The plot for most Bollywood movies that get churned out are more or less similar - a hero, a villain and a female protagonist, who, most of the time, is used as furniture in the movie with a few honorary dialogues and item songs.

via GIPHY

However, there have been times when even such basic plotlines have managed to get across a different message as intended. 

We are talking about the movies where, if we were to really look closely enough, the glorified hero of the film could actually get away as the villain and the real villain as the hero.

Here are a few of these films where we think the protagonist was the real villain:

1) Maddy in 'Rehna Hai Terre Dil Mein'

© Pooja Entertainment

Maddy (R Madhavan), pitched as this head-over-heels in love protagonist who would do anything to be close to his love interest Reena (Dia Mirza) was, in reality, nothing but a liar, cheat and a roadside Romeo. 

He didn’t just spin outrageous lies about who he really was, but was also less than decent when his real identity was disclosed, by picking up street fights with Reena’s actually intended fiance - Sam (Saif) who was also his college rival. 

In the end, it was Sam who had a bigger heart and led Reena to be united with Maddy. 

2) Tanu in 'Tanu Weds Manu'

© Color Yellow Productions

Tanu (Kangana Ranaut) is portrayed as the main protagonist of the film while her boyfriend Raja (Jimmy Shergill) is shown in the light of a villain. 

Whereas if we closely observe the plot, Tanu was the ‘bad guy’ here for it was her indecisiveness, fickle mindedness and ego that kept both Manu and Raja on the hook till the very end. 

She played around the feelings of both men and it was them, who showed each other the respect of their given word and stepped back when it was needed.

3) Chirag in 'Bareilly Ki Barfi'

© Junglee Pictures

The unique love story between Bitti and Chirag (Ayushman Khurrana) in the film Bareilly ki Barfi will lead you to believe that he was the hero, the real underdog. 

Except, it was none other than Pritam Bidrohi (Rajkummar Rao), initially hired by Chirag, who was the good one. 

Despite acting out of his orders, if it wasn’t for Bidrohi, Chirag would never be able to get Bitti. 

In the end, Chirag was nothing more than a liar and a bully who coerced Pritam Bidrohi’s character to manipulate Bitti. Not cool!

4) Kabir in 'Kabir Singh'

© T Series

A total no-brainer, especially with the criticism that followed after the release of this movie, the protagonist Kabir Singh was in fact a toxic, alcoholic and abusive man who used ‘love’ as an excuse to treat Preeti with utmost disrespect and indecency. 

He is what one can call an anti-hero!

5) Ayan in 'Ae Dil Hai Mushkil'

© Dharma Productions

No matter what people say, Ayan’s (Ranbir Kapoor) character in the movie Ae Dil Hai Mushkil was that of a butt-hurt obsessive lover who never learnt the meaning of taking ‘no’ as an answer. 

Whether it was his male ego or his privilege, but the character that was sold to us as the hero of the film, was a man child who went out of his way to annoy Alizeh who laid out her intentions of just being friends one too many times. 

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