I had an amusing conversation with a Bollywood insider as I researched our Sunday magazine cover story this week. While discussing why Kareena Kapoor could not play a romantic lead opposite her cousin Ranbir in a film, this gentleman said, "Even if they were not related, don't forget the huge age difference between them."
"Huge age difference"? I laughed in my head, but didn't take the point further to avoid derailing our conversation. Besides, this remark reflects the prevailing mentality in Bollywood. For the record, Kareena turned 31 this week which makes her precisely two years older than Ranbir. Now if that's a 'huge' gap, then what would you call the 15 years that separate Bebo from her co-stars Salman Khan, SRK and Aamir? Or the decade's disparity between her and Saif Ali Khan, her leading man in 2011's 'Agent Vinod'?
Now this is me looking at a glass that's half empty. Yes it's true that Hindi film actresses are surrounded by colleagues and audiences who are finicky about a woman's advancing years, but have few such concerns about male actors as long as they stay fit. Yet, it's also true that the glass is half full.
One of Kareena's projects next year is with Imran Khan, her junior by a couple of years, and I haven't so far heard a nasty remark from a verbose RJ about their minor age difference. This is a far cry from the cruel comments on radio stations and the blogosphere that Vidya Balan had to contend with when she starred opposite the still-boyish-looking Shahid Kapoor (her junior by just a few years) in 'Kismat Konnection' in 2008 or the cutting remarks that were made about Bipasha Basu acting with Ranbir in 'Bachna Ae Haseeno'.
The ridicule had toned down slightly by the time Bipasha's film with Neil Nitin Mukesh, 'Aa Dekhen Zara', was released the following year.
I guess every woman who braves social opprobrium also influences society to accept change, which means Vidya and Bipasha have opened doors for their contemporary Kareena.
There have been other marginal advancements to celebrate despite the sexism that pervades Bollywood. The norm for several decades has been that heroines would retire after marriage or take long breaks. Some voluntarily quit work, others did so to hold on to their dignity since options post-shaadi have been limited by the widely held assumption among producers that audiences are not interested in a married heroine.
Today though, one of Hindi filmdom's highest paid heroines is a 38-year-old former Miss World, wife and mom-to-be. Yes, there's still a lot that needs to change, but the good thing is that some things already have.
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