Dia Mirza on older actors romancing younger actresses to extend their own shelf life

By: Mohnish Singh

While only a few Bollywood actresses manage to secure leading roles in movies after crossing a certain age limit, actors do not shy away from romancing actresses half their age. This has been the norm in a male-dominated industry like Bollywood for ages and things do not seem to be changing anytime soon.

Talking about the same issue, popular actress Dia Mirza tells an Indian publication, “The industry is male-dominated. Older men like to be cast opposite younger women to extend their own shelf life. It is bizarre that a 50 plus something actor is acting opposite a 19-year-old actress.”

The actress, who entered filmdom with Rehnaa Hai Terre Dil Mein (2001) almost two decades ago, however, admits that opportunities for women have increased substantially in the industry. She says, “I think stories and opportunities for female characters have opened up significantly. There are more female representations now, more than ever. We have more female directors, DoPs, and editors. The number is lagging far behind even now but it is definitely more from the time I started working. It is that representation that has opened up the narration but I think that the advent of the OTT platform has truly given narratives that are driven from a feminine lens are increasing manifold. I am grateful for it.”

She goes on to add, “I hope that this expression of female actors allows them to play the leading part even when they are older. But the unfortunate truth of the matter is that stories are not written for the female older characters as much as the male ones. It is even more unfortunate to see an older man playing younger parts.”

Last seen in Anubhav Sinha’s critically-acclaimed film Thappad (2020), Dia Mirza next features in an upcoming Telugu film, titled Wild Dog.