One pattern that refuses to fade in Bollywood is the age-gap i.e. recurring pairing of significantly older male actors with much younger female co-stars. It’s been happening for decades, and while the screen might sell it as “chemistry”.
Let’s unpack some of Bollywood and regional cinema’s recent and not-so-recent on-screen pairings.
Salman Khan & Rashmika Mandanna – 31-year gap
Coming up in ‘Sikandar’ is a fresh but puzzling pairing — Salman Khan, 59, alongside Rashmika Mandanna, 28. Fans may be excited, but let’s be real: a man pushing 60 romancing a woman in her twenties isn’t “adorable” — it’s outdated, as many netizens are pointing out.
Nandamuri Balakrishna & Urvashi Rautela – 33-year gap
In ‘Daaku Maharaj’, 64-year-old Balakrishna stars opposite 31-year-old Urvashi Rautela. The age gap here is hard to ignore, not just because it’s huge — but because the narrative almost always demands that the woman bend into a version of youthful desire while the man simply plays himself.
Ishaan Khatter & Tabu – 24-year gap (Finally, a flip)
Here’s an exception — and a refreshing one. In ‘A Suitable Boy’, the 24-year-old Ishaan Khatter and 48-year-old Tabu explore a complicated, mature relationship. It’s rare that a story gives an older woman a romantic storyline without judgment or caricature, and it worked precisely ‘because’ the age gap was addressed and treated with sensitivity.
Amitabh Bachchan & Jiah Khan – 46-year gap
‘Nishabd’ attempted to explore a controversial subject: an older man’s infatuation with a teenager. While Amitabh Bachchan (65 at the time) and Jiah Khan (just 19) acted well, the film left many feeling uncomfortable.
Rajinikanth & Sonakshi Sinha – 37-year gap
In ‘Lingaa’, Rajinikanth (64) and Sonakshi Sinha (27) are paired in a typical action-romance. Sonakshi plays the young, pretty support to the male superstar — a role that hundreds of women before her have filled. Meanwhile, actresses Rajini’s age are rarely even offered mother roles anymore.
Amitabh Bachchan & Soundarya – 30-year gap
‘Sooryavansham’ is remembered more for its endless TV reruns than for progressive casting. A 57-year-old man playing a newlywed to a 27-year-old woman was considered “normal” back then. The sad part? It still is. For every one Soundarya, there’s a queue of talented actresses who never get lead roles past their thirties.
Rishi Kapoor & Divya Bharti – 22-year gap
‘Deewana’ was a hit, but that doesn’t mean we can’t question the casting. Divya Bharti was just 18, and Rishi Kapoor was 40. In hindsight, the pairing feels more like a missed opportunity to cast age-appropriate leads than a great love story.
Amitabh Bachchan & Tabu – 29-year gap
‘Cheeni Kum’ cast Amitabh Bachchan, then 65, opposite Tabu, 36, in a romance that tried to challenge age norms — but still leaned heavily on the trope of the older, wiser man and the younger, nurturing woman. While their chemistry was nuanced and the film was self-aware in places, it didn’t quite escape the industry’s familiar pattern.
Akshay Kumar & Sara Ali Khan – 28-year gap
In ‘Atrangi Re’, Akshay (54) plays a love interest to Sara Ali Khan (26). The Bollywood film tried to rationalize the age gap within the plot, but even so, the sight of such a duo made it clear how normalized this has become — and how rarely it works the other way around.
Amitabh Bachchan & Shefali Shah – 30-year gap
In ‘Waqt: The Race Against Time’, Amitabh Bachchan, then 63, played the father of a grown son — but was also cast as the husband of Shefali Shah, who was just 33 at the time.
When older male stars dominate the box office, filmmakers bend reality to keep them in romantic roles long past the industry’s “expiration date” for women. Meanwhile, actresses over 40 are often pushed into mother or side roles, even when they have the charisma and talent to headline films.