After nepotism, ageism seems to be the new word that Bollywood is going to grapple with. Bhumi Pednekar and Taapsee Pannu's portrayal of much older Chandro and Prakashi Tomar in Saand Ki Aankh didn't go down well with many veteran actresses. Neena Gupta and Soni Razdan were vocal about how filmmakers should have taken the risk to take older actresses for the role.
When one user wrote on Twitter that though the trailer looked fabulous, maybe the filmmakers should have cast older actresses in the film. Neena Gupta had replied, "Yes i was just thinking about this hamari umar ke role toe kamsekam humse kara lo bhai."
Alia Bhatt's mother, Soni Razdan told Quint, "I love both these actors honestly but I mean why? I get there is something called box office draw but then why make a film on 60-year-olds if you can't cast the real ones?" She further asked the makers, "This makes no sense. I think it's about authenticity. Would The Kominsky Method have worked with 30-year-olds? It's just silly beyond a point. I don't know the script and that's not for me to suppose. I'm just saying that all this talk of Bollywood breaking out of the stereotype is rubbish. If this is what we are back to in the end. One film - Badhaai Ho - doesn't mean a stereotype has been broken."
"I'm used to controversies now. Maybe the trailer was so good, they wanted to do the film themselves. But I know I can play a person of any age and gender, race or sexual orientation—that's what 'acting' is about. If my performance is not up to mark, you can criticise me, else it's a lame conversation," Taapsee told Mumbai Mirror.
Well, we wonder what new controversy would her recent statement spark.
