Akshay Kumar, 56, and the case of romancing much younger women on screen: 29-year-old Radhika Madan is the newest addition to the list

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Akshay has been romancing women much younger than him on screen for many years now. Right before the release of Samrat Prithviraj, indianexpress.com analysed the ever-increasing age gap between Akshay and his female co-stars. The stats were proof of the ugly truth showcasing the ageist tendency (towards women) of the Hindi film industry. Even after Samrat Prithviraj, Akshay starred alongside Diana Penty in Selfiee, who is 18 years younger than him and in Mission Raniganj, where a 21 years younger Parineeti Chopra played his on-screen wife.

A few months ago, when Manushi Chhillar, who has a shocking age gap of 29 years with Akshay Kumar, was asked about the same. The ex-Miss Universe, who was studying to become a doctor, admitted, rather frankly, that starring alongside an actor like Akshay gets her visibility, which is why she chose to work with him. While it is her choice, it is also important to note that a female actor who is just starting out in the entertainment business doesn’t really have that many choices. The film industry is an ageist business which is why we have stars in their 50s and 60s leading movies but their co-stars keep getting younger and younger. The state is such that when Ajay Devgn stars alongside his contemporary Tabu in Auron Mein Kahan Dum Tha, they are questioned about it because this isn’t seen as the norm but an exception.

Akshay Kumar and the ever increasing age gap he has with his female co-stars.

In the case of Sarfira, where Radhika Madan plays Akshay’s wife, one wonders if the film industry isn’t offering her enough opportunities to be seen in meaty roles. Radhika has proved herself as a strong performer in films like Pataakha and Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota, but they weren’t seen by a bigger audience. But Radhika has experienced being in front of millions of viewers at once during her television days, which made her a household name. If Vikrant Massey is to be believed, it must have paid her handsomely well. So one can’t help but think about why Radhika would take a project like Sarfira which seemingly offers her a less important part.

Of course, Radhika’s choices are her own but they certainly add to the narrative of ageism where men in their late 50s try to normalise romancing 20-somethings in film, and in most cases, they don’t even address the age gap. In fact, they sometimes do the reverse and gaslight their audience. Like in the 2022 film Cuttputlli, Rakul Preet Singh, who is 23 years younger than Akshay, actually says the dialogue that Akshay’s character looks “too young to be a father” and you can’t help but pause the film and have a good laugh about it.

While many other actors have been guilty of the same, Akshay’s decisions have been particularly noticeable. During one of his recent appearances on Kapil Sharma’s show, even the comedian couldn’t hold himself and made a comment about the same. Kapil, in jest, spoke about how Akshay starred with Madhuri Dixit and Ayesha Jhulka when he was in school, starred with Bipasha Basu and Katrina Kaif when he was in college, and now, he was romancing the likes of Kriti Sanon, Kiara Advani and Manushi Chhillar on screen. “Hum to bas inki heroines ke interview karne ke liye paida huye hain (I was born to just interview his heroines),” he said.

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In an ideal world, even the producers and directors of his films would be questioned about the ageist tendency of this practice but Hindi films don’t really work that way. Sudha Kongara, the director of Soorarai Pottru and Sarfira, was recently asked about how she selected Radhika for the role and after talking about the actor’s “spunk”, the director admitted that when she decided to cast Radhika, the actor looked like a teenager. “She looked about 15-16 so I said you have to look a little older. I don’t know what you will do but just make yourself look a little older because it’s not okay otherwise,” Sudha told Galatta Plus.

It is well known that in films such as this, or the many others that are led by Akshay Kumar and his contemporaries, female actors usually don’t have strong parts to play. It is also well known that male stars of certain stature are the ultimate decision makers when casting their films. Female actors, who are new to the business, are often not presented with many choices and are usually not in a position to reject opportunities that get them in front of a larger audience. Basically, the sexism of the system, and the society at large, has a huge part to play here.

Akshay isn’t the first actor who has romanced a much younger female actor on screen. When Dev Anand was singing love songs for Zeenat Aman in Heera Panna, she was 28 years younger than him. When Dilip Kumar was romancing Sharmila Tagore in Dastaan, she too was 22 years younger than him. Even Amitabh Bachchan was romancing a 32 years younger Shilpa Shetty in Laal Badshah. There are countless examples of this kind of rampant sexism in Bollywood but just because something has been happening for decades, doesn’t make it right. If someone with as much power as Akshay Kumar has no interest in making this change, then probably his PSAs, that appear before every film, should be seen just as another performance.