This story is from November 15, 2008

Playing their age

TNN / Nov 15, 2008, 00:50 IST

Text Size

Small
Medium
Large

With SRK deciding to play only mature roles, we find out if it is time for other senior actors like Salman, Aamir, Saif, etc to follow suit?

Age spares nobody. But it��s not easy to accept this fact of life. Even harder, if you are an actor. Bollywood stars like Salman Khan, Aamir Khan, Saif Ali Khan and Arjun Rampal are all above 40.
However, Shah Rukh Khan recently expressed his desire to play only mature roles like the one in his upcoming flick Rab Ne Bana De Jodi. With SRK�� no to romantic roles, KT checks with the senior actors, if it��s time for them to follow the suit.
Rahul Bose, a senior actor has no qualms playing diversified roles. He says, ��It's all about how you look on screen and how comfortable the audience is in accepting you in that role. If you look about 50 years old, then you can't play the role of an 18-year-old. However, age has not got anything to do with the kind of roles that you play. It depends a lot on the script and the storyline of the movie. I feel that romance is everlasting. In The Bridges of Madison County the actor played a romantic role at the age of 60s and was quite comfortable doing it. Moreover, the audience accepted him also in that role.
In Japanese Wife, I am playing a role in the 20 to 50 year age bracket quite comfortably. For me, the idea of clinging on to an image or a role is not necessary. Commercial actors are more conscious about the kind of roles that they play.��

Another senior actor Arjun Rampal feels that actors have certain limitations with age and they are aware of that. He says, ��You should play only those roles which you believe that you can do convincingly and make people accept you in them. Rogert Ebert's Back to School is one such example which was appreciated by the people. In the end, it all depends on the screenplay and the scripts.��
Veteran actor Anupam Kher says, ��Acting is not like cricket that one has to retire at a particular age. One can see that the senior actors are aware of their age and are playing roles that suit their age. If senior actors like Amitabh Bachchan and Tom Hanks can do justice to romantic roles, then why not other actors? Romance and romantic roles are evergreen.�� Agreeing with this is Arbaaz Khan: ��It all depends on the storyline and the script of the movie. The charm of romance never fades away. The kind of romantic roles may vary. There is mature romance which ought to be played by the senior actors and there is college romance which is to be played by the young actors as senior actors cannot resort to singing songs and running around trees! There is an age factor. For instance, action heroes cannot keep on playing action roles forever."

However, young actor Sharman Joshi, who feels that cinema has constantly been evolving, says, ��It all depends on the theme of the movie and the individual. Romance can't be limited by a person's age. Nowadays movies have several exciting themes but romantic theme is right on top. I feel that romance can happen at any point of time.��
Komal Nahata, trade analyst, says, ��I wouldn't say that it's time for every actor to follow in the footsteps of SRK. However, if he has said it then it's a point to ponder on. Yet, some of the senior actors can still continue playing romantic roles for some time like Salman and Aamir. It's not that alarming a situation at the moment.��

End of Article