November 23, 2007

Comeback Girl

Some years ago a movie called, "Main Madhuri Dixit Banna Chahti hoon" (I want to become Madhuri Dixit) hit the silver screen in India. If you are asking yourself who is Madhuri Dixit, then I can safely say that you are not from India.

Madhuri Dixit, was the most successful actress in the Indian Film Industry, during the late eighties and the nineties, until she decided to quit. For a generation of men, like me, who grew up watching her movies, she, or the roles she played on screen, still form the basis of how what we expect from the ideal woman.

Anyways, the point here is that now she has decided to make a comeback after a hiatus of almost four years, and after giving birth to two sons. And what I can't help wonder is that is it a right move?

In an industry where currently girls as young as seventeen are making their debuts, can a forty year old woman make her presence felt, even if that woman is Madhuri Dixit. From what I have heard from people around me, the answer seems to be a no. The one lament I hear repeated all around is ," She looks old."

But, then, it must be admitted that the film industry, be it in India or anywhere else, has double standards when it comes to the age of the actors and actresses. While male stars "mature" as they age, the female stars just get "old" and are replaced by "fresher" faces.

Why do you think that is?

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