INDIA: Hindi Cinema Is Coming To Terms With Issues Of Middle Age

Coming of age by Gautam Benegal MUMBAI (Daily News & Analysis), November 3, 2007: A sea change, Hindi cinema which recognised only bachpan (childhood), jawaani (youth) and budhapa (old age) is coming to terms with the issues of middle age. A few days ago, a famous TV star had her make-up man thrown out of the sets for colouring a few extra strands of her hair white. The actor, in her 20s, had to play 78. She loathed to give a wrong impression to her fans. All the foot touching, the pious comments, and the general posturing that goes on in the entertainment business about deference to seniority and so on is all so much humbug, if we can’t even portray age properly in our films and serials. This contempt for reality manifests itself in the clichéd portrayals of senior citizens in Hindi film culture. In over 200 films, Nirupa Roy has played the long suffering mother/housewife in carbon copy roles that offer no dimensions beyond weepy cardboard cutout. In double (and sometimes triple roles) actors have played themelves, their fathers — and sometimes their grandfathers as in the case of Kader Khan in a Govinda starrer. Except for rare films like Saaransh, mainstream Hindi cinema has hardly taken the role of the senior citizen seriously. They are either domineering parents or in-laws spouting obnoxious sexist dialogues or wronged parents driven out from their homes by selfish progeny (Avtaar (1983) starring Rajesh Khanna and Shabana Azmi). Today, about 80 million Indians — more than the entire population of Britain — are over 60. This is a sizeable constituency deserves to be addressed with more empathy and sensitivity. And there is change. Hindi cinema which recognised only bachpan (childhood), jawaani (youth) and budhapa (old age) is slowly coming to terms with the issues of middle age. Changing economies in a globalised India, rising interest rates and a choice of lifestyles have ensured that the old do not stay retired as previous generations did. And yes, they have a life. In Cheeni Kum, the groom to be (Amitabh Bacchan) is older than his prospective father-in-law. In Lage Raho Munnabhai, an old couple gets married and they celebrate in Goa with their septuagenarian friends with all the verve of teenagers. Baghban revisits the theme of neglect of elders much as Avtaar did. The difference lies in the youthful enthusiasm that Amitabh and Hema bring into their roles. This is a middle aged couple that can still romance each other. It is a definite improvement, even with all its flaws. Hopefully the hackneyed image of the perennially wronged and wretched mother at her ubiquitous sewing machine will make an exit from our collective memories — and along with it the idea of the senior citizen as a handicapped burden. © 2005-2007 Diligent Media Corporation Ltd. All rights reserved.