Old is the new young

Actors nudging 50 and above continue to corner lead roles without relying on hair dye and heavy make-up, says Derek Bose

AT 65, Amitabh Bachchan remains the hottest, biggest, most enduring and influential film icon ever. I am yet to meet anyone in Bollywood who does not want to be in Bachchan’s shoes — if only for a few hours.

His critics are singing praises for a very unlikely reason: R. Balki’s Cheeni Kum. In hindsight, it would appear a rather inconsequential release of 2007, but for the fact that Bachchan played his age as the suitor of a girl (Tabu) young enough to be his daughter. The quiet dignity and wry humour he brought to his role was an eye-opener for even those who were getting used to expecting the unexpected from Bachchan. He has been at it with such offbeat teasers as Kabhi Alvidaa Na Kehna (remember the ‘Sexy Sam’ cameo?), Nishabd and Jhoom Barabar Jhoom. With Cheeni Kum, he demonstrated that it takes more conviction than courage to pull off what could otherwise have slipped into a cheesy role of an elderly lover boy pining for a young woman. In one stroke, he effectively extended the shelflife of the conventional Bollywood hero.

The upshot of the "Bachchan effect" is now here for all to see. No hero talks of retirement any longer. Actors nudging 50 and above, like Anil Kapoor, Sunny Deol and Sanjay Dutt are considered the "new young" today and continue to corner lead roles.

Those in their 40s, including the four Khans — Shahrukh, Salman, Aamir and Saif — are actually peaking in their career. At another time they would have been drawing up their superannuation plans or contemplating alternative career moves.

The biggest blessing though has come for former superstars like Dharmendra, Vinod Khanna and Rishi Kapoor who had almost faded out of public memory. They are all bouncing back with renewed vigour as though they have found a new lease of life. And the best part is that unlike in the past, they are not relying on hair dye and heavy make-up to conceal their age. Their wrinkles are showing, as are the bald spots and their grey strands. For once, like Bachchan, they are acting their age.

Rishi Kapoor, for instance, had been making half-hearted appearances in films like Pyaar Mein Twist and Fanaa. With Namastey London last year (playing Akshay Kumar’s father-in-law), he began his second innings in right earnest and is now ready to romance Rekha in Raj Kanwar’s Sadiyan. Likewise, Vinod Khanna was showing up in one-off films like Leela and Risk, clearly not very serious about a comeback. Today, he is a different man. He is meticulously working of creating a mass base with a TV show, Mere Apne in which he plays a dhoti-kurta clad, grey-haired patriarch. And on the big screen, for starters, he has signed Anjum Rizvi’s Fast and Boney Kapoor’s remake of the Tamil blockbuster, Pokiri.

The television route is again inspired by the Bachchan example — the Kaun Banega Crorepati game show of 2000 — the possibilities of which have not escaped the likes of Rajesh Khanna (the bi-weekly Raghukul Reet Sada Chali Aayi on Doordarshan) and Jeetendra (famously playing judge for Jhalak Dikhla Jaa 2 on Sony TV). The latter also shook a leg for Farah Khan’s Om Shanti Om and now, at the instance of his daughter, soap queen Ekta Kapoor, has done a Sanjeev Kumar (as "Thakur") in the Bhojpuri remake of the cult classic, Sholay.

The most courageous comeback though has been that of Bollywood’s original heartthrob, Dharmendra. At 72, he came out of virtual hibernation and much to the surprise of actors half his age, pulled off a hat trick of hits with home production Apne, Life in a`85Metro and Johnny Gaddar. The demands of playing a retired boxer, a hapless romantic and a con artiste within a space of one year have apparently made the man more "disciplined", doing yoga, eating right and staying away from alcohol. He will be seen next in Jahnu Barua’s Har Pal while Vijeta Films, the family banner, has lined up four productions with him and sons Sunny and Bobby Deol.

Significantly, yesteryear heroines have not struck it as lucky in their comeback bid. The rejection Madhuri Dixit faced after a five-year hiatus (since Devdas) with Aaja Nachle is still fresh in public memory. Yet, there are women like Zeenat Aman (Dil To Deewana Hai and Monopoly) and Tanuja (Hawai Dada) who are taking their chances in the hope that the box-office would be more accommodating towards their salt-and-pepper avatar. Indeed, in Bollywood’s changed scenario, with focus gradually shifting towards rooted-to-reality films, there would be scope for these former glamour girls to demonstrate some histrionics.

The biggest advantage the comeback brigade enjoys over mainline actors is that they are no longer burdened by the responsibility of carrying a film on their shoulders. In their younger days, as lead stars, this factor had severely inhibited whatever inclination they might have had to experiment or exhibit their versatility. They were then compelled to live up to an image, defined strictly by commercial constructs. Now, all those factors have become irrelevant. And if by demolishing their starry image, they are able to get back into circulation, why not? After all, what use is it to live on past glory with a depleting bank balance?

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