Acclaimed actor Tabu, whose upcoming film De De Pyaar De is about a 50-year-old man’s relationship with a 26-year-old girl, says cinema does not work in isolation and reflects societal choices and concept.
The actor was interacting with the media at the trailer launch of De De Pyaar De along with co-actors Ajay Devgan and Rakul Preet Singh, director Akiv Ali and producer Luv Ranjan, on Tuesday.
When asked if there would be a time in Hindi films when the female character would be shown older than her male counterpart, Tabu said, “If certain things are accepted in society then I think films will reflect that. I think the older man and younger woman concept is more widely accepted in the world and in society, so, we see more of it on screen. I am sure that societal choices and the way we live will reflect in cinema because cinema is not happening in isolation.”
The age gap issue has been experimented with as a theme, several times, in Hindi cinema – including in Tabu’s own filmography, Amitabh Bachchan-starrer Cheeni Kum.
The actor was also asked about female actors’ shelf life — if she considered their shelf life less as compared to male actors. Ajay Devgan chose to answer the question: “I think this kind of a question is outdated because time has changed. Today, actresses have more shelf life or as much life as compared to the male actors. It’s not true at all and I am sure everybody will agree with it.”
“There is no difference in shelf life anymore. It was there earlier, but now it is not the case. I think Tabu is here, Kajol is here and there are so many of them who are still working in films. So, things are changing,” he added.
De De Pyaar De, produced by T-Series and Luv Films, will release on May 17.