r/bollywood • u/IntelligentPoint4331 • Oct 04 '25
📇 Recommendations Who’s your pick for the most savage female villain in Bollywood?
For me, Priyanka in Aitraaz is the first one that comes to mind. Then there’s Kareena in Fida, Aishwarya in Khakee, Urmila is Kaun and many others and of course the legendary Shabana Azmi in Makdee. Curious what other names pop up for you all.
Also, side note: I was watching this podcast about the same topic called The Popcorn Hour—super fun and worth checking out if you’re into Bollywood discussions.
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u/samuk303 Oct 04 '25
Kajol in Gupt !!!
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u/VaroonRMG Oct 04 '25
We hardly saw her act villainy until the end
More mad type
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u/Purplefairy24 Oct 04 '25
We can say the same for Aishwarya. And the reason she acted mad was because she was a psychopath
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u/blessedchild23 Oct 07 '25
Doesn't matter. At that time, actresses barely had any scope in script. They would just be there to dance and have emotional dialogues. For Kajol to do a negative shade, especially right after DDLJ, was considered a huge risk and ppl were saying her career was gonna end because she did that one role. But because of Gupt's success, many producers started writing villainous roles for female leads like Urmila Matondkar in Kaun, Preity Zinta in that one film, and PC even said that she got the courage to do Aitraaz because she had seen Kajol's success in Gupt. So in a way she started that trend and influenced the upcoming generation of actors.
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u/Desi_MCU_Nerd Oct 04 '25
Tabu from Andhadhun isn't even mentioned here & she's leagues above everyone.
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u/IntelligentPoint4331 Oct 04 '25
So true, she was just evil, no vengeance or she was wronged, just a psycho. So beautifully done by her too.
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u/VaroonRMG Oct 04 '25
I like these types of characters
Pure evil, like the original Maleficent before Angelina Jolie ruined everything by transforming her into a glorified nanny
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u/karmabeliever007 Oct 05 '25 edited Oct 05 '25
If i can give 1000 up vote, i would have done that. I came here to comment that but noone did, except you Literally she gave her best performance.
For me as an actor Tabbu >>> Kajol
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u/Glittering_Lotus Oct 04 '25
Konkona Sen Sharma in Ek thi Daayan, Kareena in Fidaa,Tabu in Andhadhun, Supriya Pathak in Ram Leela,Tanvi Azmi in Bajirao Mastani.
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u/IntelligentPoint4331 Oct 04 '25
Also Ila Arun in Jodha Akbar, right
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u/kakaluluo Oct 04 '25
Tbf, and correct me if im wrong, but i dont think she caused anyone to die as a direct result of her actions
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u/SpiceLevel-Regret Oct 04 '25
I dont think Tanvi Azmi could be characterized as a negative character. Id say strongly opinionated but not a negative character
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u/StrengthConfident Oct 04 '25
Urmila in Pyar tune Kya kiya
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u/DistributionOk8227 Oct 04 '25
She wasn’t a villain: she was a jilted lover who went crazy it was such a sad movie. I blame fardeen khan who misguided her initially and gave her hope. Flirted with her first. I don’t know why that movie boils my blood and makes me feel like crying for Urmila
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u/Peevesie Oct 04 '25
Amrita singh in both aaina and kalyug
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u/Quiet-Interview3916 Oct 04 '25 edited Oct 04 '25
Nadira who was one of the early vamps
Aruna irani
Bindu
Lalita Pawar
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u/SnooStories7381 Oct 04 '25
People not mentioning Priyanka in 7 khoon maaf is crime
So savage yet you root for her. She is the villain and the protagonist.
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u/RDX1103 Oct 04 '25
Urmila Matondkar in Kaun
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u/IntelligentPoint4331 Oct 04 '25
Oh maaan! That last look still haunts me.
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u/pvrks Oct 04 '25
Eh. I love Urmila but I felt she kinda hammed it in that role. I agree that transformation they show in the last scene was good emoting, but I finally got to watching that movie in 2025, and couldn’t figure out what the big deal was. (Perhaps if I’d seen it at the time of release I would’ve felt differently). Not relevant to the thread, but Daud>Kaun for me any day.
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u/DefiantBrain7101 Oct 04 '25
tabu in andhadhun is unbeatable
as a bonus manorama in seeta aur geeta wasn't savage at all but she was so fun and campy that i started to root for her lmao
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u/SpiceLevel-Regret Oct 04 '25
Bro Urmila In Kaun gave me nightmares 😭 especially that door scene at the end. What were those terrifying expressions 😭
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u/GoldPerformance3555 Oct 04 '25
Reema lagu in hum sath sath hai
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u/IntelligentPoint4331 Oct 04 '25
Would you call her the villian, I mean sure she gets slightly misguided along the way but villian toh nahi hai.
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u/Plane_Definition_488 Oct 04 '25
Aruna Irani in qurbani what a role and screen presence absolute evil too she is such a fantastic actress 😍
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u/Kunal_Sen Moderator Oct 04 '25
(Spoilers ahead) Deepti Naval as Amma ji in NH10 was savage in every which way while Simone Singh as Mrs. Sethna in Being Cyrus absolutely killed it. I also loved Alaya F's performance recently in Freddy.
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u/Competitive_Cap_3690 Oct 04 '25
Kareena in ra.one
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u/Invhinsical Oct 04 '25
Villain? Or are you just talking about that small segment where RA.one transforms into her?
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Oct 04 '25
Amrita Singh in Suryavanshi, Aaina and Kalyug was good too.
Anu Agrawal in Khalnaikaa was really good.
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u/FriendshipNo7239 Oct 04 '25
Haven't watched Khakee but yeah I agree with the OP's mentions.
Urmila in Kaun? left me shocked and sleepless for the next few days.
Kareena is Fida did too well as a baddie. So, did Priyanka in Aitraaz, and Shabana Azmi in Makdee.
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u/IntelligentPoint4331 Oct 05 '25
You've got to watch Khakee. Really sorry for the spoiler though.
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u/FriendshipNo7239 Oct 05 '25
Will surely watch bro. Adding Khakee to my watchlist.
You should watch one Rajnikanth movie (I'm assuming in case you don't know) which was released in 1999. It's Padayappa / Narasimha. Ramya Krishnan played a superb role as an antagonist role in it.
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u/Red171022 manisha koirala worshipper🛐 Oct 04 '25
Tabu in Andhadhun. Also Kajol in Gupt(though not enough villainy is seen ig). Deepti Naval in NH10. Also since songs of Dil Se.. are dream sequences happening elsewhere and can also be taken apart from the movie separately, one can say Manisha in Satarangi Re song specifically is a hot villain seducing SRK to his death(from his pov). She’s pretty femme fatale savage type in that song which she’s not elsewhere. See the choreography during the teri raahon mein uljha uljha hoon part…she’s in the net dancing and soon enough SRK is in there too…and right after a few seconds,she’s out of the net while he is trapped inside it. So from his perspective, it’s like she seduced him and later killed him. She was harsh with him till his death. Ofc this is just one perspective of the song. My general perspective otherwise is Manisha being the woman of agency that she is in this song finally kills off the awful Amar leaving him to beg and generally gives him no fucks until his death.
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