The age difference between male actors in Bollywood and the women actors starring opposite them has reached an obnoxious point, and even though a conversation around the same has started, nothing seems to be changing for now.
It isn’t a new thing as well. This trend has continued for years and an example often quoted is that of Waqt – the movie where Shefali Shah plays the role of the mother of Akshay Kumar who is actually 5 years younger than her in real life.
During the promotion of her new movie, Jalsa, Shefali said that it was Amitabh Bachchan’s idea that she should do the movie and that her husband, Vipul Shah, who was the director of the film rejected the idea outrightly.
However, she went ahead and took that part. In an interview given to The Indian Express, she said:
I remember Amit ji had suggested that Shefali should do the film. Vipul was aghast and categorically told me not to do it. However, I just loved the character and the story. I told him that I want to work with you guys and it’s my choice and I enjoyed it
Speaking about her career, Shefali said that she waited for the right kind of roles to come her way and always knew it won’t be wise to rush.
I kept refusing work and they would all pick on me. But the kind of work that was offered wasn’t what I wanted to do. They were of course worried that it would affect me professionally and sometimes even nudged me to take up projects that would make me famous. They would even ask me what am I waiting for. Now, when I look back, the wait has paid off and how!
Her new movie, Jalsa, which is streaming on Amazon Prime, has been applauded by critics and audiences alike. She shares screen with Vidya Balan for this project.