When Kamal Haasan reacted to stars romancing heroines half their age in movies: 'I can still do that...'

A recurring topic in Indian cinema revolves around the portrayal of age-appropriate roles. This issue has sparked discussions for years, especially when it comes to male actors, many of whom are cast in roles that are decades younger than their actual age. This often leads to pairings with much younger female leads, sometimes half their age. This subject recently resurfaced during the promotional events for Salman Khan’s Sikandar, in which he will have an on-screen romance with the younger actress Rashmika Mandanna. Actor Kamal Haasan has previously addressed the growing criticism.
Actor-filmmaker-politician Kamal Haasan, who has not been paired with a female lead for over a decade, faced a similar line of questioning during an NDTV interview 12 years ago. Asked about older actors still taking on romantic hero roles in South cinema, Kamal responded by pointing out similar trends in international cinema. “Clint Eastwood, Charles Bronson, Cary Grant, Amitabh Bachchan, and, in fact, Dilip (Kumar) saab did Ram aur Shyam when he was in his mid-40s. So, as long as we can take the ride, we should,” the Vikram actor remarked. He added that while he would avoid playing a college student in his 50s, he saw no issue with older actors playing romantic leads.

When the conversation turned to actors romancing women half their age, Haasan’s response was simple: “I can still do that… even in life. It is not that difficult. If art is emulating life, then it is very much possible. Didn’t Onassis marry someone half his age?”
Since turning 60, Kamal has consistently taken on roles that reflect his age, portraying characters who are more aligned with his real-life persona rather than romancing significantly younger women.

Amidst the criticism about sharing the screen with 28-year-old Rashmika in Sikandar, 59-year-old Salman stated, “If the heroine doesn’t have any problem or the heroine’s father doesn’t have any problem, then why do you have a problem? And when she (Rashmika) gets married and has a daughter, and then she becomes a big star, then also we will work (together). We will get the mother’s (Rashmika’s) permission for sure.”" On the work front, Kamal Haasan was last seen in the action drama film 'Indian 2' which unfortunately failed to impress the audiences. Kamal Haasan's recent hit was the sci-fi film 'Kalki: 2898 AD' where he played a villain character. The movie starring Prabhas in the lead turned out to be a blockbuster with terrific reviews from the audiences, especially for Kamal Haasan's ending cameo role.