Kajol and Twinkle Khanna‘s chat show ‘Two Much With Kajol & Twinkle’ kicked off its premiere episode with Bollywood’s biggest stars, Salman Khan and Aamir Khan. Among the many things that were discussed, one topic stood out, Bollywood’s age-gap romances.
Senior actors often paired with younger actresses
It is a common trend in Bollywood for senior male actors to romance younger actresses. Recent examples would be Salman Khan and Rashmika Mandanna, who share a 31-year age gap, were seen together in ‘Sikandar’. Similarly, Aamir Khan’s last Bollywood film, ‘Sitaare Zameen Par’, featured him opposite Genelia D’Souza, which saw a 23-year age difference between them.During the show, the discussion focused on why older male actors are paired with younger women more often than the reverse.
Kajol raised questions about gender double standards
On the show, Kajol asked, “When the hero romances a younger woman, it’s called ‘cinema magic’. But when an older heroine romances a younger man, it’s called ‘bold’. Why do you think that is?” Aamir responded thoughtfully, saying, “Casting should be done based on requirement.”
Salman Khan explains why this happens
The ‘Dabangg’ actor explained why Bollywood tends to pair senior men with younger women. He said, “See, depending, like there was Sridevi. If she’d have kept on working, she could have still done. Madhuri can still play if there’s a role. If there’s a younger girl and if an upcoming star or a star or the producer or the director says, ‘Mujhe ye chahiye (I want him).'”He added that actors who have worked together for many films may feel like an “old pair,” so filmmakers often choose someone fresh to maintain on-screen energy, “Ab itna kaam kar liya hain hum sab logone ki wo jodi purani lagti hain (We have worked together so much now that the pair looks old). So for a freshness in a film, that’s when you take up somebody else who you have not worked with that much.”Kajol pointed out, “It doesn’t work in the opposite way, though.”
Salman Khan noted scripts rarely suit older women
The ‘Bodyguard’ actor also highlighted that it is not just about willingness or talent, but about the scripts available for older women, “But aesi script hi kitni aati hain aap logo ke paas (But how many such scripts do you guys get)? I don’t think if the film is good and the story is woven around something like that, an older woman and a younger man, I don’t think anyone would mind that.”In the past few decades, Hindi cinema has occasionally featured films where the female actor is older than the male lead. However, the number of such films is far smaller compared to movies where older men romance younger women.
