Big B in midlife crisis?

Every fortnight, tabloid! editor Sonali Raha will pass her views on a hot topic and invite readers to comment. A selection of your replies will be published in tabloid!

Why are Amitabh Bachchan's heroines getting so young? Is it a sign of him refusing to grow old?

Once upon a time, Amitabh Bachchan's leading heroine was Jaya Bhaduri, the talented actress who later became his wife.
Then it was Rakhee, another talented actress who sure knew how to cry. And of course, Rekha, the ever-green siren whose on- and off-screen chemistry with Big B has kept us engrossed for years.

Actresses of very different schools, they all shared one point: they were all Bachchan's contemporaries.

As the Angry Young Man of Hindi cinema, Bachchan did not feel the need to cavort with pretty young things. Why has that changed now?

In Nishabd, his heroine is the leggy teenager Jiah Khan. In Cheeni Kum, he plays an older – much older – mentor/lover to Tabu. Even in Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna (KANK), he plays an ageing Lothario whose heart, although in the right place, does not stop him from getting close to every available young woman.

A star who has never stopped being an actor, Bachchan today is the busiest man in Bollywood. In his 60s, he gets top billing and generates mass hysteria wherever he goes. He's clearly come a long way from being bankrupt or doing non-starters such as Toofan and Shahenshah.

Of course Bachchan can act – that's a given. Whether he's over-the-top ((KANK) or restrained (Eklavya), he fills the screen. But does he have to act like a typical ageing man clinging to his youth? We'd much rather see him act his age – as he did in films such as Mohabbatein and Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham.

Then again, you can always say he's an actor not afraid of breaking the stereotype, not afraid of taking a risk. Only wish that risk did not have to involve falling in (screen) love with women half his age – or younger!

Do you agree? or has Sonali made your blood boil?

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