Samantha in Eega, one wasn't turned off. Similarly, Vidyut Jamwal's opening fight inBilla II had women drooling over him just as much as they did over Ajith. And when Sonu Soodfought shirtless in Dabangg, women took notice of his abs, as much as they did Salman's.

"Eventually, the line between good and bad was bound to grow finer. Now, one doesn't have those demarcations of good and evil. Women seem to find characters with shades of grey fascinating. Little wonder, then, that we have mainstream heroes like Ajith doing films like Billa andMankatha in which they aren't the typical good guys," says Sonu.

What women want
Actress Priya Mani agrees with this. "If I were given a choice, I would go for the bad guy. I have always liked men who have that little bad streak in them, where they can take care of me and fight for me if required. Take a look at how Hrithik Roshan was in Dhoom 2 and tell me one woman who didn't fall for his bad attitude. I was delighted when I got to be paired opposite someone as good-looking as Sonu Sood in Only Vishnuvardhana," she says, adding on a jocular vein, "With the villains getting hotter, we girls now have more options to check out onscreen."

Actress Taapsee Pannu agrees and adds, "I look forward to seeing the bad guys onscreen more than the good ones. I thought Vidyut Jamwal was simply too good in Thuppakki. Similarly, I still remember how Sonu Sood impressed people with his looks and attitude in Ek Niranjan. Today, we want a bad guy who can match the hero and take him head on."

Bad isn't ugly
Psychologists believe that this growing trend of casting good-looking men as bad boys in films was bound to take off. "While popular media has always shown things as black-and-white, it's far removed from how women see it in real life. It's the shades of grey that women find interesting. The bad guy is no longer repulsive; on the contrary, he is someone who looks like any one of us," says psychotherapist Radhika Shyam.