From Animal to Kanguva, Bobby Deol's villain era has only started

Bobby Deol

With his performance as Abrar Haque in Animal, Bobby Deol had everyone stunned. He played a mute man in the film as the antagonist against an aggressive and hero-like figure of Rannvijay (played by Ranbir Kapoor). Without a single dialogue and limited screentime, Bobby Deol impressed all with his menacing act. He scared all with his terrifying and menacing performance as Abrar without a single dialogue. Such was the impact of his performance, that now he has become a part of south cinema playing the mean baddie opposite big stars.

Bobby Deol's villain act goes pan-India

After a terrific performance in Animal, Bobby Deol made his Tamil cinema debut with Kanguva as the antagonists opposite Suriya. While the film failed to make a mark at the box office, the actor was praised for his menacing act and holding his ground against superstar Suriya. More recently, he played the antagonist in the Telugu language film 'Daaku Maharaj' that marked his debut in the language.

Now, the actor is gearing up to play a baddie again. He will be essaying the antagonist in Jana Nayagan starring Thalapathy Vijay in the lead. The film will be Vijay's final film and hence will garner a lot of attention. Directed by H Vinoth, the film also stars Pooja Hegde, Mamitha Baiju, Gautham Vasudev Menon, Prakash Raj, Narain, Priyamani, Monisha Blessy, and Varalaxmi Sarathkumar.

Bobby Deol's past villain roles

This was not the first time Deol has played a baddie on screen. In 2000, he played the antagonist in both Badal and Bichhoo, but both movies couldn't quite boost his career. Talking about how he got his mojo back, Deol said on Koffee with Karan last year, "I heard my son saying, 'you know Mom, Papa sits at home and you go to work every day'. Something snapped in me. I just said, no I can't. It was a slow process, when I got out of it, it took me time to get into the right mind frame to become okay. It can't happen overnight. My brother, my dad, my mom, my sisters, they were always there. You cannot always do anything while holding someone's hand. You have to walk on your two feet. Then things started changing. I mean I have gone and met so many people, I said to myself, I will go and meet people, tell them I want to work with you all."

His return to cinema courtesy of Salman Khan was the film 'Race 3'. He built a strong and enviable physique that suited the grey character he played in the film. He then featured in Prakash Jha's web series 'Ashram' which gave him a chance to revive the actor in him. He played the role of Kashipur Waale Baba', aka 'Nirala' or Monty Singh. He dropped his charming onscreen persona and gave way to a sharp, menacing baba on screen.

He also played grey characters in Shakalala Boom Bomm (2007), Race 3 (2018), Aur Pyaar Ho Gaya (1997), Players (2012).