102 Not Out highlights what Bollywood might lose out on, thanks to its obsession with youth

Three years ago, in Shoojit Sircar’s Piku, Amitabh Bachchan played a senile 70-year-old, obsessed with self-victimisation and all the clinical disorders that plagued his body and mind. In Umesh Shukla’s recent release, 102 Not Out , he is giving life lessons to his 75-year-old son. [caption id=“attachment_4343271” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  Rishi Kapoor and Amitabh Bachchan in a still from 102 Not Out. Screengrab from YouTube[/caption] Yes, Bachchan plays father to fellow senior citizen (Rishi Kapoor). He is 102 and ’not out’. The choice of words is apt since he indeed considers his life a game of cricket. His proverbial second innings is seamless and the score is cumulative of all the matches he has played, and will play in the near future. As you may have guessed from the film's trailer , he wants to be the oldest man alive. That is quite ambitious for a man as young at heart as his 102 Not Out character. In fact, he does not limit his age to his indefatigable body. He also tries to instill the same philosophy in his son, who has taken the “bhojan, bhajan and Bhajji” mantra of Paresh Rawal’s character from Cheeni Kum too seriously. He does not want to engage in any activity uncharacteristic of his age. He is holding on tightly to his past regrets and future fears. He cannot claim what his daddy cool swears by: “Main apni life mei ek bar bhi nahi mara (I have not died even once in my life)”. Their 102 Not Out characters are an extension of their offscreen personalities as at the age of 75 and 65 respectively, Bachchan and Kapoor just refuse to slow down. It can even be argued that they are in their prime, as rarely do actors who’ve crossed into the ‘senior citizen’ pale get such significant lead roles. Last year, Salman and Shah Rukh Khan confessed their age was becoming a hurdle  when it came to choosing more challenging roles. Shah Rukh cited his leg surgery as the reason he couldn’t get down on his knees to play a dwarf in Aanand L Rai’s _Zero._ Salman admitted he cannot do roles that demand heavy prosthetics as he has a 90 percent blockage in his nose. Meanwhile, it was alleged that a  reliance on steroids  had helped Aamir Khan execute his magical physical transformation for Dangal. This is significant because it was when they entered this very age bracket that the Khans are now in (50+) that Bachchan and Kapoor switched to non-lead roles (or “age-appropriate” roles). Both have had their share of health issues; however, they have also spoken out about the lack of substantial lead parts to come their way. Age may just be a state of mind, but it’s a number that rarely hits bull’s eye at the box office. In the upcoming film _Hope Aur Hum_ , Naseeruddin Shah plays an antiquarian in love with his photocopying machine. His romance with the vintage machine would have made for a poetic story in itself, but the director also ropes in a host of young actors, including two children, to populate the film. Shah’s rather intriguing character gets lost in the chaos. [caption id=“attachment_4443817” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  Naseeruddin Shah in a still from Hope Aur Hum. Screengrab from YouTube[/caption] Similarly, his wife Ratna Pathak Shah’s narrative in Alankrita Shrivastava’s 2016 film _Lipstick Under My Burkha_ warranted a film of its own. But three more women, across all ages, bring their stories to the table too. This enhances the film’s communal feeling but also undermines what could have been a solo story of an elderly woman from Bhopal who aspires to learn swimming, only so that she can physically feel her much younger trainer, whom she is infatuated with. In what would be a landmark scene in recent cinematic memory, Ratna is seen, and heard, masturbating in the washroom while engaging in phone sex. She also loves reading Hindi erotic literature which speaks to her in a way that no bhajan would. In a country where sex is a taboo, and sexual desires in women beyond a certain age perceived as non-existent, Lipstick Under My Burkha pushed the envelope  — and how. [caption id=“attachment_3877897” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  Ratna Pathak Shah as Buaji in a still from Lipstick Under My Burkha. Screengrab from YouTube[/caption] Aparna Sen also addressed issues like sexual tension, menopause and waning beauty in her last film  _Sonata_ . It starred three women, in the twilight of their lives, bonding over wine, cigarettes and their midlife crises: a free-spirited Shabana Azmi sports a short dress, Aparna struggles with her rigidity, while Lilette Dubey struggles with boyfriend problems. To see the three women grapple with the unfortunate perceptions around old age, and find solace in each other’s company, was a bittersweet moment — one that is rarely explored in Bollywood. Particularly since Raj Kapoor’s 1975 sensation Bobby, Hindi cinema has been obsessed with young romances. With the demographic providing rich returns after liberalisation, stories about teenagers have replace those of people past middle age. One distinct, and audacious, offering that went against the tide was Rajat Kapoor’s directorial debut Aankhon Dekhi. The Sanjay Mishra-starrer establishes its philosophical tone right at the start and presents its protagonist’s midlife crisis under the guise of existentialism. The cause of the crisis is never explained. But the compelling tale of old man weeding out the authenticity of information that he has not experienced first-hand was a stinging rebuke to producers who wouldn’t put their money on unconventional subjects, or on films led by actors of a certain vintage. [caption id=“attachment_3409048” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  Zohra Sehgal and Amitabh Bachchan in a still from Cheeni Kum. Screengrab from YouTube[/caption] A refreshing commercial success had previously came in the form of R Balki’s Cheeni Kum. Amitabh played the 64-year old protagonist who falls in love with Tabu’s character, 30 years his junior. Here, age is indeed shown as a non-issue as Amitabh’s Buddha (a pun on the Hindi word for an old man) goes about his daily chores like any youngster, including being subjected to jibes from his mother (played by an unbelievably-sprightly-for-95 Zohra Sehgal). Overall though, the stories revolving around older people have been few and far between. Old persons, when depicted in film, are usually the protagonist’s father or mother, often incapable of autonomy. The thinking in Bollywood seems to be — what can a 102-year-old man contribute to society anyway, given that he is on the verge of death? The answer, as 102 Not Out shows, is: To live like there is no tomorrow.