When age was just a number

When age was just a number

Sometimes, however, things get a bit 'unusual'. Instead of the hero flaunting his never-ending fountain of youth, it's the heroine's turn to romance a slightly younger guy, preferably a newcomer.

While in some cases -- like that of Dharmendra-Meena Kumari and their sizzling on-screen chemistry in films like Phool Aur Patthar -- a mere three-year old difference hardly made any difference. His Bandini co-star Nutan wasn't so lucky. She made an awkward pair opposite a lanky and visibly younger Amitabh Bachchan in the parabolic Saudagar.

Of course, unlike Dil Chahta Hai or Leela, this age gap isn't all that apparent nor does it form the crux of the plot.

Keeping the tradition alive, the seriously sexy, if older, Bipasha Basu, 29, plays the bohemian bombshell cum live-in girlfriend to a boyish Ranbir Kapoor, 25, in Siddharth Anand's Bachna Ae Haseeno. Whether he chooses her over real girlfriend Deepika Padukone or reel girl-next-door Minnisha Lamba, we do not know yet. Meanwhile, here's looking at some other such unusual jodis.

Madhuri Dixit-Akshaye Khanna, Saif Ali Khan

Age is just a number. It's the difference that shows, especially in the preoccupations and prejudices of Bollywood.

While it's perfectly okay for a 40-something Salman Khan to serenade some school kid in Lucky: No Time for Love, no one exactly screamed 'encore' on sighting the normally poised Dixit to romp around an uneasy bunch of boys like Akshaye Khanna (in Mohabbat) and pre-Omkara Saif Ali Khan (in Arzoo). Needless to say their tame chemistry resulted in box-office damp squibs.

Sridevi-Salman Khan, Shah Rukh Khan

During the latter years of Sridevi's career, she opted to play a giggly girlfriend to a couple-of-years-younger co-star Salman Khan, in silly and self-indulgent flicks like Chandramukhi and Chand Ka Tukda. Trust Sri to look ravishing all through. Ditto for her mini-skirt jig alongside Shah Rukh Khan in Army.

Aishwarya Rai-Abhishek Bachchan, Vivek Oberoi

Though the on-screen sparks between them became prominent only after Mani Ratnam's Guru, it hardly deterred previous filmmakers to cast them together in mushy capers like Kuch Naa Kaho, Dhaai Akshar Prem Ke and Umrao Jaan.

Earlier on, Ash basked in the affections of Vivek Oberoi, (born in same year as Bachchan Jr --1976) for Samir Karnik's Kyun...! Ho Gaya Na.

Vidya Balan-Shahid Kapoor

Being the same age as him also doesn't help the man's cause. Ask Kareena Kapoor. Despite being only a few months older, the actor's ex-girlfriend often faced flak for them looking a complete mismatch (in Fida, 36 Chinatown, Chup Chup Ke) before Jab We Met happened and destroyed this perception.

Though a couple of years older (and a constant victim of fashion disasters, which only add to her woes and years) Vidya Balan and Shahid Kapoor shared amiable, easygoing vibes in Aziz Mirza's Kismat Konnection. Still, no signs of Raj and Simran in the making.

Rekha-Akshay Kumar

Instead, a super-seductive Rekha gave the more-than-a-decade-junior Akki a crash course in up, close and personal in Khiladiyon Ka Khiladi. What's more, it worked!

Urmila Matondkar-Aftab Shivdasani

Urmila played the damsel in wonderland effectively. Her trendy Manish Malhotra-helmed wardrobe contributed as well. And the Rangeela girl had no problems passing off as the romantic interest of her four-years younger debutant hero, Aftab Shivdasani.

Tabu-Kunal Kapoor

That probably explains casting the ever-so-intense Tabu opposite a hunk of a newcomer, Kunal Kapoor in Meenaxi: Tale of Three Cities. The movie bombed. As for the five years age difference, did it show? You tell us.