In Bollywood's Youngistan

The stars are in their 40s or more, playing roles unsuitable to their age. A new generation of actors waits in the wings.

Bollywood, we’ve been told again and again, is about youth — young romances, love stories and cinema halls flush with audiences in their teens and 20s. So why are all the leading men in their 40s? For at least a decade now they’ve played young lovers a little less convincingly each year. And, like Jeetender and Dharmendra, and even Amitabh Bachchan before them, they’re looking a little jaded now, middle-aged men trying desperately to pull off young roles, even though they’re fitter and better toned than their predecessors of a similar age used to be.

 

Sanjay Dutt, 51-going-on-52, despite the tattoos and biceps that he’s showing off in exotic Bahamas locales, looks fatigued in Blue. Ajay Devgn (40-plus) and Fardeen Khan (40-minus) look completely out of sorts in All the Best. Shah Rukh Khan (44), despite his charisma, looks exhausted in most interviews these days. Akshay Kumar (also in his 40s) hasn’t had a good run of films this year, and Saif Ali Khan (42), with Love Aaj Kal, has turned his attention to film production. That’s like Aamir Khan, another Khan in his 40s, who wants to reinvent himself constantly and, at the moment, is neck-deep in the post-production of 3 Idiots, where he plays, yes, someone who’s just past 20 — 20 years is how long he’s been in the film industry! Salman Khan (he’s touched the 40s, too), despite a dedicated following and a hit in the recent Wanted, doesn’t believe in “experimenting” or “reinventing” himself in films. As for Abhishek Bachchan or John Abraham, let’s just say they’re not in the same league — right?

So, where are the challengers? Who are the new and young male actors who will be tomorrow’s stars and are already doing path-breaking roles? Neil Nitin Mukesh? After a promising debut in Shriram Raghavan’s non-starter Johnny Gaddar, his next film Aa Dekhen Zara flopped. New York, his next, with Yash Raj Films, did well enough but didn’t exactly flatter him with offers afterwards. His next outing is director Madhur Bhandarkar’s Jail, hardly expected to raise him into the top league.

Imran Khan? He’s gone kaput. As the affable Jai Singh Rathore in Abbas Tyrewalla’s Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na, audiences fell in love with him and critics labelled him the “next big wonder” of the industry. But his strategy in “balancing the fine art of out-and-out commercial and budget movies” failed, and we wonder if he’s regretting his choice of films already.

Irrfan Khan, Deepak Dobriyal, Vinay Pathak? They’re all powerhouses of talent but they’re yet to carry off out-and-out commercial ventures.

So, clearly, our challengers are those not only making unconventional choices in their careers but also spinning, with their sheer brilliance and talent, box office fortunes for their films. The scripts they choose are genuinely different, they’re ready to work with a new breed of directors, they aren’t the quintessential “safe” players, and most of their films have worked well for the golden triangle of film economics — box office, audiences and critics.

Take Abhay Deol. The Satyakam of our times, Deol, it seems, has taken a leaf out of uncle Dharmendra’s career trajectory book. Dharmendra also started his career with unconventional roles in films like Bandini, Khamoshi and Satyakam. But Deol is aghast at suggestions that he has “strategies” for his career graph. “I’m in the business of cinema because I love it,” he says, adding, “I’ll never be able to do a Golmaal Returns.”

Deol started out with Socha Na Tha, Imtiaz Ali’s debut film. He plays Viren Oberoi, a young man who falls in love with a girl after he has refused to marry her. Deol followed up with films like Ahista Ahista, Honeymoon Travels, Manorama Six Feet Under, Ek Chalis Ki Last Local, Oye Lucky, Lucky Oye and Dev D, most of them showcased at prestigious film festivals. It wouldn’t be wrong to tag Deol the Fresh Face of Indian Film Festivals. Interestingly, most of these films were directed by debutants, all boasted terrific scripts, all were critically acclaimed, all — made on relatively modest budgets — reaped profits, and some, like Oye Lucky... and Dev D became box office hits. “My intention even now is to make films that are commercial. It’s not like I’m trying to select movies that won’t do well,” adds Deol.

He may be one of the most talented actors of his generation but Deol hasn’t had it easy. “I’m so tempted to write about my journey within the industry... of trying to keep my individuality in the face of an industry that only wants to mould you in the image of a ‘hero.’ Of trying to do films that everyone says ‘won’t work’,” he elaborates. Yet, he knows that his individuality is exactly his strength. “There are those who say I have it easy because I am the only one doing the kind of films I do. I’d like them to try and get to do what I have done. If I am reaping the benefits today, it is only because I have been through the worst,” he points out.

