Ranveer Singh And Sara Arjun's 20-Year Age Gap In Dhurandhar Days After Kamal Haasan's Thug Life Row: What's New, Really?

NDTV

12 hours ago

New Delhi:
Because Bollywood's obsession with youth isn't ageing well.
It starts with a bang. And a facepalm.
Ranveer Singh turned 40 on Sunday (July 6). He dropped the first look of his film Dhurandhar. And the Internet... combusted.
Not because of the gritty action visuals. Not because of Singh's furious, blood-soaked glare. But because his onscreen love interest is Sara Arjun, an actress two decades younger, who many still remember as a child artist from Tamil cinema.
The Internet's math was swift and scathing: If Dhurandhar was filmed two years ago (which it was), Sara would've been 18 at the time. The backlash? Immediate.
"Can you imagine a 40-year-old man romancing an 18-year-old girl in 2024? Only in Bollywood," one user wrote. Another posted a still of the two actors side by side with the caption: "This is not casting. It's conditioning."
And just like that, Singh's birthday post gave way to Bollywood's most uncomfortable, evergreen conversation: the age-gap debate. Or as many call it now, the cinematic curse of eternal youth but only for men.
The ' Dhurandhar ' Discomfort
The first look teaser of Dhurandhar had everything going for it on paper. Stylised violence. Ranveer in a feral, never-seen-before avatar. And a mysterious storyline shrouded in grit. But nothing captured the public imagination quite like the 20-year age gap between its leads.
Sara Arjun, now 20, has acted in films since the age of 5. Her breakout role was in Deiva Thirumagal (2011) and she also portrayed young Nandini in Ponniyin Selvan.
To many, she is still the girl who tugged at heartstrings in emotional scenes with Vikram and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan. And now she's romancing Singh, one of Bollywood's biggest stars?
For many viewers, this wasn't casting, it was cognitive dissonance.
Love In The Time Of Midlife Crisis
But Dhurandhar is hardly the first film to trigger this visceral reaction.
Salman Khan (59) and Rashmika Mandanna (28) in Sikandar sparked similar outrage, more so when reports claimed Rashmika's real-life father is younger than Salman.
During promotions, Salman brushed off concerns with his signature smirk: "If the heroine and her father don't have a problem, why do you?" And just like that, a 31-year age gap was reduced to punchline politics.
Kamal Haasan (70) kisses 42-year-old Abirami in Thug Life? X (formerly Twitter) meltdown. Shah Rukh Khan (then 42) romances 21-year-old Deepika in Om Shanti Om? Box office hit, but still made people shift in their seats. Nawazuddin Siddiqui (48) locking lips with Avneet Kaur (21) in Tiku Weds Sheru? That one was universally slammed.
And let's not forget Akshay Kumar cast opposite Manushi Chhillar in Prithviraj (he's 54, she's 24), Sara Ali Khan in Atrangi Re and Kriti Sanon in Housefull 4. The running theme? Leading men in their 40s, 50s and even 60s romancing women half their age.
Because in Bollywood, male stardom doesn't age, it only gets a younger co-star.
When Women Tried To Flip The Script... But Failed
But flip the script, and suddenly, it's not charming, it's "desperate."
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan was crucified (online) for Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, where she played a sultry muse to a then 33-year-old Ranbir Kapoor, while she was 42. Trolls questioned her motherhood, her marriage, and her "dignity". Some called her "too old to be sexy."
Rani Mukerji in Dil Bole Hadippa with Shahid Kapoor? Chemistry "off." Kareena Kapoor in Ki & Ka with five-year-younger Arjun Kapoor? "Cringe." Priyanka Chopra romancing Ranveer Singh and Arjun Kapoor in Gunday? "Mismatched."
Even Katrina Kaif with a younger Aditya Roy Kapur in Fitoor raised eyebrows, despite a mere two-year gap.
That's the thing: When older women romance younger men, it's labelled unrealistic. But when a 64-year-old Mohanlal romances a 30-something actress, it's... "mass appeal."
The Internet Has Had Enough
The reaction to Dhurandhar is just the latest in what now feels like an annual festival of fury. Social media is flooded with memes, Reddit threads and viral tweets calling out Bollywood's "fountain of youth" bias for men.
One viral post read: "Bollywood logic: 40-year-old men fall in love, 40-year-old women fall off the casting list."
Another: "When a 70-year-old actress kisses a 40-year-old actor in a trailer, we'll call it 'magic'. Until then, miss us with the double standards."
The collective sentiment? The industry isn't aging, just its excuses.
Romance Is Ageless (Unless You're A Woman)
Younger male actors like Vicky Kaushal, Ishaan Khatter and Siddhant Chaturvedi have shown interest in working opposite older actresses. Yet the scripts rarely exist. Why?
Kajol, in an interview with The Lallantop, addressed this very imbalance, "This kind of discrimination has been acceptable for so long. Take Rajni (Rajinikanth) sir or any of the heroes, there isn't a single actor who hasn't worked with heroines 30 years younger than them. No one's asked: Should this still be happening? We only think about what will sell. Filmmaking is a business."
Ratna Pathak Shah, as always, didn't mince words, "When male actors are not ashamed to romance actresses who are younger than their daughters, what should I say?"
Atul Mongia, a veteran acting coach and casting director, said, "Women are objectified in commercial cinema. Once they reach a certain age or get married and have children-they're no longer seen as women of desire."
Actress Manisha Koirala, now 54, recently confessed that she is routinely excluded from projects due to her age. And remember Ridhi Dogra? She played Shah Rukh Khan's mother in Jawan, despite being 19 years younger than him.
So... Is Age Really Just A Number?
In theory, yes. In practice? Not in Bollywood.
Age-gap relationships can be real, tender, messy and moving. But when they become the industry's default, while older women get relegated to playing mothers and martyrs, it's time to reassess not just who we put on screen but why.
The worst part? Audiences are changing but the industry refuses to catch up.
From Dhurandhar, Thug Life to Sikandar, viewers are no longer buying the idea that a 20-something woman would fall head over heels for a man twice her age, especially when there's no compelling narrative reason for it. And that's the real tragedy. It's not the age gap that offends, it's the laziness.
Cinema reflects society, but it also shapes it. And when the only stories being told are those where older men are always desirable and older women are always disposable, what message are we really sending?
As Dhurandhar gears up for release, the question isn't just whether the film will be a hit. The question is whether the audience is finally tired of this outdated fantasy and whether Bollywood is ready to grow up.
Until then, the punchlines may land. But not always in the right place.