Beyond Gabbar’ Singh's laugh and Mogambo’s calm: The reinvention of evil in Bollywood

In the 70s and 80s Bollywood villains were portrayed as outsized, larger-than-life characters with personalities that were sometimes similarly flamboyant. The menace evoked by Amjad Khan's Gabbar Singh in 'Sholay' was literally terrifying, given his creepy laughter and unpredictable sadism. The Mogambo in ‘Mr. India’, played by Amrish Puri, was sinister because of his calmness and control, made terrifying through the phrase " Mogambo khush hua." These were villains that could literally exist only as pure embodiments of evil, in the same way that superhuman heroes can exist only as pure embodiments of good.