Mummy Mix

Is the collective Indian psyche coming of age? Going by the sudden spurt of respect-lined admiration for 50-plus women, the answer seems to be a resounding yes. The woman in the public space appears to be finally breaking free of the beti-biwi-buddhi shackles. As the icons of a generation age, a lucky few8212;helped not a little by the retro wave that keeps their youth in the public eye8212;are enjoying a second coming.

8216;8216;Hemaji is just so stunning,8217;8217; says a floored Ravi Chopra, director of Baghban, whose father8217;s heyday coincided with his heroine8217;s. 8216;8216;We couldn8217;t think of anyone else for the role of a woman whose husband is besotted with her 40 years after marriage.8217;8217;

Boom didn8217;t attract quite that kind of notice, but Zeenat Aman is revelling in the compliments she received for her brief appearance in the film. 8216;8216;People are saying I8217;m looking just as good as I ever did, which makes me feel very nice,8217;8217; says the 50-something Aman, who is currently touring the country with her play Chupkay Chupkay. 8216;8216;I do need to shed a few kilos, but I8217;ve maintained myself over the years with happy thoughts, happy deeds and a bit of exercise.8217;8217;

And it only gets better, assures Shabana Azmi. 8216;8216;Life hasn8217;t changed because ageing is a process. The best roles of my life8212;Godmother, Saaz, Fire8212; happened after I was 40. I became an MP at 47. And now at 53, I8217;m looking forward to Khalid Mohammed8217;s Tehzeeb and Mahesh Dattani8217;s Morning Raga,8217;8217; says Azmi.

Most refreshingly, though, not all the applause is reserved for bravura performances or 8216;appropriate8217; ageing, a la Nirupa Roy. If Hema evoked more ceetees for Baghban than her daughter Esha ever has, Shabana is quite candid when she admits to enjoying being called 8216;sexy8217;. 8216;8216;It makes me feel wonderfully alive,8217;8217; says the actress. 8216;8216;In fact, I am not even hugely surprised by it. An innate part of sex appeal is belief in oneself and the ability to accept age with grace.8217;8217;

Ask Maharani Gayatri Devi about it. At 84, she is the face of the Arisia Gayatri Devi Solitaire Collection, to be launched next month in Mumbai. Says Devika Gidwani, director, Diamond Information Centre, 8216;8216;We chose her because she is the face of royalty in India. She is regal, beautiful, chic and very modern. She8217;s the ultimate style icon.8217;8217;

But the Grandmama of Glamour says it8217;s no big deal. 8216;8216;I8217;ve always got compliments for my beauty. So what8217;s this fuss all about?8217;8217; asks the silver-haired, chiffon-clad octogenarian. 8216;8216;What I do have a problem with, though, is the word 8216;sexy8217;. I think it is a very cheap and common word, I don8217;t really approve of it. There are so many women who dress well and are very attractive. Sexiness has nothing to do with it.8217;8217;

Chances are, though, that even the Maharani wouldn8217;t object to Rekha being described as sexy. Never mind her white sari appearance in Koi8230;Mil Gaya, she continues to be a photographer8217;s delight some 40 years after she stepped into the arc lights. Just start off Jayesh Sheth8212;the only lensman Rekha has posed for in the past seven years8212;about his muse, and the spiel refuses to stop. 8216;8216;It8217;s so difficult to capture her beauty. No lens can ever do justice to her aura. She is game for even the most bizarre ideas because she knows she has the panache to carry off anything.8217;8217;

The gush is justified to some extent, for it was a photograph of Rekha that was the high point of Sheth8217;s professional life. 8216;8216;Rekha is known to be unhappy doing long shots because she feels she is not in good shape. But she did one full-length shoot for me in black net stockings and body-shaped boots, and she looked WOW!8217;8217; says Sheth. 8216;8216;People always ask me how long I can continue to shoot the same face, but she is my institute of learning.8217;8217;

Sentiments that people around Aparna Sen8212;now in pre-production with her first Hindi film Guleil8212;could identify with. 8216;8216;She8217;s become even more active ever since she turned 50,8217;8217; exclaims daughter Konkona. 8216;8216;Earlier she just used to act. Now she8217;s a magazine editor, a film director and a grandmother. She8217;s just so alive and fresh all the time, and so beautiful. But she refuses to believe people who compliment her on her beauty. Some days she thinks she8217;s looking great, other days she believes she8217;s looking ugly. I guess that8217;ll always be a woman8217;s prerogative!8217;8217;

Chandigarh-based theatre personality Neelam Man Singh Chowdhry, too, believes age is a state of the mind. And though she acknowledges she probably has more years behind her than ahead of her, hair dye is the only concession she makes to the advancing years. 8216;8216;I don8217;t like to do it, but I have to,8217;8217; she cribs.

And then cheers up immediately as she recounts her latest high. 8216;8216;One is used to hearing things like, 8216;Oh, you were so pretty when you got married8230;8217;8212;in 1976! But recently, a friend greeted me by saying, 8216;Oh, is that you? You look so much better now!8217;8217; laughs Chowdhry. 8216;8216;It was the best compliment of my life.8217;8217;

The difference, believes lady in white Simi Garewal, is understanding and experience. 8216;8216;One is able to take a step back, look at the bigger picture and not jump head first into anything,8217;8217; says the talk-show host. 8216;8216;At one time, I thought all people above the age of 40 were old. I no longer think that!8217;8217;

Age, insists Chowdhry, is a distinct advantage in show-biz. 8216;8216;Women like Shabana and Hema can give younger girls a run for their money any day,8217;8217; says the 52-year-old. 8216;8216;In youth faces can be so empty. Faces need to be filled up with age, life, years.8217;8217;

Award-winning director Rituparno Ghosh would agree. Often hailed as the flag-bearer of Bengal8217;s film-making tradition, he cast Sharmila Tagore in Shubho Muhurat, and firmly believes the Ray discovery did him a favour.

8216;8216;She is the perfect combination of the rasas of a nayika as described in the Natyashastra,8217;8217; says the 30-something director. 8216;8216;Sharmila to me personifies India, what it aims to be and what it is. As a person she is always open to experience. She could have quite easily not done my film but she did it because she wanted to work with a young film-maker, it just shows how young she is.8217;8217;

Young, not in body, but in mind. If Azmi is quite emphatic she is 8216;8216;not in competition with girls 30 years my junior8217;8217; and will not even colour her hair to hide the grey, and Aman8217;s key is 8216;8216;happiness8217;8217;, the others attribute their desirability factor to open-secret healthcare regimens. Simi swears by gallons and gallons of water, and Hema by reiki, exercise and dance.

La Malini, in fact, has the last word. Age and public interest, she believes, are irrelevant. 8216;8216;You should look good for yourself. It makes you so happy,8217;8217; says the mother of two. Us too!

With inputs from the Mumbai bureau