Dimple falls for younger Saif in

Often a younger man's attentions are proof of a matured woman's attractiveness and her sexuality. This is quite true for Dimple Kapadia who is wooed by the much younger Saif Ali Khan in "Being Cyrus".

Both will be seen entwined in the web of a forbidden relationship in the dark family drama being directed by first-time director Homi Adjania.

Dimple was shown for the first time in this kind of a liaison in Somnath Sen's crossover cinema "Leela", in which she played a 40-something professor. In the film one of her students, Kris (Amol Mhatre), gets attracted to her graceful persona and they end up having a physical relationship. Later, in "Dil Chahta Hai" she played a divorcee and had a young painter (Akshaye Khanna) falling for her.

Some years ago in Bollywood, portraying such relationships on celluloid was unthinkable. But the new breed of directors is more daring and has started experimenting with this forbidden formula.

So far, only Farhan Akhtar ("Dil Chahta Hai") has succeeded in getting a positive response from the audience. The reason is he didn't let the relationship grow.

Other than that, we have had very few directors who have dealt with the subject successfully. One of them was Aparna Sen's "Paroma" in which Raakhee played a middle-aged housewife who falls in love with a young photographer. The film was critically appreciated.

Earlier on, mainstream director Ramesh Talwar exploited the subject effectively in "Doosra Aadmi", which had Raakhee in the lead. She played an emotionally unfulfilled woman who succumbs to the charms of a younger married man (Rishi Kapoor) because he reminds her of her dead boyfriend (Shashi Kapoor). The credit for the film's success goes to its conventional climax where the man returns to his wife - which wasn't as bold as the theme.

Decades ago, veteran filmmaker Raj Kapoor burnt his fingers by exploring the theme of young student Rishi Kapoor developing sexual urges for his teacher Simi Garewal in "Mera Naam Joker".

Among off beat filmmakers, Nagesh Kukunoor dabbled with the theme in "Rockford" which shows a young boy developing a crush for his teacher Lily, played by Nandita Das. The film did not have much of an impact.

Than came K. Shashilal Nair's controversial film "Ek Chhoti Si Love Story" - about a 14-year old boy played by Aditya Seal who is mad about his neighbour Manisha Koirala. The film was a complete washout.

And now comes "Being Cyrus". It revolves around a dysfunctional Parsi family headed by a retired sculptor Dinshaw Sethna (Naseeruddin Shah). He lives with his ill-tempered wife Katy (Dimple Kapadia) in the hills of Panchgani in Maharashtra. His younger brother Farookh (played by Boman Irani), who lives in Mumbai with his wife Tina (Simone Singh), is unbelievably contemptuous in his behaviour.

Then arrives Cyrus, Saif Ali Khan, a drifter and an aspiring sculptor at the Sethna house to learn the art of sculpting from Dinshaw.

As the movie proceeds, it gains a psychological insight into the family and reveals that everything is not all right with the Sethna family. Not just that, even Cyrus comes across as a bizarre personality. And his character becomes more complicated when he gets involved with Dinshaw's wife.

Adjania, in this English film, explores various relationships - marriage, lovers, siblings etc.

Before venturing into filmmaking, Adjania made a brief appearance in Rahul Bose's "Everybody Says I'm Fine!" and also worked as an assistant director with Mahesh Mathai in "Bhopal Express".

While a younger male partner is not much of an issue in Hollywood flicks, it does grab attention in Indian films. Hope "Being Cyrus" strikes a chord with the 'desi' audience.