Hero or anti-hero?

Male leads on Indian Television have had a change of character these days with the grey shades that they are portraying in prime time shows across all channels.

Gone are the days when we had the male leads on Indian Television shows who were the perfect example of the much in demand Mr. Right. However, if we look at the trend in the past couple of years the change is evident as we see the character of heroes turning from being all positive to having shades of grey to out and out negative.

While Karanvir Bohra played the violent and abusive husband in Dil se di dua.Saubhagyavati Bhava? we also saw play a similar alcoholic character Pramad in Saraswatichandra on Star Plus. While these characters were one amongst many positive ones suddenly there has been an influx of the main male lead becoming a baddie. We look at shows currently on air which have the male lead in a negative avatar.

Avinash Sachdev in Iss Pyaar Ko Kya Naam Doon… Ek Baar Phir on Star Plus – Shlok again is a filthy rich guy who believes in money more than anything else least of all emotions. His miserable past is the reason he hates women and his attitude towards them doesn’t change even when he gets married to the adorable Aastha (Shrenu Parikh). He marries her by confessing false love for her but then turns into an intolerable husband-in-law when he along with his family torture Aastha and blackmail her emotionally. A clear case of domestic violence the couple is now deciding to get a divorce.

Ashish Chowdhry in Ek Mutthi Aasman on Zee TV – He has just entered the show as the sauve ad agency owner Raghav Singhania, and comes across as rude, arrogant and selfish who is out to give the two girls who are the main leads a tough time.

Ashish Sharma in Rangrasiya on Colors – As the dashing young officer of Bhartiya Suraksha Dal (BSD) Rudra is a complete dark character. His mother’s dark past leads to him having a sad childhood which is the cause of his hatred towards all women. While on one hand he is shown to be patriotic towards his country and hates those who are involved in smuggling and other corrupt activities he is shown to be all arrogant when it comes to the newly married bride Parvati (Sanaya Irani) who becomes a widow when he kills her husband.

Gaurav Chandra in Bani- Ishq Da Kalma on Colors – The show is all about NRI marriages going sour when the groom leaves the bride waiting after the marriage. In the show Bani’s (Shefali Sharma) husband Parmeet Singh Bhullar, too is one such character who in the first place reaches late from Canada for his own wedding. Just when everyone has given up hope he does turn up and marries Bani but leaves early the very next morning after the wedding. It is later revealed that he had married Bani only to grab some of her family’s ancestral property and once he is done with that he abandons her. This main lead is so bad that he is all set for another marriage when Bani catches him red handed and the latest is that he even tries to murder Bani but she is saved in the nick of time.

Iqbal Khan in Tumhari Paakhi on Life OK – Now here is one guy who wanted to have a go at marriage for the third time. As the well-to-do businessman Anshuman Rathore who has had a child marriage in his village first goes on to live faraway with his family and conveniently forgets his past. Over the years he gets married for the second time and has a kid but his wife dies and he falls in love with another girl. Even as he is about to make an announcement about his marriage the media gets an inkling about his first marriage and just to maintain a positive image Anshuman goes back to the village to find his child bride (Shraddha Arya) who is still waiting for him. He tricks her and manipulates her as he tells her about his second wife’s death and his small son just so that she accompanies him back to his house. He does not love her and just wants everyone to give him a clean chit and after the hullabaloo dies a natural death he intends to send Pakhi back to her native place and get married to the girl he originally loves since it will benefit him to extend his family business.

Mohit Malik in Doli Armaano Ki on Zee TV – He plays the character of a rich businessman Samrat Singh Rathore. His introductory scene itself showed him to be very rude and insulting when instead of taking the side of the girl (Snigdha Srivastav) who is being eve teased on the roads he tells her to not create a scene and move on. After that we see him happily insulting his family which includes his father, brother and sister-in-law. When he gets married to Urmi (Neha Marda) he is shown to be insulting and commanding not only to her but also to all other members of the family.

Viraf Patel in Ek Boond Ishq on Life OK – Playing the character of Mrityunjay Singh Shekhwat, he is shown to be a rape and murder convict who due to his influential background gets married even as he is in jail. His wife is the spunky Tara (Chhavi Pandey) who is till then a rather independent tomboyish character. However, due to her poor financial condition she gets married to him but further down the story we see that Mritunjay tries to mend his ways.

Vivian Dsena in Madhubala – Ek Ishq Ek Junoon on Colors – As RK the superstar of Hindi cinema, he had the looks, the drawl and the attitude which comes with being a successful star amidst glamorous settings. He meets the simple yet beautiful Madhubala (Drashti Dhami) and ill-treats her at each step even after they get married. With his angry young rich guy attitude he gets away with all the physical and mental violence he inflicts on her.