How Long Will Bollywood Sell Ageism And Double Standards Onscreen?

When I watched Govinda alighting from Lamborghini, I thought maybe it is a beautiful comeback of India’s favourite star. But when Shanayaa Kaur winked at him, I was shocked at the extent of the double standards of Bollywood. Double standards because you will never see a 50-year-old woman romancing a man in his 20s or romancing at all. Right Bollywood?

How Bollywood propagates ageism

A few days ago, when Sooryavanshi had still not hit the screens, the moviemakers dropped the remake of the classic song Tip Tip Barsa. The original song of the movie Mohra featured Raveena Tandon and Akshay Kumar. And to my surprise, the remake pulled Tandon out but retained Kumar.

The song was just another example of how Bollywood considers older female actors as invalid compared to the male actors whose salt and pepper touch in hair is considered sexy.

Bollywood propagates ">ageism also by making male actors in their 40s and 50s romance with female actors in their 20s while casting female actors of older age as mothers of actors older or not much younger than them. Consider the example of the movie Waqt in which 41 year Shefali Shah played the role of mother of 47-year-old Akshay Kumar. Moreover, in the movie Haider, Tabu was cast as the mother of Shaheed Kapoor even though the age difference between the two is not huge.

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This is not it. More movies casting younger female actors against older male actors are waiting to hit the screen. Movies like Atrangi Re (casting Akshay Kumar with Sara Ali Khan) and Prithviraj (casting Akshay Kumar against Manushi Chillar) make us question that how long will Bollywood propagate ageism and double standards through its movies?

How long will we as an audience accept the wrong being sold to us? How long will older female actors sit at home seeing themselves fade on the screen day by day? How long will their experience and talent be wasted? According to Bollywood, men do not age but women do?

Speaking about the absence of female actors beyond 30, actor Konkona Sen Sharma said, “When it comes to portraying women on screen, we hardly see any representation of women over 30. So does that mean we don’t want to know about women once they cross 30 and have a husband and children?”

Art imitates reality: ageism in reality

It is not false that art is an imitation of reality. Women, be it normal ones like us or megastars like Deepika Padukone, are valued only until they conform to certain beauty standards. Until the face glows without any pimples, acne or wrinkles, a woman is suitable for marriage, for lead characters in movies and appreciation by the male gaze. Speaking about the male gaze in film industry, Kalki Koechlin told SheThePeople, "There is a constant male gaze. A constant being watched and looked at as products."

But when we see men, they remain valid irrespective of their age. Be it in the marriage market or in Bollywood, men are valued for their gender, not for their age or looks. Moreover, doesn't society cringe at listening to the love stories of older women? While the cringe turns into appreciation if an older man “scores” (a problematic term as it objectifies women).

But why do we still worry about beauty standards and the male gaze? Do we not know that these are pawns in the chessboard of patriarchy? How long will we judge men and women based on their gender?

Role of audience in propagating and stopping ageism of Bollywood

It is disappointing that the Tip Tip song got millions of views. And I am intuitive that Chashma Chadhake Song will also touch that height. Because the audience is blindfolded by ageism and the male gaze that doesn’t want to see older women romancing on-screen.

Clouded by such a mindset, how will the audience be enraged at the ageist Bollywood? But then, if not the audience, then who will stop the makers? It is a fact that filmmakers make movies that grab the interest of the audience. So if the audience won’t change their interest, then how filmmakers will? So as the audience we need to question ageism before hooting for our favourite male stars surviving onscreen till today. We should look and demand older female actors too to grace the silver screen. We need to stop watching movies that are ageist and stand in support of female actors who have been outcasted because of their age.

Responsibility of filmmakers to change

But this does not mean, the team Bollywood doesn’t have any responsibility of initiating the change. Art is responsible for not only showing a mirror to society but also initiating a change. And being the makers of art, team Bollywood must be careful of what they bring before the audience. Films affect reality in million ways. From copying the hairstyle and dialogues, people internalise the ideologies propagated by the movies too. So if movies propagate ageism, how will the reality be different? If films judge women for their looks, how will different women, in reality, measure their worth? If films cater only to the male gaze, how will reality include a female perspective?

To be honest, older female actors should be provided with more opportunities because they have worked for a longer time and have an array of experience to boast about. I am not saying that they should replace the younger new stars but they should be provided with their own space like the older male actors in Bollywood.

Views expressed are author's own