The age gap between lead actors has always been a controversial topic in Indian cinema. In recent times, we have seen quite a few Telugu actors being criticised for romancing heroines half their age. During Bholaa Shankar’s release, people were upset with a scene featuring Megastar Chiranjeevi and Sreemukhi. Last year, the choreography in Mr Bachchan’s songs was criticised for featuring intimate and romantic dance moves between Ravi Teja and Bhagyashree Bhorse. This year, Balakrishna’s dance steps with Urvashi Rautela in Daaku Maharaaj drew huge criticism. Even Salman was trolled for romancing Rashmika in Sikander.
Recently, two Tamil heroes sparked debate on social media due to their huge age gap with the female leads. One is Kamal Haasan and the other is Suriya. The trailer of Kamal Haasan’s Thug Life featured him kissing Abhirami, who is around 29 years younger than him and having a cosy sequence with Trisha, who is 28 years younger than him. These shots from the trailer sparked a huge debate on social media, and many people questioned the filmmaker’s decisions.
On the other side, Suriya’s new film was launched recently, and it was announced that Premalu fame Mamitha Baiju will be sharing screen with him in the movie. Even this decision didn’t sit well with a section of people. Meanwhile, we hear that Mamitha will not play Suriya’s romantic interest in the movie but will be seen in a crucial role.
A section of people opined that if Chiranjeevi and Ravi Teja were called out, even Kamal Haasan and Suriya should be called out for acting with heroines much younger than them.
However, some users clarified that there is no issue if senior heroes act alongside much younger heroines, but the problem arises in the way romantic sequences are shot. They argued that Chiru’s scene with Sreemukhi, Balayya’s dance with Urvashi and Ravi Teja’s song with Bhagyashree were sexualised to appeal to a particular section of the audience. They said that Kamal’s sequences with Abhirami and Trisha were not sexualised but came as a part of the story. Anyways, one can judge those scenes only when Thug Life gets released.
On the other hand, Salman also responded to Sikander criticism saying if Rashmika and her mother do not have a problem about him romancing her the actress on the screen, why should anyone have it. He even expressed a desire to even work with Rashmika’s daughter.
In the commercial format of cinema, there are a section of audiences who are never bothered about the age gap between the lead pair and all that it matters is how they look on the screen. Even for filmmakers, it is all the calculations of the market and craze that push for such combinations to take place on the screen.
So, this is a never-ending problem and it co-exists with the system while making no harm to anyone.
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