The older, The bolder

The older, The bolder

Serials skip generations to grow younger, but it's the older men who still score with audiences

Shailaja Bajpai

There's the gentle lover boy in Jab Luv Hua, there's the sulky Aditya who is hoping Chandni will look at him again and forsake her fiance, and then there is a host of young men, across channels, who look as though they just came out of the shower. For all their youth and exuberance, these young TV characters hardly stand a chance against the older men around, who are more charismatic and well, dare we say it, better looking? Even as television drama does everything to get younger, it is ironical that the leading TV male stars of today are not these young bucks but veterans— albeit not all that old. Joining Kyunki Saas Bhi Bahu Thi's Mihir (Ronit Roy) is Ram Kapoor in Kasamh Se, and Rohit Roy in Viraasat together with actors Aman Verma and Amarr Upadhyay (in the same serial). The lead male character in Zee's popular Saath Phere Saloni ka Safar is Saloni's husband, hardly a teenager by the looks of him. Both Kasautii Zindagi Kay and Kahani Ghar Ghar Ki, although over populated with youngsters, still depend on the old faithfuls like Cezanne Khan and Anoop Soni, who plays Parvati's husband.

All of these stars have been around for a long while—read at least five to six years. Yet, they are playing the lead romantic roles while their younger co-stars languish in nowhere land. In Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi, the male characters who were supposed to become the leading lights, such as Gautam, Karan and Saahil, have been embroiled in family warfare while it's left to Mihir to be involved in the love triangle. Similarly, in Kasamh Se, it is Ram Kapoor's character Jai Walia who is at the centre of all the heartburn. What has happened here? Is it that we don't like younger men? Or do viewers prefer the older variety? Certainly, the audience for prime time Hindi TV dramas seems sold on the latter. Housewives, who make up the majority of viewers for daily soaps and who have been loyal to their 'K' serials, do not seem much impressed by the younger generation of men. Give them a Mihir and Mr Bajaj any day. The fact that a new serial such as Viraasat is also dependent on old TV hands like Upadhyay and Verma and the new thriller, Akela also features an old favourite, Sudhanshu Pandey, reinforces the perception that for all its youthful appearance, Indian TV would rather be charmed by a greying hero than a pesky 20-year-old.

thnx 4r da article,

it is kinda of true that most of the viewers prefer to see older mature men 😊

thanks u so much for sharing 😛