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<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\nIn the world of Indian cinema\u2014where fantasy meets formula\u2014few tropes have persisted as stubbornly as the tendency to pair aging male superstars with much younger female leads. What was once accepted without question is now being challenged more vocally\u2014by audiences, actors, and filmmakers alike.From veteran performers to outspoken critics, many are beginning to interrogate not just the optics of these on-screen pairings, but the deep-seated ideology that fuels them. The verdict? Male stardom is still synonymous with timeless appeal, while female desirability is tightly shackled to youth.In this special feature, ETimes gathers unfiltered insights from industry insiders who lay bare the gendered dynamics of Indian cinema\u2019s most controversial romantic formula.The classic formula: older male star, young female lead<\/span><\/p>\n Veteran actor Govind Namdev sums up the mindset behind this casting trend: \u201cThe audience will only like it if there is pairing. Otherwise, why would there be? The producer who invests so many crores, he invests it with the hope or with the observation that people like this pairing.\u201dFor decades, commercial logic has kept this formula alive\u2014pairing a popular, aging male star with a young heroine is seen as a safe bet at the box office. Namdev explains, \u201cLike Salman Khan, Shah Rukh Khan, Ajay Devgn \u2014 their heroines are always young. The public likes this pairing, and producers spend crores betting on it.\u201dThis idea of \u201caudience preference\u201d reflects more than just business sense\u2014it reveals a societal mindset where men are expected to age gracefully, while a woman\u2019s value is tightly tied to her youth.\u201cPatriarchal, clich\u00e9d, and unrealistic\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Actress Shenaz Treasury offers a sharp critique of this trend: \u201cUnrealistic. Patriarchal. Clich\u00e9. Unless the script actually acknowledges the age gap, I\u2019m out. If they cast a 50+ woman opposite a 25-year-old man? Now that would be interesting. Let\u2019s flip the script for once. But most times, they just pretend the man is ageless and the woman… invisible after 35. So unless the story has something real to say about that dynamic, I\u2019m not buying it.\u201dShe points out how often the age difference is ignored in scripts, as if men don\u2019t age and women simply vanish after 35. She says, \u201cSadly, yes. Aging is treated like a scandal. \u2018OMG she\u2019s 43!\u2019 \u2013 they say it like it\u2019s a crime. Not \u2018Wow, she has so much life experience, depth, and power.\u2019 We shame women for getting older, then wonder why everyone\u2019s injecting fillers into their faces at 30. And the worst part? Talent doesn\u2019t always save you. Wrinkles are still a bigger problem than weak scripts.\u201dTreasury\u2019s words highlight the double standard women face both on-screen and off\u2014where appearance matters more than talent, and aging is treated like something shameful.The double standard: men age, women disappear<\/span><\/p>\n Filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri sums up the gender imbalance clearly: \u201cWhen I started my career in 2005 with Chocolate, I realized that almost all actors, regardless of their age\u2014whether 40, 50, 60, or 70\u2014insist on having a younger heroine. In fact, there was a time when directors were pressured to sign only young actresses, and this is also a tradition in the South. If you look at South Indian cinema, no matter the hero\u2019s age, the heroine has to be young, fair-looking, and sexy. So, what does this indicate? It basically indicates that the role of women in our films is only for three criteria: they have to be young, sexy and desirable. And it is considered that the desirable age is only when you are young and not married.\u201dHe points out how men\u2019s aging is overlooked or even celebrated, while women\u2019s careers drop off once they marry or grow older: \u201cA hero can have five marriages, affairs, get as old as he wants, do VFX to his face, shoot with body doubles… nothing matters because we make hero worshipping films, not heroine worshipping ones.\u201dAgnihotri\u2019s words expose the patriarchal system that keeps male stars on a pedestal while women are pushed aside as they age. “No matter how talented an actress is or how good her performances are, once she gets married or is seen to be in a relationship with someone, her demand suddenly goes down,” he adds.Searching for new stories: actors want meaningful roles<\/span>Govind Namdev shares a more hopeful take based on changing audience tastes: \u201cThese days, people are liking biographies more. They are liking stories coming from real incidents… If people like my work, they want to see me in a new form.\u201dHe welcomes roles that allow for fresh, unconventional pairings: \u201cIf I am paired with a heroine, I will get to see something new… On screen, as a performance, we will get to see something new, there will be some new movements.\u201dNamdev\u2019s views suggest audiences are ready for stories that explore romance beyond youthful glamor\u2014stories with older characters who bring emotional depth and authenticity.<\/p>\n Jai Santoshi Maa\u2014rivaled Sholay, beat Deewaar | I Witness<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Industry inertia slows change<\/span>Despite growing calls for more realistic and diverse storytelling, Bollywood\u2019s old power structures keep progress slow. Agnihotri comments: \u201cThere are very few heroine-centric movies made in our industry. And even those are typically made when leading actresses get married, have children, retire, or reach an age where they can no longer be paired with a male hero\u2014only then are they cast in such roles. This is a very male-dominated industry. It has been like this for umpteen number of years and I have a feeling it\u2019s going to remain like this for a very long time.