Political correctness has injured many a career. With comments on weight being equated with body-shaming and a reference to age amounting to discriminatory devaluation of a person, everybody fights shy of showing the mirror. But looking youthful will always have its benefits.

A swan-like neck and calorie-counting slimness have helped 52-year-old Tabu stay on top of her game, moving gracefully through a variety of characters. The Lady Macbeth of Maqbool (2004) and the cunning Ghazala of Haider (2014) stayed afloat to pull off even an unabashedly commercial Bhool Bhulaiya 2 (2022). That’s a two-decade reign. Yet, there was a time when Tabu was cast aside for films like Munna Bhai M.B.B.S. (2003) because she was veering towards plump while TV actress Gracy Singh seemed a better fit as the lady doctor.

Allowing the kilos to go out of control has to some extent jeopardised Vidya Balan’s stardom too, despite being endowed with an animated face, a range of acting skills and a pleasant professionalism that endears her to filmmakers. Movies like Sherni (2021), Neeyat (2022) and Do Aur Do Pyaar (2024) were classic examples of Vidya the efficient performer having to be carefully covered with loose, billowing skirts and kaftans. There was a limit to how creative the dress designer could be, faced with the challenge of a clearly overweight heroine. But to regain entry into the Bhool Bhulaiya franchise, where she had aced it as Manjulika in 2007, Vidya has shed the kilos that had weighed down her career.

Now glowing with renewed energy, Vidya is stepping out in a sexier avatar, wearing sleek gowns with slits. Alongside a weight-conscious Madhuri Dixit (12 years older than Vidya) and a slim 30-year-old Tripti Dimri, Ms Balan cannot be left behind in the third edition of Bhool Bhulaiya. It will be a triumphant return to the franchise. Hopefully, she’ll continue to maintain herself and not allow the kilos to dictate.

It’s also time to call out actors who no longer sit well in the bracket of young, impressionable men. In Mr & Mrs Mahi, 39-year-old Rajkummar Rao made an ill fit as an irresponsible young dreamer being pulled up by his exasperated father. Despite putting in a trophy-fetching performance as the visually impaired Srikanth, Rajkummar couldn’t look convincing in the scenes where he was a high school boy or a collegian. Not everyone can do what Aamir Khan did in his 40s when he worked in 3 Idiots.

The stage is already being set for a new set of actors to start making waves. Aamir’s six-footer son Junaid has to make up for lost time as Maharaj, his debut film on which he began work before the Covid-19 pandemic, is raring to reach the audience. After Aditya Chopra relented from his year-long stand of releasing a YRF film only in the theatres, and allowed the film to stream on Netflix, Maharaj has been calibrated to come out immediately after the election results are declared. Look at how cautiously the dates have been fixed. Poll figures on the 4th. Trailer to be released on the 6th, a song to go public on the 10th. Going against YRF norm, a couple of pre-release screenings for industry colleagues and the media, followed by a tsunami of interviews with the lead cast. With Junaid playing the fiery but unassuming real-life journalist Karsandas Mulji and Jaideep Ahlawat in the title role of the godman embroiled in sleaze, the Maharaj Libel Case of 1862 hopes to skirt any anti-Hindu controversy.

But some of us have already seen Junaid’s work. Back in April, Aamir’s PR team had invited us to catch a show of Shikhandi in which Junaid had a prominent role. Straightaway, tick off his theatre-trained readiness for rehearsals and readings, and confident dialogue delivery. With Sai Pallavi and Khushi Kapoor as the heroines of his next two films and dad Aamir overseeing his career and PR, June will be full of Junaid.

Bharathi S. Pradhan is a senior journalist and author