November 11, 2021
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Recently released film Sooryavanshi has remade the very famous ‘Tip Tip Barsa Paani’, a song which has not only become iconic but is considered one of the biggest hit songs of the actors featuring it: Akshay Kumar and Raveena Tandon. It will not be wrong to say that the song was made timeless by the dance moves of Raveena Tandon wearing the signature yellow chiffon saree, she was the star of the song. It was Raveena Tandon who made this song one of the most popular songs of the 90s. Since Bollywood has tried to re-create the same look every time there is a rain dance song in any movie, be it Kareena Kapoor, Katrina Kaif, Disha Patni or Alia Bhatt, everyone has done it.
In the new Bollywood movie Sooryavanshi, the song has been remade and has become popular. Most people expressed that it was a bad move. Some are even comparing the performances of Katrina Kaif with Raveena Tandon. To fill up the shoes of Raveena Tandon in one of the most iconic songs of Bollywood might not be an easy task, but there is a bigger issue that needs to be addressed. Since ‘Mohra’ was released in 1994, according to Bollywood heroine standards, Raveena Tandon (now 47) has become too old to be a lead actress for the film or song for that matter. But Akshay Kumar(now 54) is still one of the biggest-selling stars in the film industry. The makers replaced Raveena with a much younger actress Katrina Kaif but there is no flaw in the glory of Akshay Kumar, he still remains the same, the timeless hero.
However, this is not the first time it has happened. Most Bollywood actors like Akshay Kumar, Salman Khan, Shahrukh Khan, Aamir Khan, Ajay Devgan are currently in their mid-50s but are still playing lead roles and starring in big blockbusters. While the actresses who played the lead in their movies are nowhere to be seen, their shelf life of being a female lead has ended. Actresses like Raveena Tandon, Madhuri Dixit, Juhi Chawla, Tabu, Kajol face a struggling career in the industry and even if they are featured, they are seen in supporting roles, like that of a mother, elder sister of the lead, sister-in-law etc. and not the lead.
In fact, there are movies where the actresses play mothers to actors elder to them in real life. Recently in the movie ‘Bharat’, a very talented Sonali Kulkarni who is barely 44 years old played mother to Salman Khan who is 54. And in the movie ‘Zero’, Sheeba Chadda who is only the age of 46 was shown as the mother of Shahrukh Khan who is 54 years old. Similarly Shefali Shah has played Akshay Kumar’s mother in ‘Waqt’, she is 5 years younger than his on-screen son forever young Akshay Kumar.
There is nothing wrong with a young actor playing the character of someone who is much older than them. The problem here is that the definition of ‘Old’ is different for different genders in Bollywood. Male actors don’t play the role of dads until they are in their 50s or 60s while the actresses grow old enough to play the role of ‘mom’ as soon as they are in their late 30s. This is just the evidence of how much ageism and gender bias exists in Bollywood. These issues might sound negligible for some for the sake of ‘entertainment but they expose the ever-existing sexism and ageism that these films adhere to.
