GENERATIONS
CHANGE: THESE MEN DON’T! |
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There is nothing untouched by
time, so we say. Time changes
everything; nothing can withstand
the will of time. But, there
are certain men who seem to
defy the great cycle of time.
Not in real life, but in cinema.
Generations might change, decades
might pass, but they still remain
as evergreen as ever, their
charm undiminished, their effectiveness
unharmed. Today we look at some
of those men who have defied
time.
What prompted this thought was
the fact that this Friday a
Malayalam movie titled Angel
John is slated to hit theaters.
What’s so special about
a Malayalam movie that no one
has heard of? The thing that
makes it special is its cast.
Mohanlal and Shantanu Bhagyaraj
are the lead characters. So
what, you might ask. This movie
happens to be Shantanu ’s
debut in Malayalam cinema. What
makes this occasion special
is the fact that 31 years ago,
his mother Poornima Bhagyaraj
too made her Malayalam debut
alongside the same actor in
Manjil Virinja Pookal. Talk
about coincidences; mother debuts
with an actor (who was also
making his debut in that film),
the actor goes on to become
a legend in Malayalam cinema
and 31years later, her son enters
Malayalam alongside the same
actor. The thing to notice here
is that Mohanlal is not yet
anywhere close to that stage
in his career where one starts
thinking about graduating to
father, uncle, retired chief
justice etc.. kind of roles.
He is very much in the thick
of things as a lead actor. While
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example of an actor who has defied a change
in generation to stay in the limelight,
there are a few more legends who have done
the same.
How can one not mention Ulaga Nayagan as
a man who has defied time? Consider this;
his daughter debuted as a music director
when he was completing 50 years in cinema.
It is difficult to fathom what can change
in 50 years and yet (even though the 50
years include his career as a child artiste)
he is still carrying off multi crore projects,
pulling off multiple roles, making ground
breaking cinema and looking younger than
ever. Then there is Superstar. How often
have you heard of dad starring in his daughter’s
debut directorial venture? It is always
the other way round, father directs son/daughter
on debut. But, Soundarya Rajinikanth launched
Ocher Studios and started Sultan, The Warrior.
Now, when you have the reigning Superstar
at home, casting will not be a problem.
So, there you have it, daughter makes directorial
debut with dad as the central protagonist,
even though in animation.
Look at Hindi cinema, there you have Anil
Kapoor. May not be the biggest star around
but he has mastered the art of defying time.
When daughter Sonam Kapoor made her debut
with Saawariya, he was getting ready to
play a young and flashy gangster with Mallika
Sherawat for company in Welcome, he soon
followed it up with a funny cop role in
Race where Sameera Reddy joined him. Now,
such longevity is not common in any industry.
‘Gen Next’ or not, some people
can never be overshadowed.
Hollywood too has its men who have stood
the test of times. Bruce Willis is still
busy with action entertainers like the Surrogates
and seeing him in action we still have reason
to believe that another addition to the
Die Hard franchise cannot be ruled out.
More surprisingly, Harrison Ford is still
the Indiana Jones, a nearly 30 year old
franchise and we hear that he is game for
yet another installment. If not for being
the Governor, Arnold would have starred
in Terminator Salvation and how can we forget
Sylvester Stallone’s comeback as Rocky
Balboa in 2006, rolling back the years to
grip us once again.
These are men who have proved that age is
just a number. According to the very smart
modern day quip ‘Age is all about
mind over matter, if you don’t mind,
it doesn’t matter’.
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