Why aren't actresses able to hodl their top "position"

Title: Why aren't actresses able to hold their "Top Position" for more thank 3-4 years?


I am observing this since as far as I can remember.
(I am 1993 born, so no memory of 1997 & beyond😆)

1998-2001: Kajol
1999-2002: Aishwarya (next good run between 2006-2008)
2002-2006 - Rani / Preeti
2007-2011 - Kareena, Priyanka & Katrina
2009-2012 - Vidya
2013-2015 - Deepika & Kangana
2016-2018 - Alia
2018-2021 - Taapsee (seems like her downfall has started😆)

Obviously there is no actual/certain pattern. Actresses work beyond their prime years and give hits here and there (Kareena has managed to last 20 years this way), so their "peak" years can overlap a lot.

But sporadic success and 'peak years' success are two different things according to me. I am talking about the years they really peak as the numero-uno in an OVERALL sense.

(Critical+Commercial success + public love + industry demand)

Why is that actresses are 'replaced' so soon while actors are able to enjoy the glory of their "peak years" for 20+ years.
I feel there is also very little competition among actors, while actresses are pitted against each other all the time.

Khans/Salman/Akshay have been co-existing since the 90s. After that we have Hrithik, Shahid and Ranbir and off late Ranveer. They can give flops after flops but they will never be "finished" or written off by the media/audience completely because all it takes is one good film (Sanju, Kabir Singh etc ) to bring back them back into the game.

Now look at Taapsee. Till a few months back, she was the top contender. But all it took was one Haseen Dilruba for people to start questing her credibility.🤔

And I've observed that once your credibility goes down in the audience's eyes, you can't survive long unless you are ready to embark on a second inning like Vidya OR have solid connections within the industry like Kareena.

No wonder Taapsee is resorting to start her own production house for "backup". Most actresses do that for a parallel source of income and sometimes to produce their own films.

The plus side is that things have been changing slowly over the years. 👍🏼

Rat race has mellowed down and there is no apparent "top position".

With OTT, reality shows, Youtube etc etc there are ample opportunities for almost everyone now.

Your opinion?

Originally posted by: diasingh2

Khans/Salman/Akshay have been co-existing since the 90s. After that we have Hrithik, Shahid and Ranbir and off late Ranveer. They can give flops after flops but they will never be "finished" or written off by the media/audience completely because all it takes is one good film (Sanju, Kabir Singh etc ) to bring back them back into the game.

What do you mean? There are obituaries written about male stars all the time. People and the media made so much fun of SRK after Zero, Salman after Dabang 3 and especially Radhe and Aamir after Thugs. Hrithik was considered over when he was giving disasters like Mohenjodaro before he made his comeback with War. I remember back in the day there were even cover stories with Hrithik's photo saying FINISHED in big letters.

The real big difference between the actors and actresses is that the men have real fan bases who will stick by them even when their movies aren't working. No actress has a fan base like that except the late Sridevi. Most actresses' fans are bandwagoner types who hype them when they're doing well and then forget them. Their fans are also mainly based on their looks and sexiness so they disappear as soon as the actress is considered old and not that attractive anymore.

Nowadays I see so many people fanboying over Jahnvi Kapoor because of her plastic face and thick Kardashian-like body. Those people will be long gone in 5 years when they move on to lust over someone else.