How can someone who saves the hero, still remain the villain? As manipulative as he is strong, Ratnam’s idiosyncratic dialogue delivery and that two notches higher performance is classic Nassar. The climactic fight in the palace, with a ‘photoshopped’ portrait of Vadivelu over Bruce Lee’s body, is crackling fun.Ī character that’s more black than grey it also won him the State Award for Best Villain. With long white hair and OTT dialogues, he plays the role in the period film with a surprising amount of conviction. The kingdom’s master advisor is responsible for most of the injustice that occurs there. One of the most hilarious villains of Tamil cinema. Sangilimaayan from Imsai Arasan 23rd Pulikecei The interrogation scene, long before Vikram Vedha, is an acting master class. A self-described ‘poraali’, it is the actor’s brilliance that we’re able to invest in his side of the story as well. A complex role in a complex film, Badri, the terrorist chief, is no cardboard character. One man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter.
His transformation is the appeal the film makes to the viewer, making it the most fascinating character in the film.
Later, he visits them in Bombay where he witnesses the real folly of his beliefs. He even becomes the cause for his son to elope with his lover. Nassar plays a strict orthodox Hindu, strongly opposing his son’s love for a Muslim woman. It takes a special actor to make the shift to become a generous foster father, taking care of a criminal’s daughter like she is his own. We spend a majority of the film believing that he is the film’s main villain. Also, one of the actor’s first in a line of great police roles (another list idea?).Īnother character where you see shades of both white and black. It speaks a lot about the quality of a film’s writing when someone as righteous and straightforward as Nassar’s Assistant Commissioner in Nayakan feels like the film’s villain, even though he may ideologically be the film’s hero. This is why we melt in that emotional scene where he finally gives us his side of the story after seeing his son and daughter-in-law living happily. Strict and stone-like, we’ve all seen parents like him. It would be unfair to call this a “villain” role but the main antagonising force against the film’s hero Krishnan (Bharath) getting together with his childhood sweetheart, is Thirumalai, Krishnan’s father. Here’s a look at a few of them from the lightest of greys to darkest of blacks. Right from his debut in the ’80s Nassar has a way of reinventing the wheel when it comes to negative characters, exploring several shades within its constraints. From the supportive cricket coach in Dhoni to the mischievous-yet-harmless “Punch Pandian” in Irudhi Suttru. Even the brilliant acting guru he played in the otherwise disappointing Kaaviya Thalaivan and the similar ‘Master’ in Aandavan Kattalai it comes naturally for the Tamil audience to accept him in such roles.īut the actor’s bread and butter have always been the villain roles. One can also write about the actor’s many coach/teacher roles.
The naïve Kuppusamy from Avatharam, the first film he directed (how about a list of the films he has directed?), too would be a perfect fit. Despite the two younger generations in his house, this ageing patriarch is the only one who can truly understand his granddaughter and why she chooses to hide the family rooster from the sacrificial ritual. How about an article on his many positive roles? The loving grandfather from Saivam comes to mind. Even the task of narrowing it down to a particular type of characters becomes arduous. When one writes about an actor like Nassar, it’s impossible to talk about what the actor has done it’s easier to talk about what he hasn’t.