Vinod Khanna, a veteran Indian actor-turned-politician, says playing the occasional villain adds spice to his life.

Khanna, a popular action hero in the 1970s and 80s, turned to politics seven years ago and is currently a member of India's parliament, though he still acts.

He plays a mafia boss in crime thriller "Risk,'' set for release on Friday, and has completed filming another action movie, "Godfather,'' to be released later this year.

"There is more spice in such (negative) characters,'' he told a newspaper. "They even have higher recall value than goody-goody roles.''

Still, he said he did not want to be typecast as a bad guy.

He told the newspaper he had not taken on evil roles in four new projects he had signed onto.

"I am trying to play a variety of roles and not get trapped in the mafia image,'' he said.

Khanna has acted in about 120 movies. His sons Akshaye and Rahul have also carved out Bollywood careers.