Autumn flames

The recent trend of veteran actresses getting plum roles seems a healthy sign for a Bollywood obsessed with nymphets. But are things really changing? Lata Khubchandani checks out.

IS Bollywood suddenly waking up to the potential of veteran actresses? It would seem so as there is a sudden spurt of demand for 40 plus, even 60 plus actresses, for the big screen. It is tempting to assume that Bollywood is ultimately paying tribute to its veterans — something that has not been done hitherto. After playing heroine for sometime, even talented actresses are relegated to roles of a mother or eased out unceremoniously altogether. Things are not so different in Hollywood either, but there, actresses survive better and sometimes scripts are specifically written with powerful but mellow actresses in mind, something Bollywood refuses to do. Or did.

Now suddenly, when we hear of a Hema Malini doing wonders with Baghbaan or Rati Agnihotri returning to play the better half of Amitabh Bachchan in Dev or as the sophisticated mother to Saif Ali in Hum Tum, not forgetting a Jaya Bachchan getting pick of roles be it in a Hazaar Chaurasi ki Maa, Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gum or Main Hoon Naa, one wonder if Bollywood is changing its attitude. And now, Mahesh Manjrekar brings Sharmila Tagore out of the closet after a long time (she was last seen in Mann playing Aamir Khan’s grandmother). Also, one suddenly sees a smiling Jaya Prada preening before Amitabh Bachchan as his wife once again. Perhaps it’s relevant to examine what changes Bollywood has brought vis-a- vis veteran actresses.

But alas! However tempting it may be to bask in the glory of a change, the truth is that here too Bollywood’s penchant for a workable formulas is in process.

Our filmmakers have not suddenly discovered the joys of working with older, talented and experienced actresses but the consistency with which films have been bombing at the box office has forced them to rewrite the old clich`E9d scripts with more variety. The boy-meets-girl followed by the hunt-and-chase, problem-in-between and ending with they-live happily-ever-after seem to have tired the audience. So today, we have a huge amount of experimentation going on at the scripting stage where different strands are introduced into the old stories to invigorate them. And with this necessity for new scripts comes a few new slots too.

When Govind Nihalani gave Jaya Bachchan a role worth her status as a grandmother in Mahashveta Devi’s Hazaar Chaurasi ki Maa, it was a tribute to the talented actress. Even if the film didn’t work at the box office, it acted as a spur to other filmmakers to write roles for mellower actresses.

Karan Johar wanted to make a huge film with the biggest stars of the last few decades playing their age. This gave birth to Kabhi Khushi Kabhee Gham with Jaya playing wife to Amitabh.

Then came Ravi Chopra’s surprising hit Baghbaan where he cast Hema Malini opposite Amitabh Bachchan to give one of the biggest hits of the last few years.
Hema looked gorgeous and her on-screen chemistry with Bachchan was terrific, even better than in their heyday.

Experiment or not, the need to cash in on success will always drive filmmakers to dig where the grass appears greener. So one hit film with Hema Malini suddenly gives us a spurt of films with 50 plus actresses in the hope that what a Hema could do, others could do too.

— TWF

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