Like Deol, and despite tremendous publicity and hype, Ranbir Kapoor’s debut film Saawariya crashed within days of its release. In the film, Kapoor played Ranbir Raj, hopelessly in love with Sakina (Sonam Kapoor) even as she pined for her lover to return from another city. Given the Kapoor pedigree and a cinema lineage stretching back to his great-grandfather Prithviraj Kapoor, Ranbir Kapoor was careful in selecting scripts that suited his personality. Unlike Imran Khan, who was quick to shed the boy-next-door image, Ranbir used it to his advantage, and played his cards wisely. He was the “chilled-out guy” in Bachna Ae Haseeno, his second film, which scored well at the box office. Right now, Kapoor’s basking in the success of Wake Up Sid, a Dharma Productions film where he plays the lazy Siddharth Mehra, who prefers to live life at a relaxed pace with daddy’s millions available for his day-to-day expenditure.

In purely commercial terms, it wouldn’t be wrong to add that Kapoor does have an edge over Deol. Though his films may not achieve “cult” status like those of Deol’s in the long run, Kapoor’s films have the instant pull factor which gets audiences into cinema halls.

What Kapoor also has are endorsements. He gets Rs 1.25 crore as brand ambassador for Pepsi and Panasonic’s Viera range of home entertainment systems. Atul Kasbekar, owner of Bling Entertainment Solutions, which handles his endorsements, says, “Ranbir is one of the key torchbearers of Bollywood’s Generation Next.” According to Harish Bijoor, brand specialist and CEO of Harish Bijoor Consults, “Ranbir’s a fresh face, his films are doing well and he connects instantly with the youth.” Comparatively speaking, if there’s a disconnect with Deol — whose next film, Dev Benegal’s Road, is already getting rave reviews at film festivals worldwide — it’s because, he admits, he’s a poor salesman, one who is intensely uncomfortable even promoting his own films.

Promoting his own films is something that Farhan Akhtar’s had to do. He started out as a director with Dil Chahta Hai, and ever since his choice of films to direct and produce has been, well, different. If Dil Chahta Hai was a breezy tale of friendship and bonding between three young guys (but not young actors), Lakshya (despite being a dud at the box office) showed a directionless youngster transforming into an Indian Army officer on the battlefield of Kargil. With Don 2: The Chase Continues, Akhtar added a fascinating twist to the original Don.

No wonder, then, that his debut as an actor was keenly awaited. Rock On! revolved around four friends in a music band and had Akhtar essaying the complex role of a keen musician forced into the corporate life. The film clicked and soon after, Akhtar made his debut as talk show host on television. That brought him visibility, and his next film, Luck By Chance, ensured that critics as well as audiences took him seriously.

Akhtar still produces, through Excel Entertainment, and his next films include Kartik against Kartik, with Deepika Padukone, and Sudhir Mishra’s political satire Dhruv, with Chitrangada Singh — both unconventional scripts. If there’s one thing that makes him tick, says Akhtar, it’s his gut instinct.

That’s something Shahid Kapur can relate to. Not a big one for promoting his own films — he says he would prefer to let “his work do all the talking” — Kapur isn’t a newbie in the industry any longer. Yet he has had the courage to reinvent himself. Vishal Bharadwaj, who directed Kapur in what’s now one of the biggest hits of the year, Kaminey, says, “When I saw him in Jab We Met, I was stumped by his performance. He was underrated in that film but I knew then that I wanted to sign him on for Kaminey.” Bharadwaj could be right. Watch Kapur closely in any of his films (even his latest, Dil Bole Hadippa) and you’ll see that Kapur has the tremendous quality of being understated in a frame when required. But what he also did with Kaminey (apart from “learning how to stammer for months together so as to not reduce the handicap to a joke”) was to pick a script which was a story of twins whose lives were blotted by failure. If Kapur, as the simpleton Guddu, was constantly getting bashed up by goons, his twin brother Charlie, despite being a goon, was losing everything — friend and money, all in one night. Kapur, with Kaminey and Dil Bole Hadippa — the latter’s flop notwithstanding — has managed to consolidate his position in the industry. “Kaminey was challenging and a big risk, too, but I just had to say yes to it.”

His next film is with his father Pankaj Kapur, one of the most talented actors in the industry. The son is also doing Patshala, opposite Ayesha Takia, and Chance Pe Dance, a lighthearted romance with Genelia D’Souza.

Ranbir Kapoor doesn’t want to “take for granted that I’ve arrived”, Deol is happy doing the work that he loves doing, Akhtar feels that “we need good films to come out”, and Kapur agrees it’s the right time to be in an industry where “different” films too can be moneyspinners. Anything to look forward to, really, in Bollywood’s make-believe world, so long as they stop passing middle-aged men off as college dudes!