On the planet of Indian cinema—the place fantasy meets method—few tropes have persevered as stubbornly because the tendency to pair getting older male superstars with a lot youthful feminine leads. What was as soon as accepted with out query is now being challenged extra vocally—by audiences, actors, and filmmakers alike.From veteran performers to outspoken critics, many are starting to interrogate not simply the optics of those on-screen pairings, however the deep-seated ideology that fuels them. The decision? Male stardom continues to be synonymous with timeless enchantment, whereas feminine desirability is tightly shackled to youth.On this particular function, ETimes gathers unfiltered insights from business insiders who lay naked the gendered dynamics of Indian cinema’s most controversial romantic method.The basic method: older male star, younger feminine lead
Veteran actor Govind Namdev sums up the mindset behind this casting pattern: “The viewers will solely prefer it if there may be pairing. In any other case, why would there be? The producer who invests so many crores, he invests it with the hope or with the remark that individuals like this pairing.”For many years, business logic has saved this method alive—pairing a preferred, getting older male star with a younger heroine is seen as a secure wager on the field workplace. Namdev explains, “Like Salman Khan, Shah Rukh Khan, Ajay Devgn — their heroines are at all times younger. The general public likes this pairing, and producers spend crores betting on it.”This concept of “viewers desire” displays extra than simply enterprise sense—it reveals a societal mindset the place males are anticipated to age gracefully, whereas a lady’s worth is tightly tied to her youth.“Patriarchal, clichéd, and unrealistic”
Actress Shenaz Treasury provides a pointy critique of this pattern: “Unrealistic. Patriarchal. Cliché. Until the script really acknowledges the age hole, I’m out. In the event that they forged a 50+ girl reverse a 25-year-old man? Now that might be fascinating. Let’s flip the script for as soon as. However most instances, they simply fake the person is ageless and the lady… invisible after 35. So except the story has one thing actual to say about that dynamic, I’m not shopping for it.”She factors out how usually the age distinction is ignored in scripts, as if males don’t age and girls merely vanish after 35. She says, “Sadly, sure. Getting old is handled like a scandal. ‘OMG she’s 43!’ – they are saying it prefer it’s against the law. Not ‘Wow, she has a lot life expertise, depth, and energy.’ We disgrace ladies for getting older, then surprise why everybody’s injecting fillers into their faces at 30. And the worst half? Expertise doesn’t at all times prevent. Wrinkles are nonetheless an even bigger drawback than weak scripts.”Treasury’s phrases spotlight the double customary ladies face each on-screen and off—the place look issues greater than expertise, and getting older is handled like one thing shameful.The double customary: males age, ladies disappear
Filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri sums up the gender imbalance clearly: “Once I began my profession in 2005 with Chocolate, I noticed that the majority actors, no matter their age—whether or not 40, 50, 60, or 70—insist on having a youthful heroine. In truth, there was a time when administrators have been pressured to signal solely younger actresses, and that is additionally a practice within the South. When you take a look at South Indian cinema, irrespective of the hero’s age, the heroine must be younger, fair-looking, and horny. So, what does this point out? It principally signifies that the function of girls in our movies is just for three standards: they must be younger, horny and fascinating. And it’s thought-about that the fascinating age is barely if you end up younger and never married.”He factors out how males’s getting older is ignored and even celebrated, whereas ladies’s careers drop off as soon as they marry or get older: “A hero can have 5 marriages, affairs, get as previous as he desires, do VFX to his face, shoot with physique doubles… nothing issues as a result of we make hero worshipping movies, not heroine worshipping ones.”Agnihotri’s phrases expose the patriarchal system that retains male stars on a pedestal whereas ladies are pushed apart as they age. “Regardless of how proficient an actress is or how good her performances are, as soon as she will get married or is seen to be in a relationship with somebody, her demand all of the sudden goes down,” he provides.Trying to find new tales: actors need significant rolesGovind Namdev shares a extra hopeful take primarily based on altering viewers tastes: “Today, persons are liking biographies extra. They’re liking tales coming from actual incidents… If folks like my work, they wish to see me in a brand new type.”He welcomes roles that permit for recent, unconventional pairings: “If I’m paired with a heroine, I’ll get to see one thing new… On display screen, as a efficiency, we’ll get to see one thing new, there might be some new actions.”Namdev’s views counsel audiences are prepared for tales that discover romance past youthful glamor—tales with older characters who convey emotional depth and authenticity.
