Jesse Pinkman,(Breaking Bad)

“I’m the bad guy!” Breaking Bad wouldn’t be as badass without Walter White. But it wouldn’t be as colourful either without Jesse Pinkman.

Meth-head Jesse (played by Aaron Paul) is Walt’s partner-in-crime, but has a personality of his own to boot. The out-of-sorts junkie with a devil-may-care attitude started off as a lost soul without any hope but soon became integral to the plot and Walt’s life as his meth-cooking sidekick. Yo!

Samantha Jones,(Sex and the City)

The sexually indomitable 40-something (now past 50) blazed her way into our collective

consciousness with her smart-savvy-sexy act in the hugely popular Sex and the City. For a show that addresses sexuality with humour,

Samantha, perpetually on the lookout for a quickie, serves up punchlines by the minute. Samantha is the go-to friend for all kinds of advice — heart to hormones. We love the way this colourful woman describes herself: “Try-sexual”, meaning she will try everything sexual at least once. Attagirl!

Joker (The Dark Knight)

“Why so serious?” Heath Ledger took on the role of Batman’s nemesis in the Christopher Nolan film and redefined villainy. Right from his scarred face to his lipstick-smeared mouth, the Joker spelt “sinister”. “This city deserves a better class of criminal. And I’m gonna give it to them,” was his motto as he blew up hospitals, knifed through his victims and took the might of Batman head-on. “If you’re good at something, never do it for free.” Hell, yeah!

Jordan Belfort,(The Wolf Of Wall Street)

“I am not gonna die sober!” Leonardo DiCaprio cut a striking figure as the flamboyant and persuasive, debauched and determined New York stockbroker Jordan Belfort in the Martin Scorsese film. Jordan waltzes his way through a world of drugs (“On a daily basis I consume enough drugs to sedate Manhattan, Long Island and Queens for a month”), women (“I f****d her brains out... for 11 seconds”) and fast cars, till his life comes crashing down with the market. But what fun he — and we the audience had — till it lasted.

Lisbeth Salander (The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo)

She’s the girl with the dragon tattoo — in fact, with many more tattoos. Lisbeth Salander, the super girl of the Steig Larsson bestseller who came alive on screen in the 2011 David Fincher film, is a hacker, shy and introverted. But she’s a genius and her appearance totally spells badass. Pierced nose and eyebrows, dyed hair, goth make-up... she’s the poster girl of punk and the all-new “badass style icon”, bringing back leather and spikes.

Hank Moody (Californication)

If Hank the hedonist was asked how many women he has slept with on Californication, we would need lots of

fingers (pun intended) to count. Hank (David Duchovny), er, firmly believes that the best way to resist temptation is to yield to it. And when he is not bedding women, often half his age, he is drinking his way through scriptwriting jobs in

Hollywood. A writer of some repute, Hank squanders away opportunities to get his life back on track.

Sherlock Holmes (SHERLOCK HOLMES)

Before Benedict Cumberbatch, there was Robert Downey Jr who played the

messed-up, eccentric detective, punching and kicking his way through the streets of London in Guy Ritchie’s stunning take on the iconic Arthur Conan Doyle sleuth. Downey Jr, known for his colourful personality on screen and off, put his Sherlock on steroids, giving us a scruffy Holmes who combined intellect with insanity. This picture should really say it all. Hell, in one scene he even smears some lipstick on!

Sweeney Todd (Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street)

Johnny Deep gleefully sunk his teeth into the epic Sweeney Todd, a bloodthirsty barber with a penchant for slitting the throats of his victims. Just as he had done with Edward Scissorhands and Jack Sparrow

(Pirates of the Caribbean), Depp made Sweeney a deliciously oddball character — with or without his razor.

Sheldon Cooper (The Big Bang Theory)

Blame Sheldon Cooper for making socially inept geeks cool, lovable, sweet and colourful on TV — and even off it. Who would have thought that this self-righteous physicist (played by Jim Parsons) who thinks the world of himself would turn out to be so endearing and enigmatic, but Sheldon, with his inability to fathom irony and sarcasm, and his often warped understanding of humour, is one of the most colourful guys on the small screen. Bazinga!

