While Neena Gupta has been a part of some truly brilliant movies in the recent past, her characters have been a little similar on paper. Simply put, she has emerged as the industry’s new favourite ‘mom’, no matter the film.
Consequently, in an interview with Pinkvilla, Neena talked about whether the film industry will be open to casting older women in different roles. Specifically, when it comes to romantic pairings i.e. casting older women with younger male actors.
She talked about how she is open to the idea of romancing younger stars like Hrithik Roshan or Ranbir Kapoor, but she does not believe that people are open to the idea.
Why can’t I be opposite Shah Rukh Khan or Hrithik Roshan? They work with actresses who are like 20-25 years younger than them as heroines. I can romance Ranbir also, why not? Humari country mein bahut time lagega.
Neena Gupta isn’t far from the truth, because even today, pairings like the one we saw in Wake Up Sid or Ae Dil Hai Mushkil are few and far in between. More importantly, there are hardly any stories that have a greater focus on characters rather than the actors’ age. And one can only hope that the trend changes, for the better. Because let’s be honest, we’d love to see Neena Gupta romance Ranbir Kapoor in a novel, well-developed story.
