Vijay Sethupathi, who declined to act opposite Krithi Shetty in DSP, has finally revealed his reason for doing so. Contrary to Bollywood norms, the actor, now 46, cited the huge difference in age between him and Krithi who was 19 years old when Ponram’s film was being shot in 2022.
While promoting his film Maharaja, Vijay Sethupathi said, “I declined the offer to pair me with Krithi in DSP. I had played her father in Uppena, which the makers hadn’t known. There was a scene in Uppena that she was nervous about when we were shooting, and I had asked her to think of me as her real father at that time. She is a little older than my son. I told them I couldn’t do it.”
Doesn’t apply to other male stars
Age is just a number for heroes. Recently the casting of Rashmika Mandana opposite Salman Khan for AR Murugadoss’s Sikander made headlines, given the 30-year age gap between the two leads. Also, the average age of the 57-year-old Akshay Kumar’s roster of leading ladies is only reducing – they range from 33-year-old Kriti Sanon in Bachchan Panday to 31-year-old Kiara Advani in Laxmii and 27-year-old Manushi Chillar in Bade Miyan Chote Miyan.
Similarly, Shahrukh Khan (58) has romanced women 20 years his junior on screens, such as Deepika Padukone in Chennai Express and Jawan and Taapsee Pannu in Dunki, and Ajay Devgn (55) played the romantic lead opposite Rakul, over 20 years his junior, in De De Pyaar De.
Different rules for leading ladies
While these ‘December-May’ pairings are accepted when the woman is much younger, the same is not the case for actresses being paired with younger heroes. Vidya Balan has called out the inherent ageism in the industry. “The older heroes romance heroines way younger than them and play characters half their age. However, actresses after a certain age have no such liberties,” she noted.
Also, several female actors have found that playing older women on screen has cost them heavily. Shefali Shah, who played mother to the much older Akshay Kumar in Waqt, calls it her biggest mistake. “I was typecast in elderly roles opposite actors who were older to me in reality,” she rues.
But that’s the way it is. “Romancing younger heroines gives heroes a sense of machismo and it boosts their egos. Also, younger heroines are eager to please and make their way up, and will never say no to being romanced by the Khans, Akshay Kumar or Ajay Devgn, and are way more accommodating than the older actresses. Also some actors are eager to promote their current favourites. So it works both ways,” says a casting director.
