The Bolly Way: Actresses Make ‘Comebacks’, Actors Keep Romancing

Post 40, where do all the roles for our fabulous women actors disappear?

Rani Mukerji recently said something in an open letter that rang eerily similar to something I heard Hema Malini say once – in an interview to an outlet, some little time ago. First, here’s what Mukerji wrote:

...A woman has a short career span, a married woman’s equity dies, women are not bankable commodities at the box office, ‘female-centric’ (I hate this word!) films are huge risks, a married actress, who is also a mother, is the final nail in the coffin of her dreams, ambitions and aspirations – these are some of the discriminatory stereotypes that we have to live with and try to overcome every single day.

A year ago, here’s what Hema Malini said:

Kya karein? Nowadays, no one wants to make a film with actresses my age. Trust me; we can still carry a film on our shoulders. Aaram se ho sakta hai. There are stories waiting to be told. Aaj hum hain, kal nahi honge. Baad mein bulaoge to kahaan se aayenge hum log.

Now, Rani Mukerji and Hema Malini both have some years between them – and stand across a colossus of good cinema that also binds them both. Yet, here’s the humdinger: When I hear Rani today, I can almost foresee a Hema Malini-esque interview at some point in the near future. It’s going to happen. You and I both know it.

Rani is going to be asked by some precocious, but completely well-meaning, wide-eyed young reporter in year 2031 (?), “Ma’am, why do you think female actors of your creed and age just don’t get the films?” At this point, I’m already envisioning an equally feisty Rani (much like the Rani of today) sitting on a pile of rejections to play chachi to Ranveer Singh, Ranvir Shorey and Randeep Hooda.

You could play at the speculative math for 2031, OR, you could just look at really realistic data from today. Here’s a little exercise I propose: Seeing as Rani just turned 40, why not tabulate what women actors in Bollywood, her age, are up to today? And then, perhaps, we could tabulate what the male actors they debuted with have going on?

I.

Shilpa Shetty: Close to Rani’s age, she’s is currently 42-years-old. The last movie she worked in as an actor, was Apne, which released in 2007 – 11 years ago. The first movie she worked in as an actor was Baazigar, which released in 1993. Her male co-star was Shah Rukh Khan.

Shah Rukh Khan: Currently 52-years-old. Currently filming Zero. His last movie was last year, Jab Harry Met Sejal. (You can argue about the relevance of his latest choices in cinema, but you can’t argue about his relevance.)

II.

Sonali Bendre: Sonali Bendre, close to Rani’s age, is currently 43-years-old. The last movie she was seen in was Once Upon a Time in Mumbai Dobaara! in 2013, where she appeared in a cameo. Her last longer-than-a-cameo role was in Kal Ho Na Ho, where she played Shah Rukh Khan’s doctor in 2003. She did shine in a beautifully progressive TV series called Ajeeb Dastaan Hai Ye in 2014-15, where she played a divorced woman who finds love a second time. It was, however, taken off air because, by producer Ekta Kapoor’s own admission –

Indian audiences are not ready for progressive shows. I have tried it with ‘Ajeeb Dastaan Hai Yeh’ and I can’t even tell you about the research that went into it; I really wanted to cry. They just don’t want to see a married woman move on even if her husband has made her life miserable.

Sonali debuted in 1994 opposite Govinda in the movie Aag.

Govinda: Currently 54, is 11 years older than Sonali. He’s currently filming a movie called FryDay, which also stars Salman Khan. Since 2003 – which was Sonali Bendre’s last movie role – he has acted in at least one movie every year. (Think Bhagam Bhag, Partner, Life Partner, Happy Ending… and no, he hasn’t played anyone’s dad yet.)

Want a little more perspective? Rati Agnihotri (who is 57) and Supriya Pathak (also 57), have both played mom roles in their recent movies. Supriya Pathak played mom to KayKay Menon in the Sarkar franchise – a man who is just four years younger than her.

III.

Raveena Tandon: Also close to Rani’s age, she is currently 43. Her last film was Onir’s Shab in 2017, although, there was a period between 2006 and 2015 (almost 10 years) when she did no movies – and not because of any self-proclaimed hiatus. Yet, when she was seen again in Bombay Velvet (in 2015), audiences/the media called it her ‘comeback’. In an interview to PTI, she stated:

I have made at least five or six ‘comebacks’. It is a cliched line and the media keeps using it.

Raveena debuted in 1991’s Patthar Ke Phool opposite Salman Khan.

Salman Khan: Currently 52-years -old, Salman Khan is nine years older than Raveena Tandon. There have been no self-proclaimed, media-declared, or other kinds of comebacks for Salman, who, if you haven’t caught him on the big screen, you’ve inevitably run into on your small screens, Bigg Boss-ing it up. Salman is currently filming Race 3 (a big-budget franchise film) and his filmography online is (at least) seven scrolls long.

IV.

Preity Zinta: (A list inspired by Rani Mukerji couldn’t possibly exclude her compeer, Preity Zinta now, could it?) Preity is 43, and is currently filming Bhaiyyaji Superhit – a movie that’s been in filming stages since 2014. Her last movie as actor was Ishkq in Paris in 2013 (five years ago) – which itself released five years after her last one (Heroes in 2008). Preity recently said:

I recently realised it was fine if I didn’t do movies because people would remember me as an actor anyway. Staying away from films was a conscious call to concentrate on business.

Preity debuted in 1998 with Dil Se.. opposite Shah Rukh.

Shah Rukh’s credentials already began this list, so we’ll desist here.

As I make this list, I can already hear the rattle of the most ferocious fingers typing out ‘FemiNazi’, ready to break a key or two – but, here’s the thing, fellow cine-goers. This list isn’t about stripping an actor of credentials he or she already owns; whether Shah Rukh or Salman or Govinda or male stars post 50 deserve their due or not isn’t the question. Point is, why don’t the women? Where are the roles, and where are the audiences queueing up to watch a bit of women-led badassery?

The buck can pass comfortably between but-no-one-wants-to-make-them and but-no-one-wants-to-see-them for as long as we want to ignore the problem. Honestly, though? We have to be able to do better than just listen to fabulous women actors post 40 sounding like sad echoes of each other, decade after decade, about how they’re “choosing films with greater care”, and “Kya karein? Situation hi aisi hai”.