Tut, tut, somebody should have advised NCP supremo Sharad Pawar’s daughter Supriya Sule before she put both her feet into her mouth. When cousin Ajit Pawar jolted Maharashtra last week and took on his 82-year-old uncle by asking him to retire gracefully and give his blessings to the younger generation, Supriya hit back by citing Ratan Tata of all the people. “What’s Ratan Tata’s age? 85,” she thundered. “Has he retired?” Yes, he did, ma’am. When he turned 75 in 2012, he gave up his executive powers in the Tata Group and has been chairman emeritus for over a decade. Emeritus in the corporate world is equal to marg darshak in Indian politics, a guide to the younger executive.
“Has Amitabh Bachchan retired?” Supriya went on. Well, he has retired from competing with youngsters and does grandpa roles commensurate with his age. Also, actors don’t retire, they fade away. Amitabh is blessed that he hasn’t faded away.
The point she made on behalf of her dad wasn’t wrong. It’s the examples she chose that were inappropriate.
But age will crop up many more times during the Lok Sabha elections.
Last week, I saw an advance copy of Chal Mann Vrindavan, a beautifully laid-out coffee table book, professionally and passionately produced by Hema Malini. It’s a tour de force of the MP of Mathura, a look at the many projects which have given her constituency a tangible facelift. The foreword is by the PM.
Will Hema Malini contest elections once again from Mathura?
If the choice were left to her, she will be out there in a trice fighting for her Lok Sabha seat. But with her 75th birthday looming large this October, will her party permit her a third term?
It’s when you look at a robust and fighting-fit Hema that you wish age wouldn’t come in the way.
Besides, Hema has an almost karmic connection with Mathura. Way back in 1979, it was she who initiated the idea of a film on Meera, which Gulzar directed. And, apart from the many dance ballets she has performed on the Lord Krishna theme, when she was asked to choose a constituency in 2014, she chose Mathura where she has built her own personal house too. Looking at Hema, it seems unfair to factor age into a politician’s eligibility.
Talking of age, 87-year-old Dharmen-dra, 75-year-old Jaya Bachchan and 72-year-old Shabana Azmi are the golden oldies who’ll be rocking the screen and bolstering youngsters Alia Bhatt and Ranveer Singh when Karan Johar’s Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahani (RARKPK) releases in theatres this month.
Karan is too much of a people’s person to launch his first trailer by remote control when he was in London being felicitated by the British Parliament on June 20. It was, therefore, more up his street when he had the media drop in at his office where he and a daisy- fresh Alia spent time meeting everyone besides watching the trailer in Dharma’s private little theatre.
Taking a break from attempting issue-based cinema like My Name Is Khan, Karan is back to his forte of packaging multi-generational emotions with lavish songs, dances, clothes and some wit. In an atmosphere where the public is largely indifferent to new films in theatres, there is at least some curiosity over RARKPK that will help the opening collections.
Karan has done a bit of real-life casting this time by getting Jaya Bachchan to play the no-nonsense senior. Offscreen too, Jaya is renowned for pulling up people all around her with schoolmarm sternness.
But she is no conniving schemer. Jaya is a “you get what you see” person.
Back in 1981, a disapproving Jaya had avoided visiting Hema when she delivered her first daughter Esha. But times change and people melt. Jaya, too, melted after working with the immensely likeable Esha in her debut Koi Mere Dil Se Poochhe (2002).
Hema Malini and Jaya Bachchan, two strong 1948-born Juhu residents with vastly different personalities. But what they share are movies, “don’t-mess-with-me” dignity and straightforwardness. To top it, they are always newsworthy. Age has nothing to do with it.
