Bollywood's age old mindset of a married actress not being desirable for major roles sadly still remains intact. We look at how a heroine's marital status can prove to be a death knell for her career...
Kajol and Kareena Kapoor Khan
Deepika Padukone recently took part in a media group's conclave in the captial in the session titled 'Blockbuster Express: Why Heroines are the New Heroes in Bollywood'. With a golden run at the box office, the star was considered an ideal example of it.
After her marriage, Kareena Kapoor Khan has apparently been getting less film offers
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Shah Rukh Khan may have decided that the name of the leading female actresses roll first in the credit list of all his films. Some female stars may have been able to crack B-Town's glass ceiling by fetching plum roles with the box office recipts of their projects being in the pink of health. Yet, the age-old myth about Bollywood actresses who tie the knot shorten their shelf-life even further stays. At best they are handed roles that befits their marital status.
Kajol wants to act only according to her convenience
In Hollywood, it is common for married actresses to be super successful not only after marriage and motherhood (some even have a brood), but in B-Town the tides may be changing, but at a snail's pace.
Vidya Balan continues to get offers even after marriage
Casting woes
Recall Sanjay Leela Bhansali's now-famous statement before he began filming Ram Leela? When original choice Kareena Kapoor wed Saif Ali Khan in 2012, he had reservations about Begum Bebo being his Juliet in his version of the love story. He had apparently stated that his Juliet cannot be a married woman, so he had to drop her. While Kareena maintained she had walked out of the project. Bhansali felt after seeing her wedding pictures, it would have been impossible for him to pass off Bebo as Juliet.
Genelia D’Souza vamoosed from the big screen after her marriage to Ritiesh Deshmukh
Though actresses like Vidya Balan, Madhuri Dixit and Kajol may not find the married tag detrimental to their careers, there are many actresses who bid goodbye to films after marriage — some even when the going is good. An actress like Juhi Chawla had kept her marriage to industrialist Jay Mehta a secret for long in a bid to save her career. Lately, there have been speculations about the reticient Rani Mukerji being married to production house honcho Aditya Chopra, but she is apparently concealing the fact to not dim her career prospects.
Change of direction
After Twinkle wed Akshay Kumar, she bid goodbye to films and reinvented herself as an interior designer.
Kareena seems to be the latest to join the missus brigade who is rumoured to be slowly going missing in action from the big screen. She has a Singham 2 on hand, but with her other projects being shelved and her decision to work not simply because a pal is making the film, but what her role will be, has put Bebo in an uneasy position. On the other hand, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan is taking her own time to make a comeback after motherhood, while even a Genelia D'Souza vamoosed from the horizon in 2012 after she wed Riteish Deshmukh. While Vidya Balan still has it going, there are already whispers about the kind of offers coming to her.
Misconception
Trade anaylst Taran Adarsh finds it demeaning to even suggest that a married actress does not get any work. He feels there have been definitely winds of change. He says, “It is a misconception that once an actress ties the knot, she does not get any work. It all depends whether you can deliver a role that works — married or not does not matter. There are single actresses who do not deliver too, so this is just a bias.”
Poonam Dhillon
Adarsh adds, “The casting call is taken by the director along with the writer. Though nowadays the studios play a vital part and call the shots in casting. Ultimately it is the decision of the actress what she wants to do.”
Actress Poonam Dhillon feels that during her heydays 15 to 20 years ago it was widely prevalent. She says, “Things are gradually changing now, though slowly. There is a shift, but not drastically. The audience mindset is that they don't want to see somebody else's wife, they feel she can't be their object of desire At times it was the actress's choice to stay away for a while; be a homemaker and then perhaps be back after a gap.”
But an industry watcher maintains, “The fact that actresses hid their marriages or wed late was to stretch their careers for a few more years. Nowadays there are an abundance of fresh faces available. There are films made with an ensemble cast that have takers. Films are being made of different genres. So why would anyone cast a leading actress who is married and have a diva like demands?”
Disastrous comeback
Some actresses made a comeback after marriage and motherhood, but they did not exactly light up the marquee.
Karisma Kapoor's comeback flick Dangerous Ishhq proved to be a disaster and now she prefers sticking to her endorsement events. She is in no hurry to do any more films presently as her kids (Samaira and Kiaan Raj) are too young.
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