Top 50 Memorable Bollywood Characters: Bajodia Seth from Baazigar

In this weekly series, Rahul Desai lists 50 of Hindi cinema’s favourite “third wheels” – that is, memorable characters whose roles are little more than fleeting cameos and little less than supporting turns – since 1990. There will be no particular order: just a colourful recollection of emblematic faces who’ve left us craving for more. Abbas-Mustan’s Baazigar, “loosely” inspired by the Matt Dillon-starrer A Kiss Before Dying, was a risky Bollywood film for its time. The hero, Vicky/Ajay (an edgy Shah Rukh Khan), was a cold-blooded killer out to avenge the destruction of his family. His romance with two wealthy heroines was calculated. Other than family honour and single-minded focus, there was nothing redeeming about the deceitful man. Basically, here was a film asking us to empathize with…