Bad boys have all the fun

On television, increasingly male negative leads are making their mark. AT gets behind the scenes...

While telly vamps Komolikas and Jigyasas have gained instant fame, slowly the small screen's male villains are also gaining popularity . Unlike Bollywood, negative characters on television have become synonymous with women on television. This is essentially because the small screen's loyal followers are mostly the fairer sex.

Says Ismail Ubarkhan, who's directing the daily soap Banoo Main Teri Dulhann, "Our audiences, a huge chunk of who are women, love women vamps. Also, they love to follow the vamps' styles in costumes and accessories." It also has to do with the fact that women rule kitchen politics , feels actor Rajiv Paul, who's played various negative characters, including one in Kahaani Ghar Ghar Kii. He elaborates, "In a saas bahu soap, there's more politics among the women, which, frankly, is just a reflection of the society. It leaves little scope for men."

Given a choice, most male actors prefer playing negative roles on television. Sample this, some of television's bigger stars are having a great time being bad - Aman Verma (Virasaat), Ronit Roy (Kasamh se), Hiten Tejwani (Kasauti Zindagi Kay), Akashdeep Saigal, Salil Acharya (Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi), Chetan Hansraj (Virruddh), Nikhil Arya (Kasturi) and Manoje Bidvai (Meri Awaz Ko Mil Gayee Roshni).

"Positive male characters are just like furniture in soaps. All the ideal, good deeds are done by women only. Good men just stand by their women. So men can show off their acting prowess only if they play negative characters ," says actor Anupam Bhattacharya, aka Aseem Shrivastava in Durgesh Nandinii.

Paul adds that he doesn't want to play positive roles, for, "they are very boring. Negative roles have more layers to them."

Playing the bad guy also means one runs the risk of being typecast, but it is still the better option. Chetan Hansraj who has played the bad guy earlier in Kahani Ghar Ghar Ki and is the negative lead in Virruddh , find these roles more interesting. "They provide more scope to perform, enable the story to move forward, can be very powerful, and if done properly bring instant recognition," he says.

Probably, this is why even rank newcomers are taking the 'negative' route on television . Romit Raj, who plays Yuvraj in Ghar Ki Lakshmi Betiyann, says that it's been "awesome" playing a bad guy. "After the creative heads showed their faith in me, I decided to go ahead with it. And it was very interesting to do the wrong things the right way. As I don't gamble , smoke or drink in real life, I got a chance to portray a completely different character on screen, which made me discover my dark side." As for getting typecast, he says, "I've already started working on my second serial, where I play a nice guy, So, I guess, it's all about proving your talent."

So do our women vamps feel comfortable now that the men are about to steal some of their thunder ? "Why not?" asks actress Kamya Punjabi, who's played many negative characters , adding, "The audience should also be given something new and different . In the end, it's only the performance that matters."