Abbas – Mustan’s Heroes play Villain

Arbaaz Khan in Daraar Salman’s younger brother Arbaaz made his debut with Abbas-Mustan’s thriller, Daraar, in the year 1996. Unlike conventional heroes, Arbaaz Khan started his Bollywood career with a dark, negative character of an over-possessive, psychotic, wife-beating husband. Surely he must have thought if Shah Rukh ‘Khan’ can do it, Read More">why can’t I? TheRead More

Arbaaz Khan in Daraar

Salman's younger brother Arbaaz made his debut with Abbas-Mustan's thriller, Daraar, in the year 1996. Unlike conventional heroes, Arbaaz Khan started his Bollywood career with a dark, negative character of an over-possessive, psychotic, wife-beating husband. Surely he must have thought if Shah Rukh 'Khan' can do it, why can't I?

The movie which starred Juhi Chawla as Arbaaz's tortured wife and Rishi Kapoor as the hero didn't exactly set the cash registers ringing. However, Arbaaz's villainous act did fetch him the coveted Filmfare Award and that too for Best Villain.

They are the ‘Men in White’ of Bollywood who have given us some of the best thrillers over the last decade and a half. We are talking about none other than the director duo of Abbas-Mustan. Right from their first big hit Khiladi to their most recent flick Race (which opens across cinemas this week), Read More">Read More

They are the 'Men in White' of Bollywood who have given us some of the best thrillers over the last decade and a half. We are talking about none other than the director duo of Abbas-Mustan. Right from their first big hit Khiladi to their most recent flick Race (which opens across cinemas this week), they have been the true Baadshah-s of the suspense-thriller genre. The director duo is also responsible for starting a new trend in Bollywood where in the conventional hero started playing the villain. When it comes to an Abbas-Mustan film, you never know which character is black, which character is white or which character is grey. Bollywood Hungama takes a look at those actors in some of Abbas-Mustan's best films who didn't mind defying the stereotype and playing a character the audience simply loved to hate.

Shah Rukh Khan in Baazigar

Just as Shah Rukh Khan was slowly making his mark in Bollywood with films like Deewana and Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman, Abbas-Mustan decided to give him the role of a lifetime in the 1993 super-hit Baazigar. However, there was a slight twist to the tale as SRK would have to play a person with negative traits (a strict no-no for any conventional hero in those days). Shah Rukh did take up the challenge and the rest as they say is history. His mysterious dual identity in Baazigar as the bespectacled Ajay Sharma and the suave Vicky Malhotra took everyone by shock and surprise. Very few conventional heroes would agree to throw their leading lady from the terrace of a high-rise but SRK did it with ease and in the most convincing manner. With Baazigar striking gold at the box-office, SRK followed up his menacing act in films like Darr and Anjaam and suddenly playing the bad guy was considered as cool.

Akshay Kumar in Ajnabee Abbas-Mustan brought to the Indian screen the hitherto unexplored topic of wife-swapping with their 2001 thriller Ajnabee. The film which marked sexy siren Bipasha Basu’s debut in Bollywood also starred Akshay Kumar, Read More">Bobby Deol and Kareena Kapoor in lead roles. The story of two couples (Akshay – Bipasha) and (Bobby –Read More

Akshay Kumar in Ajnabee

Abbas-Mustan brought to the Indian screen the hitherto unexplored topic of wife-swapping with their 2001 thriller Ajnabee. The film which marked sexy siren Bipasha Basu's debut in Bollywood also starred Akshay Kumar, Bobby Deol and Kareena Kapoor in lead roles. The story of two couples (Akshay - Bipasha) and (Bobby - Kareena) set in the scenic locales of Switzerland, actually takes off during the intermission point when, after a night of wife-swapping, Bipasha Basu is found murdered and Bobby Deol is framed. You keep guessing what's gonna happen next in this slick thriller. However, the surprise package of this suspense thriller is Akshay Kumar's portrayal as a shrewd and cunning man. No one could have guessed that the 'seedha-saadha' Akshay would do a complete U-turn with this role. But as we said it earlier, you never know what's in store in an Abbas-Mustan thriller. What's more the 'Khiladi' Kumar even bagged a Filmfare award for the Best Villain for this role.

Akshaye Khanna in Humraaz Humraaz starring Bobby Deol, Amisha Patel and Akshaye Khanna was initially talked about for its chartbusting music with some rocking tracks like Bardaasht. However once the film released in 2002, it was Akshaye Khanna’s superlative performance that became the talk of the town. The film, Read More">a love triangle with a suspenseRead More

Akshaye Khanna in Humraaz

Humraaz starring Bobby Deol, Amisha Patel and Akshaye Khanna was initially talked about for its chartbusting music with some rocking tracks like Bardaasht. However once the film released in 2002, it was Akshaye Khanna's superlative performance that became the talk of the town. The film, a love triangle with a suspense element to it had Akshaye's character change colors like a chameleon and it was difficult to predict what would happen in the next scene. In the end, the audiences got their money's worth and Akshaye got some awards and rewards from one and all for his suave performance.

Bobby Deol in Naqaab Abbas Mustan’s most recent release Naqaab was not a match considering their earlier suspense thrillers. The director duo tried to recreate the Humraaz magic again by roping in Bobby Deol and Akshaye Khanna along with newcomer Urvashi Sharma in this suspense thriller. However, Read More">they failed to create any magic this timeRead More

Bobby Deol in Naqaab

Abbas Mustan's most recent release Naqaab was not a match considering their earlier suspense thrillers. The director duo tried to recreate the Humraaz magic again by roping in Bobby Deol and Akshaye Khanna along with newcomer Urvashi Sharma in this suspense thriller. However, they failed to create any magic this time around as the plot of the film left the viewers confused. While in Humraaz, Akshaye played the negative role, the director duo decided to experiment slightly and gave Bobby's character some grey shades in this flick. Although Bobby did try his best to infuse life into his role, the audience wasn't as interested and excited this time around and Naqaab proved to be a damp squib at the box-office.