In 2015, it was bizarre when Bollywood’s most sought actress Deepika Padukone known for her glamorous avatar and commercial movies, was paired with middle-aged Irrfan Khan, who is mostly associated with offbeat movies. It was quite unbelievable when Deepika accepted the title role of Piku at her career peak, and Deepika’s fans felt it to be total mismatch. But once the movie was released, this couple received positive response from critics and their fans, and at any point of time, it was never felt on screen that they form an unconventional pair. They covered their jodi-mismatch through the brilliant performance they exhibited onscreen, and the movie met with critical and commercial success.
It’s not the first time similar experiments were successfully executed in Bollywood cinema. A loud noise of applause to the audience and crazy fans as well, who gave important to film script and acting performances, and making those films memorable hits. Ae Dil Ee Mushkil starring Aishwarya Rai and Ranbir Kapoor is an awaited movie of the year, belonging the same category. Through this column I would like to mention a few more successful movies where lead roles were portrayed by unconventional onscreen couples.
Amitabh Bachchan and Tabu in Cheeni Kum
It’s one of the finest movies of Balki’s career. The movie told the unconventional love story between a woman in her 30s and an old man, elder than her own father. Its melodious music and the screen chemistry between its lead actors were loved by audience.
Ranbir Kapoor and Konkana Sen in Wake Up Sid
Ranbir Kapoor and Konkana Sen Sharma in Wake Up Sid
Yet another love story of age mismatch. Ranbir is known for his glamorous looks while Konkana is known for her talent skills, and when they were paired onscreen the movie went on to become a hit. The equation between the two created great wonders onscreen. Iktara – the melodious romantic track was the highlight of the film.
Amitabh Bachchan and Jiah Khan in Nishabd
A scene from Nishabd-movie
When a newcomer Jiah Khan was paired with much older Big B in a Ram Gopal Varma movie, it looked bizzare. She appeared in a bold avatar in her debut film also. Jiah was only 19 and Amitabh was 65, and the movie performed reasonably well at box office.
Amitabh Bachchan and Rani Mukerji in Black
Amitabh has worked with younger heroines multiple times in Bollywood. Though the highly acclaimed Black tells the story of the deep bond of a student and her teacher, the movie also throws light for a romantic attraction of Rani Mukerji for her teacher. Not only that, the movie also witnessed an onscreen kiss between the lead pair.
Naseeruddin Shah and Vidya Balan in The Dirty Picture
Vidya Balan was paired with the talented Naseeruddin Shah many years senior to her. But when things worked out as script demanded, the movie went on to become a blockbuster and established Vidya as the female superstar of Bollywood.
Kareena Kapoor and Arjun Kapoor in Ki and Ka
Balki has earlier created magic through the unconventional pairing of Big B and Tabu through the film – Cheeni Kum. This time the lead actor was paired with an actress senior to him. Though the movie received mixed response from critics, the movie emerged as commercial success. The audience accepted the fresh pairing and intimate scene shots.
Dimple Kapadia and Akshaye Khanna in Dil Chahta Hai
One of the path-breaking movies of early 2000s, the chemistry between much older Dimple and younger Akshaye was one of the highlights of the film. The film was a major hit at box office also.
Alia Bhatt and Randeep Hooda in Highway
When the cute doll Alia was paired with a senior actor Randeep Hooda for Imtiaz Ali’s Highway, Alia’s fans would have definitely thought, ‘Will it work out?’ Since then she has worked with only newcomers and younger actors of the industry and was seen in romantic roles only. It was for the first time she got paired with an action hero. Highway proved to be the milestone movie of Alia’s career.
Amitabh Bachchan and Saundarya in Sooryavamshan
In the 1990s, Amitabh worked with many younger heroines like Manisha Koirala, Shilpa Shetty etc. However his screen pairing with south Indian star Saundarya in Sooryavamsham got recognized. He played a double role in this movie. Similarly his double role in Bade Miya Chote Miya, where he was paired opposite Ramya Krishnan also received box office success.
Shah Rukh Khan and Alia Bhatt could join the list
One of the much-awaited releases of the year is Dear Zindagi, where Shah Rukh appears in the role of a doctor. He is paired with much younger Alia Bhatt, and we are eager to see if this screen pair weaves great wonders onscreen.
It’s true such unconventional pairs have been experimented onscreen several times before. Yet those odd pairs have not worked out in producer’s favour all times. ‘Shirin Farhad Ki Toh Nikal Padi’ starring Boman Irani and Farah Khan was also one such unconventional pairing onscreen.
Read a few more miscellaneous posts on Bollywood stars and movies of today. Here is the page link. Click on the images to read.
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