'Middle-aged love story is not a novelty, rather more interesting' - Renuka Shahane

As their short film 'First Second Chance' released on Sunday, lead pair Ananth Mahadevan and Renuka Shahane spoke about how middle-aged love stories are way more interesting than the formula one that is majorly celebrated in the commercial space.

The story of the film revolves around Raman and Vaidehi -- once young lovers, who drift apart due to circumstances and how life unites them in the last leg of their journey of life.

Asked about if matured love stories are finding more room in films now than the early days, Ananth and Renuka shared their view in a conversation. Ananth told : "Look, I never felt that middle-aged love story is a novelty if we see how earlier films were made by Gulzar saab, Hrishikesh Mukherjee, Basu Bhattacharya -- they all made films on love stories of married couples or that of matured people. They knew how to handle the subject. In the last 30 years, from the 90's era, subtle storytelling has gone for a toss. But now, of course with the stories that OTT platforms are celebrating, backing and audience watching, middle-aged love stories are finding space."

Adding to that Renuka said, " I think middle-aged love stories are more delicate, nuanced and one has to have a great understanding of emotions to handle it. Unless the writer, or director is great at their job, such stories don't flourish...at the same time these days, age-representation through stories has become more diverse. That is why I find this new phase more exciting for storytellers."

Both the actors mentioned that even though in real life they do not have any incident to take reference from, it is the well-written script that helped them to perform.

"In my real life, I am not as old as Vaidehi, my character; so I took a reference from my mother who is in that age bracket. But that apart, it is the situation that brings Raman and Vaidehi together; as an actor that core of the story was my drive to deliver my best," said Renuka.

Ananth added, "As an actor I joined in because I understood the vision of the director. Telling a mature love story in an engaging manner is not easy, and Lakshmi (Iyer, director) had that vision in mind. There is an undercurrent of complex emotion in Raman when second time he saw Vaidehi. The whole story starts building up from there."

Directed by Lakshmi R Iyer, the film, also featuring -- Devoleena Bhattacharjee, Saahil Uppal and Nikhil Sangha released on OTT.