Finally, Bollywood’s young brigade dares to age on-screen

So this Friday, the much-awaited Dharma venture ‘Baar Baar Dekho’ will be released. From the looks of it, the film traverses different time periods, and accordingly, the actors have sported their looks. Be it that of a teenager or that of a middle-aged person, neither Sidharth nor Katrina have shied away to age on-screen and play their proposed ages effectively. Though the whole picture will be clear once the movie is released, the trailer, songs, and promos indicate that they are quite comfortable in their skins.

Nowadays, more and more actors are ready to experiment with their roles, and instead of having senior actors and actresses play their aged selves, they themselves do the same using prosthetics. Remember Ranbir Kapoor, Ileana D’Cruz, and Priyanka Chopra in ‘Barfi’? Or even Hrithik Roshan’s brilliant act as Rohit in ‘Krrish’, wherein he was a child trapped in the mind of an old man? Who can forget the beautiful performance given by Shah Rukh Khan at the peak of his career as the ageing Veer Pratap Singh in ‘Veer-Zaara’, wherein he emoted fatherly feelings for Rani Mukerji, the actress whom he has romanced in various movies? Even Aishwarya Rai, the most gorgeous woman, played the role of Sarbjit’s sister, in the movie ‘Sarbjit’ across various ages, to perfection.

What we are trying to say here is that where once upon a time in Bollywood, actors and actresses refrained from playing older parts, for the fear of being stuck in typecasts, the new age artists are experimenting more and more with their performances, sans any inhibitions.

There were reports that suggested Madhuri Dixit and Tabu had earlier been offered the role of Ranveer and Priyanka’s mother in ‘Dil Dhadakne Do’, but apparently both of them turned it down citing they did not want to play a mother. Well, come to think of it, we would have loved to see Madhuri with Anil Kapoor once again, and given the character of Neelam Mehra was far away from a weepy-sneezy mother of the 70s and 80s, and instead, was a very modern woman.

In the golden years of Indian cinema too, the yesteryear actors and actresses usually refused to play older characters on-screen, leaving a few exceptions like Nargis in ‘Mother India’ and Sharmila Tagore in ‘Aradhana’. Probably because of the fact that Nirupa Roy, the quintessential ‘Ma’ of Bollywood, played a mother in almost every movie of the time, and was ultimately tagged as one, for an infinite time.

Well, we truly admire the new generation of Bollywood, wherein the actors and actresses are truly experimenting with their characters and moulding themselves as per the demands of the script, even if it requires them to age twice their actual years.

Let’s see how Sidharth and Katrina fare on this parameter, when ‘Baar Baar Dekho’ releases this Friday. Their looks in respective ages have already spiked our curiosity, and we really wish that they pull it off well.

Kadambari Srivastava

Grammar Nazi, word weaver, dreamer, bibliophile, technophile, caffeine addict, foodie, shuttling shopaholic! Mash it in a Bollywood recipe and voila! Pushpa, you’ve got her!