Avid Bollywood fans will agree that the industry has evolved immensely over the past few decades. Gone are the days of running around trees and singing in the rain. Also, gone are the days when the main leads were written specifically for up and coming actors. I decided to take a look at a few films that have gone against the norm, and where slightly older stars are now in the spotlight.The standard formula for a Bollywood formula is that the cast will be made up of one or more central young characters, with some of yesteryears stars playing the role of parents. It is highly unlikely that say, the father of the hero becomes the main character in the film. Think Khabie Khushi Khabi Gham. Amitabh Bachan was the patriarch of the film – holding his family together, but it was Shah Rukh Khan’s character (along with others, like Hrithik Roshan, Kajol and Kareena Kapoor) who really gained much attention from the film.

Bollywood is star-studded with up and coming young actors. This leaves stars of the past two decades playing roles of parents or villains. Of course, there are films where older characters are given a different kind of role to play, like Amitabh Bachan’s character in Karan Johar’s Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna.

However, it seems as though that it was Ravi Chopra’s Baghban, starring Amitabh Bachan and Hema Malini as the lead couple, that films written for actors above the age of 60 have come to be noticed once again. The film dealt around relationship of parents and children and the obligation and reciprocation existing between the two generations. Stars like Salman Khan and Mahima Chaudhary had secondary roles in the film as the story revolved primarily around Bachan and Malini. Audiences the world over related to the problems and emotional turmoil that is faced by the older generation. Younger viewers were given a break from what has become the tradition of bikini-clad films and were able to view serious situations in a different light.

Ravi Chopra was so overwhelmed by the success of the film that he came out with two other films with Bachan. The first was Babul, where the father-in-law tires to get his widowed daughter-law (Rani Mukherjee) remarried. In Mahesh Manjrekar’s Viruddh, Bachan plays a father who fights for justice for his dead son.

Victor Banerjee stars in Jogger’s Park where he plays the role of a well-known retired judge. He meets Jenny, played by Perizaad Zorabian and is absolutely smitten by her. Although she is much younger than him, he is willing to sacrifice his family and reputation for her. Films like this seem to be paving the way for more controversial subjects, which Bollywood audiences are beginning to be introduced to.

But what is interesting is that Big B seems to bagging most of the leads in such films these days. Is there a chance that there will be competition between Amitabh and Abishek one day? Be sure to check in next month as we discuss the Big B vs Small B!