Sonchiriya, Ek Villain, Baazigar – 13 Bollywood Movies Where a Main Lead Gets Shockingly Killed Before the Interval Point (SPOILER ALERT)

When you go for a movie, the last thing you expect is to see one of the main leads get killed just before the interval point arrive. Like did anyone imagine Ryan Reynolds, who had earned blockbuster success with Deadpool, would get killed in the first act of sci-fi thriller, Life? Or Drew Barrymore, despite being the biggest name in the Scream cast, gets killed in the opening scene itself? The biggest example of them all, is when the late, great Alfred Hitchcock killed Janet Leigh's character in Psycho, just around the end of the first act, even though she was a huge star then. Pokemon: Detective Pikachu Trailer Video OUT: Ryan Reynolds is Back as Pikachu Who is on a Search Mission to Find His Partner's Missing Dad.

Such surprises change your expectations about the movie you are watching and keep you on toes as to who would die next. Bollywood movies, usuallly, play safe when it comes to killing one of their main characters so early on. But there are times when the film-makers take the risk and kill off one of the main leads before the interval point. Like in Abhishek Chaubey's Sonchiriya, starring Sushant Singh Rajput, Bhumi Pednekar, Manoj Bajpayee, Ranvir Shorey and Ashustosh Rana. Sonchiriya Movie Review: Sushant Singh Rajput, Bhumi Pednekar, Ranvir Shorey Are Marvellous in Abhishek Chaubey’s Stunning Dacoit Drama.

In this special feature, we look at 13 such Bollywood movies where the director had the guts to kill off a main character (not necessarily the main lead) early and shock the hell out of the viewers. Reincarnation and anthology films and movies where characters return as ghosts are ignored here.

Manoj Bajpayee in Sonchiriya

While Manoj Bajpayee is promoted in the film as one of the main leads, his character, the rebel leader Man Singh gets killed in the first 20 minutes of Sonchiriya itself. However, he later appears in two crucial flasback scenes that give more poignance to his death.

Shraddha Kapoor in Ek Villain

If you had seen the original Korean movie, I Saw The Devil, you would have known the sad fate of Shraddha Kapoor's character. Those who didn't, would have been shocked to see that she was killed in the opening sequence, by Riteish Deshmukh's psychopath. Shraddha, however, appears later in the flashback and song sequences.

Abhishek Bachchan in Shootout At Lokhandwala

To be honest, Abhishek Bachchan only had a cameo in this ensemble gangster drama. He had a five minute role of a cop who gets killed while on duty, and if you think about it, the whole scene was unnecessary. However, the reason why he makes it to the list is that the makers of Shootout At Lokhandwala used him a lot in the promotions, projecting Abhishek as one of the leads. Whereas, the truth was far from that!

Akshay Kumar in Family: Ties of Blood

Those who went to watch this gangster drama, directed by Rajkumar Santoshi, purely for Amitabh Bachchan and Akshay Kumar must have been furious. Sure, both the stars were there in the film, and Amitabh was present througout as the villain. However, Akshay's character gets killed before the interval point, and we realise that the whole movie was the launchpad of Aryeman Ramsay, the son of the producer, who becomes the lead in the second half.

Sanjay Kapoor in Shakti: The Power

Sanjay Kapoor played Karishma Kapoor's husband in the film, whose death sets the chain of events rolling for the protagonist life to become even more hellish. Interestingly, Shah Rukh Khan who had an extended cameo, also gets killed before the climax.

Shilpa Shetty in Baazigar

If we make a list of the most shocking death sequences, this would come in the top ten. Shah Rukh Khan pushing Shilpa Shetty from the top of a skyscraper defines the movie's USP and giving birth to the malevolent negative protagonist of the '90s.

Govinda in Dil Ne Phir Yaad Kiya

In reality, this remake of Rishi Kapoor and Raakhee's Doosra Aadmi was Govinda's nephew Vinay Anand's film. But the makers promoted the film more on the popularity of his uncle, who only had a special appearance in the film and his character dies very early.

Suniel Shetty in Qayamat

The unoffcial remake of Sean Connery's The Rock has Suniel Shetty play Michael Biehn's character. Like with the original, Suniel Shetty's character gets killed off by the villains around the interval point and Ajay Devgn takes care of the rest of the film.

Rani Mukerji in Kuch Kuch Hota Hai

Sure, Rani Mukerji in her breakout role had a very meaty role as Tina, the girl who take Rahul (Shah Rukh Khan) from Anjali (Kajol). But did anyone expect this Karan Johar movie to begin with her character dying? Not me, though!

Yami Gautam in Badlapur

Yami Gautam's death in the opening sequence is what drives Varun Dhawan's downward spiral in his drive for vengeance.

John Abraham, Neil Nitin Mukesh and Irrfan Khan in Saat Khoon Maaf

Saat Khoon Maaf, based on Ruskin Bond's short story, was about Susanna (Priyanka Chopra) killing off her six abusive husbands one by one (the seventh one is metaphorical). So the unlucky ones to go first are Neil Nitin Mukesh, John Abraham and Irrfan Khan, all before the interval arrives.

Bobby Deol in Players

In this remake of The Italian Job, directors Abbas-Mustan created an entirely new character for their favourite actor, Bobby Deol. Playing a magician in Abhishek Bachchan's motley crew, he gets killed in the first heist thanks to the treachery of one of their own members.

Paresh Rawal in Aan: Men At Work

Madhur Bhandarkar's police drama had an ensemble cast in Shatrughan Sinha, Akshay Kumar, Jackie Shroff, Lara Dutta, Raveena Tandon, Suneil Shetty, Irrfan Khan, Vijay Raaz and Ravi Kishan. That said, Paresh Rawal was prominently featured in the movie promotions, thanks to his then popularity as a comic star in films like Hera Pheri and Awara Paagal Deewana. If people went to see Aan to see how funny Paresh Rawal, they would have been disappointed to find out he got killed before the popcorn arrived.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 01, 2019 05:07 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).