Actor Salman Khan weighed in on what he thinks about the entertainment industry, differentiating between male and female actors romancing a younger heroine or hero, respectively. Salman and Aamir Khan were guests on the premiere episode of Two Much With Kajol & Twinkle.
Kajol questions Aamir, Salman about age gap between female, male actors in Bollywood
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?” Responding to this, Aamir said that for him, casting “should be done based on requirement.”
What Salman has to say
Salman replied, “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).’”
“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,” he added. Kajol said, “It doesn’t work in the opposite way, though.”
Salman replied. “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 last few decades, several Hindi films have been made where the female actor is older than the male lead. They are–Army (1996), Dil Chahta Hai (2001), Shabd (2005), Kismat Konnection (2008), Wake Up Sid (2009), Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu (2012), Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, Fitoor and Ki & Ka (2016), among many others. But the number is far smaller than films with older actor and younger actress.
Many actors, including Aamir, Shah Rukh, Salman, and Sunny Deol, were part of films featuring female lead actors who were much younger than they were. Some of the films are–Deewar (1975), Dayavan (1988), Bol Radha Bol (1992), Gadar Ek Prem Katha (2001), Hey Ram (2002), Om Shanti Om (2007), Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi (2008), Dabangg (2010).
Salman and Sridevi have worked together in two films-Chandra Mukhi (1993) and Chaand Kaa Tukdaa (1994).
