Especially when it comes to villains in Indian cinema, there have been several direct and also surreal portrayals of the Raavana on-screen. As the whole nation is celebrating Vijayadashami aka Dussehra on this day, October 12, let’s take a look at the iconic Raavan-inspired villains in Bollywood.
‘Ra.One’
Cleverly twisting the words Raavan, the director Anubhav Sinha’s villain ‘Ra.One’ in the SRK starrer is surely an underrated one.
Portrayed by the talented Arjun Rampal, ‘Ra.One’ is a modern-day avatar of Raavan in the digital era. If the movie had a good second half, ‘Ra.One’ could have been one of the most unique and imaginative sci-fi movies ever made in India.
Arjun Kapoor in ‘Singham Again’
Singham Again – Official Trailer
Although the movie is only gearing up for its release, the recently released trailer for ‘Singham Again’ reveals that it will be a Bollywood commercial-style adaptation of Ramayana mythology. In the trailer, Arjun Kapoor’s character is Raavana who kidnaps Kareena Kapoor’s character. With his menacing looks and devilish style, Arjun Kapoor’s version of Raavan is expected to get praise from the audiences, even though the trailer has received mediocre responses from audiences.
Beera in ‘Raavan’
The visionary Mani Ratnam has infused an indirect re-telling of the Ramayana mythology with the 2010 film ‘Raavan’. Although the Bollywood remake was not on par with the Tamil version starring Vikram in the lead, Abhishek Bachchan’s portrayal of the anti-hero Beera is surely one of the unique characters played by the Bollywood actor. The movie even leaves a question for the viewer’s mind on whether Raavan (Beera) is the true villain of the story.
‘Adipurush’
Saif Ali Khan’s futuristic style Raavan in the Prabhas starrer ‘Adipurush’ is surely one of the weakest portrayals of the mythology character on-screen. Reminiscing some villain characters from the Marvel universe, Raavan in ‘Adipurush’ received criticism from the audiences. The movie was directed by Om Raut and had Saif Ali Khan as the antagonist named Lankesh.
