Bollywood Actresses Who Played On-Screen Mothers To Actors Older To Them
Posted On: 07 Nov 2022 | Last Updated : 16 Oct 2023 | Views : 2.2k
The star cast of any movie is considered to be its backbone, still, in Bollywood, the casting is a situation of hit or miss, where many times you can’t picture a better ensemble for a particular movie, while other times, it leaves you with a big disappointment. The most shocking yet acceptable endeavour repeated time and again in Bollywood is casting older actors as main leads opposite actresses half their ages. While the new generation continues to enter Bollywood, the fandom of the older actors persists to remains intact. However, call it a stereotype or the dominance of males in the industry, the actresses lose their charm after a certain age, and often get typecast in the role of mothers or other elderly characters in Bollywood movies. The statement holds true and today, we present the evidence for it by sharing the list of 13 Bollywood actresses who played the mother of older actors in movies.
1. Rakhee Gulzar / Rohini Hattangadi / Sharmila Tagore - Amitabh Bachchan (Shakti - 1982 / Agneepath - 1990 / Desh Premee - 1982)
Ramesh Sippy’s 1982 action-drama Shakti, follows the story of an honest policeman, DCP Ashwini (Dilip Kumar), who refuses to release the criminal in exchange for his son, Vijay (Amitabh Bachchan), who gets kidnapped by the criminal alliance. Vijay starts to hate his father, who only cares for duty and not for his family, and later he takes a path of crime.
Rakhee Gulzar who played the role of Vijay’s mother in the film in real-life is born in 1947, while Amitabh Bachchan born in 1942 is around 5 years older than the actress. However, Rakhee who has romanced Amitabh Bachchan in many films played his mother for the first time in Prakash Mehra’s Laawaris (1981) where they didn’t have any scenes together.
Another actress was Rohini Hattangadi who also played the mother of Amitabh Bachchan in Agneepath (1990). The actress who was born in 1951 is nine years younger than Amitabh Bachchan in real life but in those days audiences were so much in awe of Big B that they didn’t mind who played his on-screen mother.
Sharmila Tagore was another lead actress who played the on-screen mother as well as wife to Amitabh Bachchan in Manmohan Desai’s Desh Premee. Though Sharmila who is two years younger than Big B had a small role in the film. But it was the father and son double role by Amitabh Bachchan that the story revolved around and attracted the audience.
2. Jaya Prada - Dharmendra (Shehzaade - 1989)
Shehzaade revolves around a former jailbird, Zorawar (Dharmendra), who was sentenced to jail for multiple murders and the rape of a woman named Gauri (Jaya Prada). While Gauri is dead, her pledge to avenge the one who wronged her lives in her son, Inspector Shankar (Dharmendra).
The quirky pairing of Dharmendra and Jaya Prada as mother-son, who mostly shared the silver screen as a couple looked fascinating. Born in 1962 in real-life, Jaya Parda played the mother of actor Dharmendra, born in 1935, and finally made it to the list of Bollywood actresses who played mother characters for older actors.
3. Moushumi Chatterjee - Shatrughan Sinha (Shehzaade - 1989)
Raj Sippy’s action drama Shehzaade featured another unconventional mother-son pair in the movie. The 1948-born actress Moushumi Chatterjee plays the role of mother to the character played by the 1945-born Shatrughan Sinha. While the two have shared the screen as a couple in many movies, like Aakhri Baazi (1989) and Badla (1974), their characters as mother-son duo were praised in the movie.
4. Asawari Joshi / Reema Lagoo - Rishi Kapoor (Hum Dono - 1995 / Henna - 1991)
Directed by Shafi Inamdar, the family drama Hum Dono, follows the story of a young man named Raju (Rishi Kapoor), the illegitimate son of Vikram Sehgal (Alok Nath), a renowned businessman. Raju’s half-brother and legitimate son, Vishal (Nana Patekar), gets irked when their father distributes the property equally among the brothers, and he decides to take revenge for the same. The 1965-born Asawari Joshi played the role of the mother of the 1952-born Rishi Kapoor, in the movie.
Randhir Kapoor’s romantic musical drama Henna follows the story of a young man named Chander (Rishi Kapoor), who is an amnesiac condition falls into a river and gets carried away in Pakistan. He loses his memory but is rescued by Pakistani villagers, where he falls in love with a beautiful girl named Henna (Zeba Bakhtiar). Again, in this movie, Rishi Kapoor plays the son of actress Reema Lagoo who in real life was born in 1958 and is much younger than him.
5. Nagma - Bobby Deol (Ab Tumhare Hawale Watan Saathiyo - 2004)
The 2004 patriotic action movie Ab Tumhare Hawale Watan Saathiyo, directed by Anil Sharma, follows the story of a young man named Kunal (Bobby Deol), who joins the army to follow his family tradition. Things take a turn when he finds himself standing against the terrorists who want to destroy the peace in the country.
The 1974-born Nagma is one of the actresses who played mother to older actors, as she was seen playing the character of Aarti, mother of Kunal, the character played by Bobby Deol born in 1969.
