These Two Heroines 30+ Younger Than Venkatesh, So What!

There is a famous French quote that goes, “The more things change, the more they remain the same.” A good example of this kind of observation can be seen in our Telugu film industry when we look at the age gap between the male and female leads in our movies. Our tastes and preferences regarding the kind of movies we want to watch keep evolving but some things, like the massive age gap between our older heroes and younger heroines remains the same.

Recently, when Sreeleela and Balayya worked together in Anil Ravipudi’s Bhagavanth Kesari, a certain section of the audience was relieved to learn that Balayya Babu played Sreeleela’s adoptive father and not her love interest. Though Sreeleela later went on to play the love interest of Mahesh Babu, who is two-and-half decades older than her, in Guntur Kaaram, there was a sense of casual acceptance of the age gap rather than outrage. It looks like twenty to twenty five years, despite being a significant age gap between two actors, is not much of a problem for our Telugu audience.

Cut to Anil Ravipudi’s recent movie announcement, where the director will be reuniting with his F2/F3 actor Venkatesh. Aishwarya Rajesh and Meenakshi Chaudhary are the film’s female leads.

There is no confusion about how these ladies will be related to Venkatesh’s character in the film as the first look posters declare Aishwarya will be playing Venkatesh’s wife while Meenakshi will be playing the seasoned actor’s ex-girlfriend, which therefore means both actresses are playing romantic interests in the film.

But the notorious age gap debate has risen with this announcement again, thanks to the fact that Aishwarya is 30 years younger than Venkatesh while Meenakshi is 37 years younger than him. A 37 year age gap is far more than what most of us have with our parents, truth be told. Even though 30 years is a lot, it still feels a touch more acceptable or/and ignorable than 37 years.

Needless to say, netizens are shocked at the casting. Despite the fact that Venkatesh is extremely fit and handsome and looks younger than his actual age, it is hard for some to shake off his offscreen age while watching Venkatesh and Meenakshi onscreen. To put Bhagavanth Kesari’s example in context, Venkatesh belongs to Balakrishna’s generation while Meenakshi Chaudhary belongs to Sreeleela’s generation.

No matter what kind of characters Anil Ravipudi has written for Venkatesh and Meenakshi, a certain section of the audience will inevitably find the age gap between Venkatesh and his leading ladies uncomfortable and unacceptable.

That said, one can look at the glass half-full. Meenakshi is just starting out in her career. Aishwarya Rajesh, despite having an impressive career in Tamil cinema, is a relatively less-known face in Telugu. An opportunity to work opposite a massive star like Venkatesh, who has been on the top of his game for three decades, will give these actresses a level of rarefied visibility and popularity acting opposite much younger and less experienced heroes will not give these heroines.

Anybody who considers themselves a feminist and opposes age gap between actors should also take this line of practical reasoning into consideration, because the careers of two female actors stand to benefit from this casting. And even Venkatesh will benefit immensely from this fresh casting. Storytelling always needs a touch of novelty at every turn of its way.

Now that the film’s leads are finalized, all we can do is hope that Anil Ravipudi comes forward with a script that justifies the age gap between its leads and does not discomfort the audience. People can rightfully judge the choices of the director and his actors only when their film is out, not before.