Fifty-plus and still ruling Bollywood

At the age of 61, Tom Cruise, known for his dashing, handsome, and flamboyant persona, continues to portray heroic roles in Hollywood action movies. His films consistently generate significant box office revenue, and he often performs his own action sequences, appearing remarkably youthful, comparable to a 30-year-old actor.

A similar trend is seen in Bollywood as well. Icons like Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan, and Akshay Kumar — all over the age of 56 — continue dominating the industry as their movies keep the cash register ringing. What’s more, even at the age of 65, Sunny Deol has surprised both critics and industry pundits by delivering one of the greatest hits of all time this year — ‘Gadar 2’. His magnetic presence — with his dhai kilo ka haath that still continues to crush the villains into smithereens, retaining every bit of his old brimstone qualities — has truly surprised the audience. 

Who says that actors in their 50s should only play age-appropriate roles? Grooving to the tunes of ‘Jhoome jo pathaan’ with Deepika Padukone in ‘Pathaan’, Shah Rukh Khan easily pulls-off action sequences and maintains a perfectly chiselled physique that defies his age, keeping fans of all age groups enthralled. ‘Pathaan’ has become the second highest grossing Bollywood movie worldwide. His recently released ‘Jawan’ also opened to rave reviews, delivering the biggest ever first week in the history of Bollywood.

Akshay Kumar, who celebrated his 56th birthday in September, delivered one of the biggest hits of his career with ‘OMG 2’.

Salman Khan’s movies ‘Bharat’ and ‘Dabangg 3’ did good business in 2019. His next venture ‘Tiger 3’, opposite Katrina Kaif made at a staggering budget of 300 crores will hit screens in November. Age seems like only a number for these actors who may not even consider transitioning to character roles anytime soon, given their unwavering popularity as heroes. 

If we compare these contemporary heroes to the popular heroes of the ’90s, we can see that none of their movies have had a significant impact at the box office after they crossed the age of 50. Amitabh Bachchan’s career took a downturn when he was barely 50 years old, and barring the box office success of ‘Hum’ in 1991. Movies like ‘Ganga Jamuna Saraswati’, ‘Ajooba’, ‘Jaadugar’, ‘Mrityudaata’, and ‘Sooryavansham’ sank without a trace. The audience grew weary of Amitabh’s jaded appearance as a hero. 

In his 60s, he discovered a new facet of his acting career as he embraced age-appropriate roles, often portraying the patriarch of the family. The same could be said of Rishi Kapoor, who appeared overweight and paunchy in his late 40s even as he played the protagonist with the likes of Divya Bharti. After the success of ‘Damini’ (a success often attributed to the stellar role played by Meenakshi Sheshadri), none of his subsequent movies except ‘Student of the Year’ (2012) managed to capture the same box office magic.

Actors like Vinod Khanna, Jeetendra, and Mithun Chakraborty faced a similar fate after crossing the age of 50. Despite their good looks and talent, they seemed to lose the charm and appeal required to portray leading roles. Poorly written scripts further contributed to their career challenges. The immensely talented but slightly rotund Vinod Khanna also began to appear aged after reaching 50. His last memorable and successful movie was ‘Jurm’ in 1990, alongside Meenakshi Sheshadri. He was then in his mid-forties. Mithun’s decline in Bollywood started after his brilliant roles in ‘Mujrim’ and ‘Prem Pratigya’ in 1989. Eventually, he left Bollywood in his early 50s and returned to B-grade Bengali action movies.

The success of the Khans and actors like Akshay Kumar serves as a reminder that they have managed to stay relevant by maintaining their youthful looks and appearances. Nevertheless, actors like Vicky Kaushal, Kartik Aaryan, Ranveer Singh, and Ranbir Kapoor provide tough competition to these aging stars.

(The writer is a senior journalist based in Delhi)