When a 56-year-old superstar played hero to a 16-year-old starlet just a few years after playing her grandfather, more than a few eyebrows were raised.
The issue of age gap between leading men and women in Indian cinema has been brought up many times in the last few years. Actors in their 40s and 50s have been called out for starring opposite heroines 20-30 years their junior. Yet, the trend continues. And it is not a new trend too. It is something that has existed for decades. Perhaps the most shocking example of this is from a 1979 film where a 56-year-old superstar romanced a 16-year-old actress, just a few years after he played her grandfather on screen. (Also read: Radhika Madan addresses 27-year age gap with Sarfira co-star Akshay Kumar, talks about their ‘intense chemistry’)

Indian cinema’s most shocking age gap

Sridevi is one of the most successful and impactful stars Indian cinema has seen. While many remember her as a leading actress of the 80s and 90s, she started her career as a child artist in the 60s, initially working in Tamil and Telugu films. In 1972, when she was 9, she appeared in Badi Panthulu. The reigning Telugu superstar NT Rama Rao—known popularly as NTR—played her grandfather in the film.

In 1978, Sridevi transitioned to lead roles with films like Padaharella Vayasu. The following year, at the age of 16, she played NTR’s heroine in Vetagaadu. At 56, the superstar was 40 years her senior, a case of one of the most shocking age gaps in Indian cinema. There have been larger age gaps in Indian films. For instance, Amitabh Bachchan was 46 years older than Jiah Khan in Nishabd. But that film was centred on the gap. In Vetagaadu, Sridevi and NTR’s characters were supposed to be of a similar age bracket. That, coupled with the fact that he had played her grandfather in another film just seven years prior, makes this quite unsavoury.

Internet reactions to the age gap

A mashup of video clips from Badi Panthulu and Vetagaadu was shared recently on social media with users discussing the wild age gap. “This level of creepery will never be ever seen again in any industry I hope..Gosh Baby Sridevi had to through too much to feed her family,” one user wrote. Another echoed the sentiment and added, “While this kind of creepiness doesn’t happen to this extent anymore but there are still massive age gaps between heroes and their heroines.”

Another pointed out the irony that this is not even the largest age gap for an NTR film. “Interesting trivia: this is not even the largest age gap in NTR’s career. He starred with Vani Viswanath (then 21) when he was 69 in Samrat Ashoka (1992). That would make an age gap of 48 years – this might even be the highest in all of Indian cinema,” read the comment.

NTR and Sridevi’s careers

NTR is considered one of the biggest superstars in Telugu cinema history. After ruling the silver screen for three decades, he quit cinema for politics and was elected the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh for three terms. He died in 1996 at the age of 72. Sridevi brought her south success to Bollywood in the 80s and reigned as the country’s numero uno actress for much of the 90s. After a brief hiatus, she returned to films in 2009, but her career was cut short with her death in 2018. She was 54.

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