Bollywood 'bad man' Gulshan Gover on why audiences love a good villain

Villains have a strange equation with cinemagoers. Gulshan Grover, one of Bollywood’s ‘top’ villains has a wide range of experience with the public.

In an interview with a newspaper on Thursday, he recalled that he went to a theatre to watch Rohit Shetty’s 'Sooryavanshi', where he plays the role of villain Kader Usmani.

Soon a large number of people gathered around him and started shouting ‘Usmani bhai.’ Security had to escort him out of the theatre to his car, where he got on top of the vehicle and waved at the large crowd.

“I felt, on a personal level, that it’s a validation of audience’s love for me that even today, they gather in large numbers to speak to me, or shoot a video, or take a picture or scream to show their affection,” he said.

“It was really the satisfaction of having worked in a Rohit Shetty film that connects you with large audiences, with the satisfaction of knowing that you and your craft is still loved by people.”

But just a few days earlier, he had a strange experience. He had got into a plane and since he was late, was given the last seat. As it was about to take-off, a worried air-hostess refused to sit next to him, as is the standard procedure for the backside crew to sit in the last seat.

“She saw me, suddenly stopped and went back,” recalled Gulshan. The other air-hostesses began laughing and told him that she was scared of him and did not want to be seated next to him.

The 66-year-old actor will be appearing on SonyLiv’s Your Honour 2, a crime drama. He features along with Jimmy Shergill in the web series.

• India