Why have all our villains turned into comedians in recent times?

There was a time when the villain was the most monstrous, malicious and mean man, someone like Pran, who was the king of them all. He was considered so wicked that there was a time when a survey conducted showed that not a single child in an entire state was named Pran. These days the writers are forced to turn villains into all kinds of buffoons and comedians because they believe that they give more entertainment than the villains. These are certainly very bad days for some of our one-time great villains who are without work for long periods of time.
Jackie Shroff, Actor

We don’t have the kind of villains we used to have anymore. We only have bhais and their chota bhais and rapists and extortionists and encounter specialists. These are not the kind of villains who fought hand to hand, body to body. These are timid villains who depend on all kinds of modern equipments made to kill.
Kamlesh Pandey, Writer

The people are sick of seeing the same villains in film after film. They are no more interested in the large-moustachioed, large-eyed and huge-stomach. They are now used to the kind of villains who are growing popular in the West because of all the recent equipments used in fighting one man to another or one war with another. The days of the age-old villains of the ’60s and ’70s have gone into the history page which will always be remembered.
Subhash Ghai, Director

We ruled as vamps. We were treated with the same respect that the heroines were. The only difference was in the money that was paid. These days we don’t have vamps at all. Has the world changed suddenly when we have all women as Sitas and Sati Savitris.
Shashikala, Actress

There are hundreds of villains and vamps without work these days. A strange thing seems to be happening since the heroes themselves have started playing the villain in a double role or some kind of trick played by "trickster writers".
Prem Chopra, Actor