 

Frank Gallagher (Shameless)

Frank Gallagher is shameless, selfish and irresponsible. A hopeless alcoholic and a feckless father of six, Frank is unemployed and isn’t even interested in providing any financial support, leaving his kids to fend for themselves, and in turn holding them back. Just when you think he couldn’t sink any further, he commits another reprehensible act — or just simply passes out on the floor. Frank could easily have become despicable, but what makes him such a force to reckon with is the way William H. Macy plays him, with a certain degree of charm and a sense of irony.

Alan (TheHangover)

He carries a man-purse, sports a paunch proudly and has a messy beard — but don’t let that fool you. At heart and in action, Alan (Zach Galifianakis) is a man-child. Alan

desperately wants to fit in with Phil, Doug and Stu, gallivanting from Vegas to Bangkok, and forms his “Wolf Pack” with them. Alan plays it straight, dry and deadpan, and that’s what makes him oh-so-funny. He can say the most outrageous things with a straight face. And he’s just a big kid who wants to skateboard all the time and play video games at Chuck E Cheese.

Disco Fighter (Delhi Belly)

“Shake that biscuit, baby... shake it for me!” Only Disco Fighter (Aamir Khan) could say something like that — and make us want to hear him say it again. Chest hair to ’70s style wig, Elvis jacket to funky glasses, Disco Fighter topped the wacky ride called Delhi Belly. And oh, those pelvic thrusts! We hate you like we love you, Disco Fighter!

Ram (Ram-leela)

He’s one colourful guy — and we aren’t just talking about his vibrant flower-power boxers. Ram, well-oiled six pack and quick tongue, is a master of the corny. He makes women in ghagras swoon over him, proudly shows off his waxed chest and spouts lines like: “Meri mardangi ke baare mein kuch bhi poochh sakte ho, report achchhi hi milegi.” Given the manner in which Ram (Ranveer Singh) and Leela go at each other like rabbits, we don’t have any doubts

Silk (The Dirty Picture)

“I have slept with 500 women,” he preens. “Have you slept with the same woman 500 times?” she purrs back. Silk (Vidya Balan), based on south siren Silk Smitha, is the most colourful female character seen on the Bolly screen. Silk uses her body as the passport to stardom, using men as a means to her end. She walks the cleavage walk and talks the Kamasutra talk, with no man daring to mess with her. She’s a woman who plays to the gallery and knows what sells: “Entertainment, entertainment, entertainment.”

Circuit (MUNNA BHAI)

“Ox maane bael, Ford maane gaadi. Toh Oxford maane bael-gaadi!” That’s Circuit (Arshad Warsi) for you. Munna Bhai’s irrepressible sidekick — yes, the man always dressed in black and swathed in gold chains — has been one of the most adorable characters on the Bolly screen. Circuit may pummel people to pulp, but like Munna, his heart is in the right place. There’s nothing that Circuit can’t do — from converting cowshed to hospital to getting Munna into medical college. And his poker-faced jokes are the life and soul of the Munna Bhai films. Bole toh!

Sexy Sam (Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna)

Any man who can carry off that flaming red coat with style and spunk deserves to be on this list. On the wrong side of 60, Amitabh Bachchan’s Samarjit Singh Talwar — far better (and more accurately) known as Sexy Sam — is a man who doesn’t let age or ailment get in the way of living a good — make that great — life. Sexy Sam enjoys an old drink and a young woman. When son Rishi asks him what he’s had for breakfast, Sam quips: “I don’t remember her name!” Whattaman!

Geet (Jab We Met)

“Main apni sabse favourite hoon,” said the irrepressible Geet — and became our favourite too. Spirited and spunky, young and restless, Geet (Kareena Kapoor) epitomises the new Bollywood heroine, ever ready to win hearts with her spontaneity and inherent joie de vivre. She jabbers non-stop, makes it a point to stick her nose into others’ business and has the perfect cure for a relationship gone wrong — burn the photograph of a former beau and flush it down the toilet! Now that’s a girl we love.

Chulbul Pandey (Dabangg)

He’s Chulbul Pandey, aka Robin Hood Pandey. Chulbul — RayBan aviators stuck at the back of his collar and trademark stylish swagger — is the most flamboyant and colourful cop to have come out of

Bollywood. Beating up goons or wooing his ladylove, Salman Khan’s Chulbul does everything with a flourish. He busts a gang of villains with a waterhose and breaks into a jig in the middle of a fight. “Dil se bulbul aur dimaag se dabangg” — that’s the eliciously brazen and delightfully bindaas Chulbul Pandey for you.