Trade inertia slows changeRegardless of rising requires extra real looking and various storytelling, Bollywood’s previous energy constructions preserve progress sluggish. Agnihotri feedback: “There are only a few heroine-centric motion pictures made in our business. And even these are usually made when main actresses get married, have kids, retire, or attain an age the place they will now not be paired with a male hero—solely then are they forged in such roles. It is a very male-dominated business. It has been like this for umpteen variety of years and I’ve a sense it’s going to stay like this for a really very long time.”He additionally reveals how star egos affect casting selections: “Heroes additionally dictate on the set… if a heroine is taller, they are going to stand on stools or use tips to look taller themselves.”This reveals how patriarchy controls not simply tales, however the complete filmmaking course of—reinforcing previous norms.Agnihotri elaborates additional: “One other drawback is that the roles, the way in which they’re conceived and written is barely, solely, solely to spice up the ego of the star, not of the character. We do not write character-driven roles, we write star-driven roles. We wish the star to be so pleased with these, writing of these roles that he ought to say sure to the movie then and there. And one other drawback is that heroes additionally dictate on the set, . Like a taller heroine, no, no, then heroes will get a patla and they’re going to stand, which suggests a six-inch stool or three-inch stool they usually’ll stand on that. So taller heroines typically have a problem over there. And in any scene if a heroine is dominating loads, now it is a secret no one desires to speak about, however in a scene the place heroine is admittedly dominating or her efficiency is best than the hero, then fairly often her performances might be trimmed or she could also be talking dialogues however the digicam will keep on the close-up of the hero. It is a very, quite common factor in business movies. So far as I’m involved, I do not make these form of movies, I make very, very real looking movies, so I do not see that drawback. And in my movie, all of the heroines are very, very highly effective, they do not rely upon the boys in any respect. In truth, they problem males. When you take a look at Buddha in a Site visitors Jam, identical case. When you take a look at The Tashkent Recordsdata, the primary lead actress was a heroine who challenged the complete system. In that, the function of Pallavi, although she is handicapped on a wheelchair however a really highly effective function. When you see The Kashmir Recordsdata, once more you’ll find on one facet there’s a girl who’s a sufferer however on the opposite facet there’s a girl who’s difficult the system and altering the system. Sure, that was a form of a unfavorable function. When you take a look at it from one perspective, from one other perspective, it is a very, very highly effective function. And identical within the case of The Vaccine Battle. Vaccine Battle was about Indian ladies scientists and we celebrated them. Ladies scientists say, we will do it. And my subsequent movie, The Bengal Recordsdata, once more has very, very, very sturdy ladies roles. In truth, I might name it a woman-centric movie. So I do not face that drawback and I intentionally try this as a result of that is how I take a look at ladies.”Actress Sohaila Kapur sums it up with piercing readability: “Easy reply. We’re a society nonetheless caught in patriarchy.”Reimagining romance: What the long run may appear likeShenaz Treasury believes it’s excessive time love tales replicate actual life higher. “Make a love story about folks of their 40s or 50s — post-divorce. Or a lady in her 50s with a 38-year-old man. Now that might be extra actual and romantic.”When requested what desirability means for ladies on display screen — and whether or not that definition is altering — Shenaz says, “Ladies additionally like scorching males. Interval. So let’s cease pretending it’s solely ladies who must look good. Once I was rising up, males may have paunches and nonetheless be romantic heroes. Now they’re hitting the fitness center too — and I’m thrilled about that.”On how patriarchy influences the way in which romance is written and visualized in Indian cinema, she doesn’t maintain again: “So many rom-coms nonetheless really feel like they have been written by a 60-year-old uncle who thinks ladies don’t age and males don’t want remedy. The facility dynamic is at all times tilted. Ladies must be excellent. Males simply have to point out up. However instances are altering — slowly. We want extra scripts the place love feels equal, age is actual, and need doesn’t solely belong to the 20-year-olds.”She urges filmmakers to flip the script and embrace mature storytelling: “Ladies positively look higher as they age as a result of they deal with themselves. Examine a 50-year-old Indian girl to a 50-year-old Indian man — who’s sexier? Males don’t deal with themselves as a lot as ladies do.” Her candour challenges the dual biases of ageism and sexism head-on.Veteran perspective: Anant Mahadevan on skewed pairings
Director Anant Mahadevan factors out the long-standing double customary. “The fixation on pairing has been a recurring situation for many years. An ageing male lead is not any deterrent for filmmakers or audiences. We’ve seen 30-plus, even 40-plus, actors enjoying faculty college students. However the lens isn’t as variety to feminine leads — marriage alone can result in their declassification, not to mention getting older. It’s a myopic view of filmmaking.”He contrasts this with the West: “In Hollywood, feminine leads age with grace and are entrusted with mature characters. Right here, we appear to doubt the enchantment of our feminine expertise. It’s simply one in every of many clichéd methods we take a look at storytelling.”Breaking the mould: Rahul Bhat on chemistry and connection
