Kajol Took A Chance With 'Gupt', Other Actors Who Played A Negative Role Brilliantly

It’s been 25 years since one of the 90s cult classics came out which introduced a new persona of the leading lady Kajol to the audience.  The thriller film helmed by Rahul Rai revolves around Sahil (Bobby Deol) who is dating Isha Diwan (Kajol) but his father Jaisingh announces his alliance with Sheetal Choudhary (Manisha Koirala) who’s his best friend.

Sahil is framed for his father’s murder only to learn at the end that it was his lover Isha’s doing. The film’s music gave the 90s kids iconic Bobby Deol-style dance and this film was one of the defining films in the thriller genre.

Majorly, Kajol was lauded for her performance in a negative role and also won an award for the same. It was a risk that she took with her career and fans still gush about it. Like Kajol, not many actors take a risk of playing a negative character at the peak of success or do not experiment with the genres often.

A few actors have broken the norm and are only happy. Here’s a list of women actors who played killers in films at the peak of their success.

Suggested Reading: 25 Years Of Gupt: A Film That Left Viewers Spellbound With Its Suspense

Women Actor In Negative Role

Priyanka Chopra in 7 Khoon Maaf

Chopra had first taken the risk of playing a negative character in Aitraaz. She was convincing as Sonia Roy but her stint in this black comedy Vishal Bhardwaj directorial is chef’s kiss.

Adaptation of the short story Susanna's Seven Husbands by Ruskin Bond, the story revolved around Anglo-Indian woman Susanna Anna-Marie Johannes who murders all her husbands. The film stars Vivaan Shah, and Usha Uthup and has many coveted actors in extended cameos like the late Irrfan Khan, Konkana Sen Sharma and others.

Priyanka Chopra In 7 Khoon Maaf

Bipasha Basu in Jism

Mahesh Bhatt wrote the 2003 erotic thriller by Amit Saxena. The film starring Bipasha and John Abraham follows the story of Kabir (John) who is an alcoholic lawyer living promiscuously until he meets Sonia Khanna (Basu).

She is married to a wealthy businessman (Gulshan Grover) and convinces Kabir to kill her husband so they could continue being together and also plots to mess with his will for the inheritance. However, it is later revealed that Basu’s Sonia wanted money.

Tabu in Maqbool

The Vishal Bhardwaj film is an adaptation of Shakespeare’s play Macbeth. Although Tabu’s Nimmi does not kill someone, she does encourage and helps Miyan Maqbool (Irrfan Khan) to kill Abba ji (Pankuj Kapoor). Nimmi is Abba ji’s mistress but loved Maqbool. Eventually, the two suffer and meet a tragic end after their guilt of having killed Kapoor’s Abba ji consumes them.

Tabu sank into Nimmi so much that it felt like the character was only scripted for her. To date, this negative role of hers tops other performances in a negative light.

Tabu In Maqbool

Taapsee Pannu in Badla

Directed by Sujoy Ghosh, Badla is the remake of the Spanish movie The Invisible Guest. The story follows a young married entrepreneur Naina Sethi (Taapsee Pannu) who finds herself next to the body of her dead lover. She is accused of the crime but she believes she pleads innocence.

Her friend hires Badal Gupta (Amitabh Bachchan) to fight her case and the film follows mind games, twists and turns. However, throughout the film, there are times when Naina’s shrewd, selfish and murderous tendencies show making it hard to believe anyone.

Anu Aggarwal in Khal-Naaikaa

Khal-Naaika is a Saawan Kumar film which starred Jayaprada, Jeetendra and the Aashiqui fame Anu Aggarwal. The film which is suspected to be loosely based on the Hollywood film The Hand That Rocks The Cradle follows the life of Anuradha (Anu) who sets out to avenge her husband’s (Puneet Issar) death and her miscarriage.

Her husband is a predator and to avoid his imminent arrest after Jaya (Jayaprada) and four other women complaint against him, he dies by suicide which causes Anu to miscarry the child. When she learns about Jaya, she not only attempts to kill her but also causes problems in Ravi (Jeetendra) and Jaya’s marital life.

This film was Anu’s second Hindi film after her debut and no one could’ve dared to do such a role after she was praised in her debut Aashiqui.

Anu Aggarwal in Khal Naaika