This year, three current superstars – Shahrukh Khan, Salman Khan and Aamir Khan—turn 60. Officially, they are now senior citizens. However, they are as spry as ever, doing tough action films, romancing younger leading ladies and dancing energetically on screen and on stage at various shows. The actresses they starred with in the past, like Madhuri Dixit, Juhi Chawla, Aishwarya Rai, Sushmita Sen, Preity Zinta, who are not yet 60, have to hunt for roles that suit their current ages, and star opposite older leading men. That has always been the case in the film industry; male stars have longer shelf lives. Dev Anand, for instance, was playing romantic leads well beyond the age of 60.
There are several stars who have crossed the age 60 barrier and are still active. But what were their careers looking like when they turned 60?
A look at a pick of stars, at the point when they crossed into senior status.
Dharmendra (Born 1935):
Not one to slow down, handsome as ever, and in keeping with his He Man image he did an astonishing number of films in the year he turned 60 – Policewala Gunda, Maidan-e-Jung, Aazmayish, Taaqat, Hum Sab Chor Hain, Fauji and Veer. As the titles indicate they are all action films. He didn’t always have a romantic track though, and the actresses he starred with in this era—like Reena Roy and Jaya Pradha—have long since retired.
Amitabh Bachchan (Born 1942):
The fittest and most active veteran star in India right now, in 2002, he did Vipul Shah’s Aankhen, in which he played the mastermind of a bank heist, using blind men for the job, and was nominated for a Filmfare award for best supporting actor; in David Dhawan’s Hum Kisise Kum Nahin, he played a psychiatrist to a goon and in Sanjay Gupta’s Kaante, for which he was nominated for the best actor award, he played an Indian in the US, who plans a bank heist.
Jeetendra (Born 1942):
Never known to be a great actor, Jeetendra chugged along, however, doing action films and family dramas, with varying degrees of success. At one time he dominated the films that came out of Hyderabad’s studios remaking their Telugu hits. What he brought to the screen that others of his time did not, was his dancing skills. The tight white trousers and white shoes became the style associated with him. When he turned 60, the roles were few and far between, and in 2002, he did not have a single release.
Sharmila Tagore (Born 1944):
She started her acting career with Satyajit Ray films, yet fitted right into the glamorous mould required of the Bollywood leading lady of the 1960s. She has just wowed audiences with her performances in films like Gulmohar and Purawtan, having aged gracefully like a true diva, 2004 was a blank in her filmography, though she never really gave up acting.
Hema Malini (Born 1948):
Many actresses before and after her, faded away or retired, the film industry’s norm being to ignore women over 40. But Hema bucked the trend and continued to find age-appropriate roles, but much fewer in number than the leading men she starred with. In 2008, she did not have a single release, though before and after she did have films coming out.
Shabana Azmi (Born 1950):
With her formidable talent, retirement was just not on her agenda. She still continues to act in Indian and international films, with an occasional foray to the stage. In 2010, she did a British comedy, It’s A Wonderful Afterlife, directed by Gurinder Chadha, in which she plays a mother keen on getting her daughter married and kills off the suitors who reject her. Then the spirits of her victims haunt her, and the plot gets crazier. Not one of the best in her filmography, but who’d imagine her as a serial killer.
Mithun Chakraborty (Born 1950):
Once the most prolific action and dancing star, his entry into politics may have mellowed him. He acts in quite a few Bengali films now, and age has not dimmed his Disco Dancer charisma. When he turned 60, he did Bengali films Shukno Lanka (for which he won a Star Jalsa Award for best actor), Target: The Final Mission, and the Rohit Shetty comedy, Golmaal 3.
Naseeruddin Shah (Born 1950):
Never in the rat race for typical Bollywood stardom, age never affected his career or his fan following among the discerning. His 60th year had an interesting mix of films from the offbeat to the potboiler—Peepli Live. Ishqiya. Raajneeti and Allah Ke Bandey—at least three of them memorable.
Rajinikanth (1950):
His superstardom is unprecedented. He continues to act in mostly successful films, and opposite increasingly young leading ladies. Age has never mattered to him, but after a point, he started doing fewer films, going for quality over quantity. At age 60, he acted in Enthiran, in the dual role of a scientist and a robot in S.Shankar’s film, one of the most expensive made till then. Dubbed into several languages—including Hindi as Robot—the film was a blockbuster.
Rekha (Born 1954):
The eternally enigmatic star makes public appearances in full regalia, but she gradually faded out of acting, even though a film pops up now and then—nothing like the roles in her heyday though. At the age of 60, she did a sadly forgettable film, Super Nani, directed by Indra Kumar, in which she played Sharman Joshi’s grandmother.
