A Fan’s Letter On Kollywood’s Stunning Bad Boy Arvind Swami Is A Must Read!

It’s a given that the heroes of our films are almost always attractive. They may not be handsome in an earth shattering way, but they’re most certainly well-presented. What is more noticeable and enjoyable is that it’s quite the in-thing to have a smoking hot villain in addition to the hero, complete with striking good looks and sex appeal for women to swoon over. No more of those yesteryear baddies dressed to repulse, delivering outrageously-scripted dialogues to identify them beyond doubt as the movie’s villain. Some of us may remember Asokan, Nambiar, M.R. Radha, Raghuvaran, Naaser, etc. with some fondness here.

Now, it’s a total makeover of the bad man who is being portrayed in an alluring way.  This is what struck me as I watched ‘Bogan’ with Jayam Ravi and Arvind Swami in the lead roles. As a woman, I found myself unwilling to look beyond the glamourous casanova who took over the movie in style…and no, I’m not referring to the protagonist here! It’s the villain of the film played by Arvind Swami.

Truth be told, I was never quite a fan of this dishy actor who sported a rather gentlemanly image complete with clean handsomeness in those Roja / Thalapathy / Bombay days. But now? I would happily pay to watch Bogan again, although it would only be for the scenes where he plays the smooth scoundrel to the hilt. It’s not just me. So many women (and men) let their jaws drop when he swaggers on to the screen with a supremely confident gait. There’s no other way to put this — insolence becomes him.

 

As my mind wandered while watching this film — you know, during those scenes in which there was no Arvind Swami(!), I had a cogent insight in to this. Why do we women, just at the mere sight of the proverbial bad boy, jerk to attention in our seats at the risk of spilling our precious buttered popcorn? What is really going on here, I wondered. You would think that we have enough headaches and heartaches going on with our respective significant ‘others’, so why be attracted to this sort of a man? One who sleeps around, smokes, drinks, and perhaps even snorts the white stuff?

Sure, the guy has loads of money and fancy cars, which is great, but we all know the other (down) side, don’t we? Indeed, we have been taught to avoid the bad boy like the plague! And yet, our eyes are drawn to that hard character — all-man, brawns, brains and deals ruthlessly with people without much of a conscience. We seem to linger longingly on the threshold of the path that leads to that dashing debonair!

I blame this lethal attraction on our undying quest for excitement. After all, wouldn’t a woman embrace the chance to savour that heady feeling, that little spring to her step or that sparkly star in her eyes at the prospect of being the love interest of a sexy tough-guy? Well, if you are truly willing to accept the whole package that he is, then go ahead and walk that path.

And if you are lucky or rather, if you can muster the sense to think it through at the right time, you had just better be content to linger at that threshold, heave a deep sigh and then step away before it’s too late.

Then, you won’t have to pay the price for dreaming.

My take on the Bad Beau zone: Look, but don’t touch!

 

By Sujata Tarakesan