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BUDDAH HOGA TERA BAAP! 

Soap-boxs male stars are in no mood to go grey in their telly shows and are willing to let go of the plum roles instead.Ahmedabad Times surfs for some reactions 

Amrita Mulchandani 


Going grey is a no-no on telly these days.Top male soapscreen stars are in no mood to add chalk to their dark tresses and grow old even in fictional shows.A few years ago actors like Hussain Kuwajerwala,Hiten Tejwani,Ronit Roy,Anuj Saxena,Cezanne Khan,Ram Kapoor and their ilk willingly played dad to actors much younger than them in real life.In a scenario where generation leaps are almost a mandate in most prime time dailies sporting grey hair is almost a given,but small screens male heartthrobs would rather happily let go of shows than look old.Their excuse: playing older characters will put them in a senior actor category and reduce their career span.Actor Kinshuk Mahajan quit Sapna Babul Ka... Bidaai (at a time when the show was ruling the TRP charts ) because he didnt want to be part of the eight year leap the show took and sat home for a few months before doing his next show! Reality show star turned prime time actor Vishal Karwal quit Sab Ki Jodi Wahi Banaata... Bhagyavidhata and then Rishton Se Badi Pratha because he didnt want to grey in the shows.Vishal admits,I cant play a 40 plus man with conviction,so I quit the shows.Actor Akshay Sethi whos doing Sasural Genda Phool,feels that it is better to play roles wh i ch s u i t o n e s age and persona l i t y. P l ay ing a father too early in ones career may be considered being versatile but most actors feel that playing older roles mean getting similar offers in the future, avers Akshay.
Lots of younger actors who become stars overnight thanks to their TV shows,claim that theyd rather sit at home than play daddy on screen.Aditya Redij quit Na Aana Iss Des Laado for the same reason and had to wait for another show for eight months.Laado... had set a benchmark for me and I wanted to do a show that was more exciting.I didnt want to be a part of the leap,so I decided to leave the show, he says.
Ravi Dubey whos the male lead in Saas Bina Sasural says,I want to play my age and dont want to be a dad for the next 10 years.When I look young and there are roles that suit me,there is no need to take that route. Hottie Karan Tacker from Rang Badalti Odhani says,If one plays a fathers role early in ones career then the makers think several times before taking them in a new show as a young lead character.Fans also dont wish their idols to grow old.Thats why actors dont want to age. 
Showmakers are divided on this.Producer-director Rajan Shahi says,Sometimes the story line demands that an actor should grow old and an actor who is confident about his performance will not worry about his image. Director Rajan Waghdhare says,In the past when young actors played older roles they found it difficult to get young roles later.Actors believe that if they agree to grey on screen then their career ends soon.Today even middle age actors want to play younger roles. 
For those of you thought age was just a number,take a closer look at our telly hotties who still think grey is a dirty shade in their picture-perfect screen lives! 
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