Actor Rahul Bhat rejects the notion that romance is the area of the younger. Requested if he’d be comfy enjoying a romantic lead reverse an older or same-age actor, he responds, “Completely. I feel chemistry isn’t outlined by age — it’s outlined by connection, vitality, and truthfulness in efficiency. We not often see it as a result of the business has lengthy fed right into a one-sided fantasy: that males can age however ladies should stay frozen in time. That narrative is being challenged now, fortunately, however we’ve got an extended strategy to go.”He’s clear on the necessity for fairness in storytelling. “Older actresses not solely deserve to guide love tales — they should. Love doesn’t expire at 35. In truth, it deepens. Ladies who’ve lived, liked, misplaced, and advanced have way more textured tales to inform. Why ought to these tales be denied a romantic arc?”On portraying love throughout an age hole, he provides, “It depends upon how the story handles it. If the age hole is there to titillate or pander, it feels compelled. But when it’s sincere and rooted in character, it may be extremely shifting. As actors, our job is to search out that emotional fact — age ought to add layers, not limitations.”He additionally calls out the business’s long-standing bias: “Scripts have lengthy equated desirability with youth. However the excellent news is, that’s altering. Actresses like Vidya Balan, Konkona Sen Sharma, Shefali Shah, Neena Gupta — they’re main love tales with unbelievable grace and depth. Audiences are responding. The business simply must catch up.”Sadia Khateeb: Performing transcends age
Sadia Khateeb, who starred in The Diplomat, shares a grounded perspective: “I imply, so long as actors are comfy being paired reverse one another, it doesn’t matter if the woman is older or vice versa. Performing is a job the place one has to behave; it has nothing to do with realism.”She emphasizes that casting decisions ought to serve the story and the director’s imaginative and prescient: “If the director has a imaginative and prescient and the script calls for such a pairing, then as actors, we’ve got to meet that imaginative and prescient and make the story work.”Nonetheless, Sadia additionally calls out the pressures ladies face: “I hope seeing ageing of girls as an expiry date adjustments over time; it’s a deeply rooted stereotype that has been ongoing not simply within the business, however in society. Ladies, after they cross a sure age, have lots of stress. Age shaming ladies is in some way a conditioning that has occurred through the years — a form of patriarchy. I hope and pray this adjustments ultimately. Ageing is gorgeous; it means you’re dwelling.”Time to develop up: Sandiip Sikcand’s blunt take
Actor and inventive director Sandiip Sikcand doesn’t mince phrases. “It’s ridiculous to see males of their 60s dancing with heroines sufficiently old to be their daughters. Even audiences acknowledge the disconnect — that’s why these movies reside on hype and Instagram reels however flop on the field workplace.”He urges Bollywood to mature. “The identical previous tales, senior actors refusing to age, and proficient ladies not getting the precise roles — this all wants to alter quick. Greater than stars or tasks, Bollywood now wants tales and actors.”Sikcand factors to world examples of progress. “Within the West, ladies do their finest work after 30. Even the South offers actors fabulous platforms — their best work usually comes once they act their age.”Energy imbalances in casting: Rajesh Tailang weighs in
Actor Rajesh Tailang highlights the deeper drawback. “Bollywood’s romantic pairings aren’t nearly chemistry — they mirror the business’s energy imbalance. The extra highly effective the male star, the much less expectation there may be for him to play age-appropriate roles.”He shares a private instance: “In the meantime, I’m forged as the daddy of actresses who’re paired reverse heroes 3–4 years older than me.”Ego and tradition: Karan Razdan’s perspective
Author and actor Karan Razdan traces the difficulty to deep-seated beliefs. “There’s an previous Indian saying — a person by no means will get previous. And I feel the business takes that actually. Whether or not it’s Mumbai, Chennai, or elsewhere, the hero’s ego nonetheless wants validation by means of a youthful heroine.”Indicators of progress: Karan Singh Chhabra on shifting dynamics
Actor Karan Singh Chhabra notes that change is seen, particularly on streaming platforms. “When you take a look at latest internet sequence, Bhumi Pednekar — who’s older than Ishaan Khatter — is romantically concerned with him, and the story requires that.”He’s hopeful concerning the route issues are heading. “Younger actress, older actor, older actress, youthful actor, same-age pairings — every part’s being explored now. Occasions are altering, and the viewers is evolving.”Past Bollywood: Mozez Singh on societal bias
Director Mozez Singh expands the lens. “This complete idea is ageist and misogynistic — and it should change. Sadly, it’s not simply movies. In actual life too, an older girl with a youthful man continues to be seen as odd. However the reverse is regular.”He reminds us that cinema is a mirror. “The issue is greater than Bollywood. Movies replicate society — and that’s the place the actual work should start.”Conclusion: Time for a brand new love storyThe age-gap romance trope in Indian cinema isn’t only a casting quirk. It’s a mirrored image of deeper societal norms that favour male stardom and feminine youth. However voices throughout the business — from actors to administrators and writers — at the moment are difficult the established order. The urge for food for actual, nuanced, and inclusive love tales is rising. And slowly, however absolutely, the script is starting to flip.