From sexism to patriarchy to romantizing toxicity, Bollywood has countless problems. And recently, there has been a major debate about the prevalent ageism in Bollywood movies – where the hero gets older, while the heroine gets replaced by a younger heroine.
Recently, Akshay Kumar’s remake of tip-tip barsa pani from Sooryavansham hit the screen, and it drew lot of criticism. As many called out makers for replacing Raveena Tandon with a younger actor against Akshay Kumar.
But, the same debate got heated with the poster release of Prithvi Raj Chauhan that stars Akshay Kumar, aged 54yrs, against Manushi Chhillar, aged 24yrs. But not just Prithvi Raj Chauhan, here are Akshay Kumar’s movies, where his leading ladies seem to get younger with each new film. And sadly, we’re not making this up:
1. Patiala House (2011)
(Age Gap: 23 Years)
With the massive age gap of 23, Akshay Kumar was 44 at the time and Anushka Sharma was just 23.
2. Rowdy Rathore (2012)
(Age Gap: 20 Years)
Akshay’s leading lady Sonakshi Sinha was 25 at the time and Akshay was 20 years elder to her. And, sadly, there was no reasonable explanation for the age gap.
3.Singh is Bling (2015)
(Age Gap: 25 Years)
Akshay Kumar’s co-lead in the film, Amy Jackson, was only 23 at the time the movie released. Akshya, on the other hand, was 48 at the time and thus, 25 years her senior.
4. Toilet: Ek Prem Katha (2017)
(Age Gap: 22 Years)
During this time, Akshay was 50 years old while Bhumi Pednekar was 28.
5. Pad Man (2018)
(Age Gap: 18 Years)
At 51, Akshay was paired against Radhika Apte, who plays his wife in the film, was 33 when the film came out.
6. Kesari (2019)
(Age Gap: 21 Years)
With age gap of 21 years, Parineeti Chopra was paired against Akshay Kumar in the film. Akshay Kumar was 52 when the film released, and Chopra, 31.
7. Housefull 4 (2019) & Bacchan Pandey (2022)
(Age Gap: 23 Years)
Sadly, the latest Housefull edition, was a brutal assault as all the three male leads were considerably older than their female co-stars. At age of 52, Akshay Kumar was romancing Pooja Hegde and Kriti Sanon, who were 29 at the time. That’s an age gap of 23 years! And, fast forward to 2022, now they are coming together in Bachchan Pandey!
8. Laxmii (2020)
(Age Gap: 25 Years)
In Laxmii, Kiara Advani (28) was casted against Akshay Kumar, who was 53 at that time. What is even more disappointing is the fact that Ayesha Raza, who is actually 10 years junior to Kumar in real life, played his mother-in-law in the film.
9. Bell Bottom (2021)
(Age Gap: 21 Years)
In Bell Bottom, Vaani Kapoor, who is 33, played Akshay Kumar’s love interest in the film. Kumar is 54.
10. Prithviraj ( Yet to be released)
(Age Gap: 30 Years)
Akshay Kumar’s new historical drama is with former Miss World Manushi Chhillar. Manushi, who plays Kumar’s love interest, is only 24 years old. With age gap of 30 years, many couldn’t stop, but notice how Akshay Kumar is just being paired against the younger actors.
In very few movies, Kumar has starred with actors, who were closer to his age. But those films are very less in number. It is disgusting how Bollywood has forgotten what age-appropriate casting looks like. Even many netizens called out Bollywood for its prevalent sexism and demanded this trend to die! Are you also tired of Bollywood’s double standards and hope to see more age-appropriate casting in the coming times? Let us know.
*Image: Screenshots from the respective movies