6. Shefali Shah - Akshay Kumar (Waqt: The Race Against Time - 2005)
Directed by Vipul Amrutlal Shah, the 2005 family drama Waqt: The Race Against Time follows the story of a young man named Aditya (Akshay Kumar), who leads a carefree life and lives with his parents. However, things take a turn, when Aditya’s father is diagnosed with a chronic illness, which leaves him with a few months. He realizes that it is high time that Aditya takes responsibility and makes a living for himself. Thus, he kicks his son out of the house to help him undertake his own responsibility.
There is an age gap of 6 years between Akshay Kumar, born in 1967, and Shefali Shah, born in 1973, who played his mother in the movie. Moreover, in the movie, she was cast alongside superstar Amitabh Bachchan, who is over 30 years older than the actress.
7. Richa Chadha - Nawazuddin Siddiqui (Gangs of Wasseypur 2 - 2012)
The 2012 crime thriller drama Gangs of Wasseypur, directed by Anurag Kashyap, follows the story of a young man named Faizal Khan (Nawazuddin Siddiqui), who is enemies with Ramadhir Singh (Tigmanshu Dhulia). Faizal waits for Ramadhir to climb the ladder of success, meanwhile, he forms his own army and plays his card to bring Ramadhir down.
The movie was a breakthrough in the career of 1974-born, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, who played the son of 1986-born Richa Chadha. With her role in the movie, Richa Chadha also made it to the list of top Bollywood actresses who played on-screen mothers to older actors.
8. Sheeba Chaddha / Deepika Padukone - Shah Rukh Khan (Zero - 2018 / Jawan - 2023)
The romantic comedy-drama Zero, directed by Aanand L. Rai, follows the story of a short man named Bauua (Shah Rukh Khan), who is a huge fan of the Bollywood actress Babita (Katrina Kaif). He falls in love with a woman named Aafia (Anushka Sharma), a scientist with cerebral palsy, but he ruins his relationship with her to not miss his only chance to meet Babita. His life turns soon after and his life is completely ruined.
The king Khan of Bollywood, Shah Rukh Khan, born in 1965, plays the son of the actress, Sheeba Chaddha, born in 1972, in the movie. While she has a small supporting role in the movie, she made her presence felt and became one of the Bollywood actresses who played on-screen mothers to actors.
Deepika Padukone too played Shah Rukh Khan’s mother in Jawan while in real life the former is 21 years younger to the latter. Though Shah Rukh Khan had a double role in the film that of father as well as son, Deepika Padukone had scenes only with her on-screen husband and not son.
9. Sonali Kulkarni - Salman Khan (Bharat - 2019)
The 2019 family drama Bharat, directed by Ali Abbas Zafar, is set during the India-Pakistan partition, where one of the family gets torn due to the partition and its aftereffects. While one of the sons of the family, Bharat (Salman Khan), promises his father to take care of the family and spends all his life keeping that one promise he made to his father at a very young age.
The 1974-born Sonali Kulkarni plays the mother to 1965-born Salman Khan in the movie. Though she had a small supporting role in the movie, people were shocked to see the actress playing the role of mother to an actor much older than her.
10. Mona Singh - Aamir Khan (Laal Singh Chaddha, 2022)
Advait Chandan’s romantic comedy-drama Laal Singh Chaddha takes its adaptation from the 1994 American film Forrest Gump. The movie follows the story of a simple man named Lal Singh (Aamir Khan), who is with a disability that has affected his mental and physical health. However, the constant support from his mother, who, unlike others, consider Lal Singh a normal child, inspires him to aspire to run in a professional race. He embarks on an extraordinary journey and makes a number of friends along the way.
Born in 1965, Aamir Khan is around 16 years older than Mona Singh (born in 1981), who played his mother in the movie. The two also shared the screen in the 2009 comedy-drama 3 Idiots. Despite such a huge age gap, Mona Singh nailed her role in the movie, and while the movie bombed at the box office, her acting was praised by the critics.
11. Deepa Sahi – Mithun Chakraborty (Trinetra - 1991)
Deepa Sahi played the mother of Mithun Chakraborty in Harry Baweja’s Trinetra which was released in 1991. Deepa Sahi born in 1962 is twelve years younger than Mithun Chakraborty who is born in 1950. It was in her initial years that the actress who was looking to get a foothold in the industry played the role of mother to the much older Mithun Chakraborty who was still a bankable star in the 90s. The actress played Dharmendra’s on-screen wife in the same film and looked an odd casting totally out of place.
12. Moushumi Chatterjee / Hema Malini / Leena Chandavarkar - Jeetendra (Pyaasa Sawan - 1981 / Farz Aur Kaanoon - 1982 / Sarfarosh - 1985)
Moushumi Chatterjee, Hema Malini and Leena Chandavarkar were the three actresses who played wife as well as mother to Jeetendra in Pyaasa Sawan, Farz Aur Kaanoon and Sarfarosh, respectively. Co-incidentally, Hema Malini and Moushumi Chatterjee who six years younger than Jeetendra in real life played his on-screen mother in Justice Chaudhury (1983) where he had a double role that of father as well as son.
13. Hema Malini - Rajesh Khanna (Dard - 1981)
Another actor to whom Hema Malini played on-screen mother was Rajesh Khanna. In Dard, Hema Malini played Rajesh Khanna’s wife as well as mother. In real life the actress was six years younger to the actor.
