Tovino Thomas to Sharaf U Dheen: Six Notorious Superstar Villains in Malayalam Meta Movies  

With Sharaf U Dheen’s Superstar Young Prince in Ashakal Aayiram, we have one more bad guy added to the list of movie villains from within the world of Malayalam cinema. Here, we look at a few other stars who played dirty.

Saroj Kumar/Rajappan played by Sreenivasan

Movies: Udayananu Tharam (2005), Padmasree Bharat Dr Saroj Kumar (2012)

This OG Malayalam movie villain also lives a double life as a superstar who got there due to sheer luck and a fair bit of cheating. In Udayananu Tharam, he makes his debut as a lead star after having stolen a foolproof movie script, written by a promising new director named Udayan. He somehow manages to stay relevant by playing the dirtiest of games (which includes cultivating an army of fans to downgrade films of other stars). By the time we see the second film, seven years later, the seedy actor has now fully grown into a full-fledged ego maniac. He wants to use his star power to become a doctor, a respected intellectual, an army lieutenant and a Padmasree winner. Legend Sreenivasan aced this role as the ultimate teardown of the Superstar persona.

Bhadran played by Suresh Krishna

Movie: Driving License (2019)

During the release of Lal Jr.’s superhit drama Driving License, the hot topic of the time was to use clues from the film itself to figure out which real-life actor(s) the character of Bhadran would be based on. He had a drinking problem and a peculiar love for a certain type of dialogue delivery, but what made his character most interesting was his obsession with superstition and the need to constantly be in touch with his personal astrologer. Suresh Krishna, who played this role to perfection, brought with him another set of comparisons, given his physique and mannerisms. In a film that’s already led by a superstar with grey shades (played by Prithviraj), Bhadran became the exaggerated extreme of superstar pettiness and of a business run by the male ego. 

David Padikkal played by Tovino Thomas

Movie: Nadikar (2024)

The second Lal Jr. film on this list also gives us another superstar with a missing moral compass. David (played by Tovino Thomas) is at the height of an established superstar of Malayalam cinema, but we meet him here as his career goes downhill. New friendships have replaced old, love for parties and girls has taken over his commitment to craft, and he looks at his own fans as a bunch of losers. In other words, it’s a film that begins where most other meta movies end. As David looks to find his soul again, as he loses access to who he once was (the result of which he became a star in the first place), we get a movie villain as he crawls his way back to become an artist first.

Aghosh Menon played by Vinay Forrt

Movie: Mohan Kumar Fans (2021)

As the pompous superstar Aghosh Menon in Mohan Kumar Fans, we see Vinay Forrt as a new-age star who feels he needs to meddle in every department of filmmaking. When we meet him first, we see him ordering his film’s cinematographer to “increase the exposure” to make his frame brighter. He continues to keep shouting technical instructions to the camera crew, with none being empowered enough to tell him that he should be looking at the monitor without his sunglasses on. The scene itself is funny, but these are movie-world truths based on real-life incidents. When he listens to a script that has the potential for three main characters, he fights with the producer, stating he will perform all three of them…just so he doesn’t have to share his credit. What makes this scene funnier is how he agrees to a compromise. Instead of getting paid three times his salary for the three roles, he insists on just being paid double the remuneration. How generous?

Raju 

Movie: Cinema Company (2012)

In this movie about friendships and the dying dream of making a movie together, the number one villain may have been fate, but a selfish young superstar comes a close second. This star’s name is Raju, and when he sees him first, he’s right in the middle of an action sequence. His demands are bigger than his stardom. He wonders why the film’s AD has not charted heroines in this action scene. “Imagine the applause if I saved women from getting sexually assaulted.” The film-within-the-film he’s a part of gets stalled because he makes the crew wait endlessly. He refuses to star in a film, just because there are no fights, dances, or punch dialogue. When this group of aspirant filmmakers visit him, he’s kind enough to give them another appointment…which falls four years later! 

Sumith Raghavan played by Sharaf U Dheen

Movie: Ashakal Ayiram (2026)

The latest addition to this list is Sharaf U Dheen’s hilarious alter ego, Sumith Raghavan. He calls himself  “Young Prince” and is admittedly one of Malayalam's most notorious “Nepo Baby”. He is the primary obstacle to the film’s hero (Jayaram) and his son (Kalidas) as they finally make their entry into the movie business. Sharaf is hilarious as this star, and even his shift to the manipulative mastermind is done so subtly that you do not feel like hating him through it. The film’s tone changes the moment he arrives, and we find it hard to look away from him whenever he appears on screen.