Bollywood's villains speak for their villainity... Contd.

'I was such an exemplary kid' - Gulshan Grover

Strange character names I've had
The one from which I got the title Bad Man was Ram Lakhan. The late Mazhar Khan once designed a stage act with all my screen names. It was weird. There were Taouke, Chhappan Tikli, Dagdu Khana, Kesariya. In my new movie Dhoom Dhadaka, I play a character called Phursat Lala.

My family's reactions
They were shocked and embarrassed at first - I was such an exemplary kid. The women surrounded my mother at the gurudwara like it was a condolence meet and said, 'See what film people have done to him'. And I had just played an ungrateful son in Avatar.

How the villain has changed
The villain has changed according to society; from the zamindar to dacoits, smugglers, politicians, underworld or cops. They have merged into society and can be builders, journalists, your neighbour or your boss. Real life has taken over.

Going from bad to good
The reactions were shockingly positive, especially for Maha-Sangram, where I played a Punjabi cop. Even the distributors wanted me to promote it.

My most difficult scene
I could never hurt or beat up children so I refused to pick up and throw a child in Maa (Jitendra, Jaya Prada).

My most endearing quality according to family/friends
They see me as someone concerned about problems - a compassionate person.

'Roti khana hai to maar khana hai' - Raza Murad

The meanest role I ever did
In Henna and Dacait, I was equally menacing. The character names that were catchy were Bhawar Singh in Dacait and Sir John in Ram Lakhan.

My family's reactions
My kids felt bad. When my son Ali was eight, a kid said, 'Tera baap maar khaata hain.' He was four years older, but Ali bashed him up. When the principal heard, he told the boy, 'You asked for it.' My children used to say, 'Aap maar mat khayein.' I replied, 'Roti khana hai to maar khana hai.' How the villain has changed: Earlier, heroes were very image conscious, but King Khan changed that with Baazigar and Darr. Now the trend has changed - Saif has done Omkara, Akshay Kumar: Ajnabee, Ajay Devgan and Aishwarya Rai: Khakee and Kajol: Gupt.

My most difficult scene
It was in Daku Hasina. Zeenat Aman is my first cousin and I had to rape her. I was oblivious to this fact when I signed the film. I was so embarrassed! Bahut mushkil tha. Zeenat understood and said, 'We're doing our job.'

The worst villain in history
The character I play in D-5, based on Moninder Singh Pandher.

My most endearing quality according to family/friends
I know most villains closely and I think we spit all our venom on the camera. We're so cool in real life. We're good husbands because no girl comes close to us. Heroes are more corruptible because they're surrounded by girls. We're loyal husbands!