\u201dHe also reveals how star egos influence casting decisions: \u201cHeroes also dictate on the set… if a heroine is taller, they will stand on stools or use tricks to appear taller themselves.\u201dThis shows how patriarchy controls not just stories, but the entire filmmaking process\u2014reinforcing old norms.Agnihotri elaborates further: \u201cAnother problem is that the roles, the way they are conceived and written is only, only, only to boost the ego of the star, not of the character. We don’t write character-driven roles, we write star-driven roles. We want the star to be so happy with those, writing of those roles that he should say yes to the film then and there. And another problem is that heroes also dictate on the set, you know. Like a taller heroine, no, no, then heroes will get a patla and they will stand, which means a six-inch stool or three-inch stool and they’ll stand on that. So taller heroines generally have an issue over there. And in any scene if a heroine is dominating a lot, now this is a secret nobody wants to talk about, but in a scene where heroine is really dominating or her performance is better than the hero, then very often her performances will be trimmed or she may be speaking dialogues but the camera will stay on the close-up of the hero. This is a very, very common thing in commercial films. As far as I am concerned, I don’t make those kind of films, I make very, very realistic films, so I don’t see that problem. And in my film, all the heroines are very, very powerful, they don’t depend on the men at all. In fact, they challenge men. If you look at Buddha in a Traffic Jam, same case. If you look at The Tashkent Files, the main lead actress was a heroine who challenged the entire system. In that, the role of Pallavi, though she is handicapped on a wheelchair but a very powerful role. If you see The Kashmir Files, again you will find on one side there is a woman who is a victim but on the other side there is a woman who is challenging the system and changing the system. Yes, that was a kind of a negative role. If you look at it from one perspective, from another perspective, it’s a very, very powerful role. And same in the case of The Vaccine War. Vaccine War was about Indian women scientists and we celebrated them. Women scientists say, we can do it. And my next film, The Bengal Files, again has very, very, very strong women roles. In fact, I would call it a woman-centric film. So I don’t face that problem and I deliberately do that because that’s how I look at women.\u201dActress Sohaila Kapur sums it up with piercing clarity: “Simple answer. We are a society still stuck in patriarchy.”Reimagining romance: What the future could look like<\/span>Shenaz Treasury believes it\u2019s high time love stories reflect real life better. \u201cMake a love story about people in their 40s or 50s \u2014 post-divorce. Or a woman in her 50s with a 38-year-old man. Now that would be more real and romantic.\u201dWhen asked what desirability means for women on screen \u2014 and whether that definition is changing \u2014 Shenaz says, \u201cWomen also like looking at hot men. Period. So let\u2019s stop pretending it\u2019s only women who need to look good. When I was growing up, men could have paunches and still be romantic heroes. Now they\u2019re hitting the gym too \u2014 and I\u2019m thrilled about that.\u201dOn how patriarchy influences the way romance is written and visualized in Indian cinema, she doesn\u2019t hold back: \u201cSo many rom-coms still feel like they were written by a 60-year-old uncle who thinks women don\u2019t age and men don\u2019t need therapy. The power dynamic is always tilted. Women have to be perfect. Men just have to show up. But times are changing \u2014 slowly. We need more scripts where love feels equal, age is real, and desire doesn\u2019t only belong to the 20-year-olds.\u201dShe urges filmmakers to flip the script and embrace mature storytelling: \u201cWomen definitely look better as they age because they take care of themselves. Compare a 50-year-old Indian woman to a 50-year-old Indian man \u2014 who\u2019s sexier? Men don\u2019t take care of themselves as much as women do.\u201d Her candour challenges the twin biases of ageism and sexism head-on.Veteran perspective: <\/span>Anant Mahadevan<\/span> on skewed pairings<\/span><\/p>\n Director Anant Mahadevan points out the long-standing double standard. \u201cThe fixation on pairing has been a recurring issue for decades. An ageing male lead is no deterrent for filmmakers or audiences. We\u2019ve seen 30-plus, even 40-plus, actors playing college students. But the lens isn\u2019t as kind to female leads \u2014 marriage alone can lead to their declassification, let alone aging. It\u2019s a myopic view of filmmaking.\u201dHe contrasts this with the West: \u201cIn Hollywood, female leads age with grace and are entrusted with mature characters. Here, we seem to doubt the appeal of our female talent. It\u2019s just one of many clich\u00e9d ways we look at storytelling.\u201dBreaking the mold: <\/span>Rahul Bhat<\/span> on chemistry and connection<\/span><\/p>\n Actor Rahul Bhat rejects the notion that romance is the domain of the young. Asked if he\u2019d be comfortable playing a romantic lead opposite an older or same-age actor, he responds, \u201cAbsolutely. I think chemistry isn\u2019t defined by age \u2014 it\u2019s defined by connection, energy, and truthfulness in performance. We rarely see it because the industry has long fed into a one-sided fantasy: that men can age but women must remain frozen in time. That narrative is being challenged now, thankfully, but we have a long way to go.