Bollywood's forty plus fight club

Hollywood superstar Tom Cruise who turns 50 this year stated last year that hitting the big five-O is not going to keep him from doing the high-octane action on screen.

Well, it’s no different for our Bolly heroes here either. Despite the fact that almost all the A-league stars (Shah Rukh Khan, Akshay Kumar, Aamir Khan, Salman Khan, Ajay Devgn) will be nearing that figure in another four to seven years themselves, there’s no stopping them when it comes to doing some hard-core maar dhaad on the big screen.

In fact, some of the biggest action thrillers these past years have seen these actors in their fittest avatars, whether it’s Salman in Bodyguard, Ajay in Singham or Shah Rukh in Don 2. Now, the year ahead too will see them in their best form in their action avatars. Akshay returns to the genre with almost three action flicks including Rowdy Rathore, Salman has Ek Tha Tiger and Dabangg 2, Ajay has Tezz and Aamir has Dhoom 3 in the offing. And if Hollywood has it’s brigade of 60 plus action stars like Bruce Willis, Harrison Ford, Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger, we too have our 60 plus heroes Rajinikanth and Amitabh Bachchan, who continue to reign even in that genre. It’s no different for our recently turned 50, actors Anil Kapoor and Sanjay Dutt either.

“Age is certainly no bar for our actors. Whether it’s romance or action, these actors have proven that the audience loves to see them no matter what the age,” say industry insiders. In fact, they point out that barring a few mid-age-range of actors like Hrithik Roshan, Abhishek Bachchan and Shahid Kapoor, none of the younger actors like Ranbir Kapoor or Imran Khan have managed to claim stake in that genre and it’s these 40-plus seniors who are the undisputed action stars.

“Salman, Akshay and Ajay are still the undisputable action stars and there’s no doubt that they will continue to reign for several years to come. If anything, they have only gained more popularity in their action avatars despite their age,” says trade analyst Taran Adarsh.

Akshay agrees that age is no factor when it comes to doing action flicks. “As long as the actor looks convincing pulling off those hardcore action sequences, the audience will accept them no matter what the age. We have grown up watching actors like Sylvester who still rock post 60, and we have our own stars here too, so there’s no reason why age should matter,” says the action king.

Salman, who’s had a string of hits, all action, of late, too feels that be it action or any other genre, the actor should look convincing on screen.

“No doubt that action needs extreme physical fitness, but as long as an actor can pull it off, age should hardly make a difference,” says the action star.