New Delhi February 5, 2010
Preity Zinta and Indian cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni shot for an ad-film and in the process joined a unique list - though strictly in showbiz terms - of India's cougar couples.
A cougar couple is one where the woman is older than the man by around eight years. Thirty six-year-old Preity happens to be at least seven years older than Dhoni.
The ad- film they shot, for a cooking oil brand, had the couple donning a Gladiator- inspired look. While Dhoni is dressed in rugged warrior attire, Preity flaunts her figure in body- hugging silver gear with a red cape. The theme of the soon- to- be- aired commercial is cricket.
"Women now are more independent than ever, so the audience is slowly learning to accept a reverse age difference in relationships projected on screen - even cougar couples. No longer is life stuck in the rut where a woman, donning a sati-savitri image, has to be younger than the man in a relationship," says ad guru Prahlad Kakkar, who directed the commercial.
Come to think of it, while Bollywood is not quite up to it yet, cougar couples have incidentally been visible on Indian television, ironically considered a regressive medium by many.
On the Zee TV soap Astitva, Nikki Aneja as Dr Simran marries Abhimanyu Saxena (played by Varun Badola), who is 10 years younger than her according to the script. And in 12/ 24 Karol Bagh , Simmy (played by Smriti Kalra) romances Abhi (Neil Bhatt), who is eight years younger than her.
Interestingly, Preity is the first actress to strike a cougar match on screen.
Social acceptance apart, Preity and other senior actresses are in the mood to team up with younger men because right now in Bollywood, a new set of much- younger actors, including Ranbir Kapoor, Shahid Kapur and Imran Khan, are emerging as superstars.
In Bollywood of late, the most notable instance has been Konkona Sen Sharma pairing up with Ranbir Kapoor in Wake Up Sid! . Although Konkona, at 31, doesn't strictly qualify as a cougar opposite the 28- year- old Ranbir, it was a rare example of reverse age difference in casting.
Also, Bipasha played 28- year- old Neil Nitin Mukesh's girlfriend in Aa Dekhe Zara despite being three years older to him. In the recent past, 32- year- old Vidya Balan romanced Shahid Kapur, 29, in Kismat Konnection. Shahid also romanced 32-year-old, Rani Mukherji, in Dil Bole Hadippa. The trend is interesting, considering senior actors such as the Khans and the likes of Akshay Kumar and Hrithik Roshan are constantly insisting on being paired with much younger girls such as Deepika Padukone, Kareena Kapoor, Asin and Zarine Khan.
"Showbiz is increasingly depicting such love equations because viewers are ready to accept bold women," says filmmaker Jag Mundhra. " Since no one expects a modern day girl to be a copy of the fifties woman, age issues are finally vanishing." Adds Kakkar: " When it comes to showbiz, a lot depends on the script and the filmmaker's vision. Also, how a girl looks is what matters instead of age difference. For example, Preity shares an amazing chemistry with Dhoni in the ad." There are several real- life examples of reverse age difference couples in Bollywood. Saif Ali Khan was 12 years younger than his ex Amrita Singh. Nargis and Sunil Dutt were separated by just a year, while Aishwarya Rai is older than Abhishek by three years.
http://indiatoday.intoday.in/site/Story/82561/Cinema/Desi+cougar+couples+grab+the+limelight.html
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This was an interesting read, bollywood so far hasn't really experimented with "cougar" couples a term which I heard for the first time😆. Beacuase in Bollywood, the actors have to be the main lead, so an older girl would look odd. But in TV, actresses are the main lead, so it works to have them old. But I still think many people would pick a normal couple over a "cougar" couple.
Jhanak