\u201dHe\u2019s clear on the need for equity in storytelling. \u201cOlder actresses not only deserve to lead love stories \u2014 they need to. Love doesn\u2019t expire at 35. In fact, it deepens. Women who have lived, loved, lost, and evolved have far more textured stories to tell. Why should those stories be denied a romantic arc?\u201dOn portraying love across an age gap, he adds, \u201cIt depends on how the story handles it. If the age gap is there to titillate or pander, it feels forced. But if it\u2019s honest and rooted in character, it can be incredibly moving. As actors, our job is to find that emotional truth \u2014 age should add layers, not limitations.\u201dHe also calls out the industry’s long-standing bias: \u201cScripts have long equated desirability with youth. But the good news is, that\u2019s changing. Actresses like Vidya Balan, Konkona Sen Sharma, Shefali Shah, Neena Gupta \u2014 they\u2019re leading love stories with incredible grace and depth. Audiences are responding. The industry just needs to catch up.\u201dSadia Khateeb<\/span>: Acting transcends age<\/span><\/p>\n Sadia Khateeb, who starred in The Diplomat, shares a grounded perspective: \u201cI mean, as long as actors are comfortable being paired opposite each other, it does not matter if the girl is older or vice versa. Acting is a job where one has to act; it has nothing to do with realism.\u201dShe emphasizes that casting choices should serve the story and the director\u2019s vision: \u201cIf the director has a vision and the script demands such a pairing, then as actors, we have to fulfill that vision and make the story work.\u201dHowever, Sadia also calls out the pressures women face: \u201cI hope seeing ageing of women as an expiry date changes over time; it\u2019s a deeply rooted stereotype that has been ongoing not just in the industry, but in society. Women, after they cross a certain age, have a lot of pressure. Age shaming women is somehow a conditioning that has happened over the years \u2014 a sort of patriarchy. I hope and pray this changes eventually. Ageing is beautiful; it means you are living.\u201dTime to grow up: <\/span>Sandiip Sikcand<\/span>\u2019s blunt take<\/span><\/p>\n Actor and creative director Sandiip Sikcand doesn\u2019t mince words. \u201cIt\u2019s ridiculous to see men in their 60s dancing with heroines old enough to be their daughters. Even audiences recognize the disconnect \u2014 that\u2019s why these films live on hype and Instagram reels but flop at the box office.\u201dHe urges Bollywood to mature. \u201cThe same old stories, senior actors refusing to age, and talented women not getting the right roles \u2014 this all needs to change fast. More than stars or projects, Bollywood now needs stories and actors.\u201dSikcand points to global examples of progress. \u201cIn the West, women do their best work after 30. Even the South gives actors fabulous platforms \u2014 their finest work often comes when they act their age.\u201dPower imbalances in casting: <\/span>Rajesh Tailang<\/span> weighs in<\/span><\/p>\n Actor Rajesh Tailang highlights the deeper problem. \u201cBollywood\u2019s romantic pairings aren\u2019t just about chemistry \u2014 they mirror the industry\u2019s power imbalance. The more powerful the male star, the less expectation there is for him to play age-appropriate roles.\u201dHe shares a personal example: \u201cMeanwhile, I\u2019m cast as the father of actresses who are paired opposite heroes 3\u20134 years older than me.\u201dEgo and culture: Karan Razdan\u2019s perspective<\/span><\/p>\n Writer and actor Karan Razdan traces the issue to deep-seated beliefs. \u201cThere\u2019s an old Indian saying \u2014 a man never gets old. And I think the industry takes that literally. Whether it\u2019s Mumbai, Chennai, or elsewhere, the hero\u2019s ego still needs validation through a younger heroine.\u201dSigns of progress: Karan Singh Chhabra on shifting dynamics<\/span><\/p>\n Actor Karan Singh Chhabra notes that change is visible, especially on streaming platforms. \u201cIf you look at recent web series, Bhumi Pednekar \u2014 who is older than Ishaan Khatter \u2014 is romantically involved with him, and the story requires that.\u201dHe\u2019s hopeful about the direction things are heading. \u201cYoung actress, older actor, older actress, younger actor, same-age pairings \u2014 everything\u2019s being explored now. Times are changing, and the audience is evolving.\u201dBeyond Bollywood: Mozez Singh on societal bias<\/span><\/p>\n Director Mozez Singh expands the lens. \u201cThis entire concept is ageist and misogynistic \u2014 and it must change. Unfortunately, it\u2019s not just films. In real life too, an older woman with a younger man is still seen as odd. But the reverse is normal.\u201dHe reminds us that cinema is a mirror. \u201cThe problem is bigger than Bollywood. Films reflect society \u2014 and that\u2019s where the real work must begin.\u201dConclusion: Time for a new love story<\/span>The age-gap romance trope in Indian cinema isn\u2019t just a casting quirk. It\u2019s a reflection of deeper societal norms that favour male stardom and female youth. But voices across the industry \u2014 from actors to directors and writers \u2014 are now challenging the status quo. The appetite for real, nuanced, and inclusive love stories is growing. And slowly, but surely, the script is beginning to flip.<\/div>\n![\"Govind-Namdev\"](\"https:\/\/static.toiimg.com\/thumb\/imgsize-23456,msid-121542215,width-600,resizemode-4\/govind-namdev.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
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