This was as recent as last year. When 24 year old Minissha Lamba moved around the house, the town and the beach in her cargo pants, her mom Vidya Malvade wore smart business suits. Still, she could never look convincing as her mother, courtesy her hockey stick act that was seen in Chak De India just a year before the release of Kidnap. Moreover, in real life, both women are not separated more than a decade in age!
Yalgaar
The most 'howlarious' act in the history of Hindi cinema has to be reserved for Yalgaar though. In the film, Mukesh Khanna, who was fresh out of his 'Bheeshma Pitamaah' avtar ['Mahabharat'], got so carried away by his on screen persona that he willingly consented to playing a father to a middle aged man again. Any hitch? Well, this middle aged man was none other than Feroz Khan who in real life was actually 19 years his senior!!!
Does age matter in Bollywood? Perhaps yes when it comes to a female applying for the position of a leading heroine. However, the moment she is willing to get into a saree and play an on-screen mom to a man who could be a few years junior or the same age or perhaps even a senior, all doors open up! After all it is nice to have a glamorous mother around on the silver screen. Joginder Tuteja takes readers down the memory lane and picks up a few examples of mother-son, father-son or mother-daughter pairing where age didn't really matter!
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This isn't exactly a tale from the past. In fact this is something that has happened just this week as Poonam Dhillon made a comeback of sorts and is playing mother to Madhavan a.k.a. Maddy. Well, give us such a glamorous on-screen mother anytime, especially so when the mother and son are distanced just 8 years apart! That's true, because while Maddy is 39 years old, Poonam Dhillon is only 47 herself!
Yalgaar was not an isolated case of an actor playing parent to someone who was actually older than him/her. In Sooryavansham, South actor Jayasudha played mother to Amitabh Bachchan in spite of being younger than him by 16 years. Yes, she did play wife to Amitabh Bachchan in the same film (Big B was in a double role here). Still, seeing the actor call her 'Maa' hardly looked convincing especially in those days when he was aiming at making a transition to senior citizen roles.
Shakti
Amitabh Bachchan in fact holds the record for having actors born after him play his parents. In Shakti, Rakhi Gulzar played his mother in spite of being 5 years his junior. Ironically, just a year back, she had played his wife in Barsaat Ki Ek Raat.
Other than Nirupa Roy, there were quite a few screen moms that Amitabh Bachchan experimented with. Waheeda Rehman was one such woman who played his mother in Mahaan. Yet again, the age difference between them was a mere 6 years though thankfully, she was elder to him at least. In the same film, she also played his wife since he was seen in a triple role.
Anjaam
Shah Rukh Khan too has enjoyed a young glamorous mother in his on screen stint, especially in the beginning of his career. In Anjaam [where he played a villain], he had Beena playing his mother. Yet again, there was hardly a difference in their age as she was just a few years his senior.
Rekha refused to be a mother though when it came to Mallika Sherawat. The original plot of Bachke Rehna Re Baba was supposed to feature the duo as mother-daughter. Apparently, Rekha put her foot down and insisted that she play Mallika's aunt in the film. As 'mausi-bhanji', the duo couldn't set the screen on fire though one wonders what stopped Rekha from playing Mallika's mother when they were distanced apart by as many as 22 years?
Vaastav
Reema Lagoo didn't have any inhibitions though in playing Sanjay Dutt's mother in Vaastav. In a film that fetched awards for both the actors and was the only true successor of Deewar when it comes to portraying mother-son relationship, the duo went on to create history. The fact remains though that Reema Lagoo is only a year older than Sanjay Dutt! In the same film Namrata Shirodkar, who is 13 years younger to Sanju baba in real life, played his mom!