Neena Gupta has over the last few years, done some incredible work but it is her chemistry with co-stars like Raghubir Yadav and Gajraj Rao, that has opened both our eyes and imagination to the possibility of romance and chemistry between middle-aged characters.
Rose Weissman from The Marvelous Mrs Maisel and humari Sulu are cut from the same cloth as Simi of Andhadhun. This sisterhood of formidable women are giving the world a taste of the wild, wacky, disturbingly dark, and irreverent inner lives of older ladies.
Veere Di Wedding stars four talented actresses, is produced by two women, and co-written by one. That makes the film a worthy candidate for The Bechdel Test. But does it fulfill the three conditions: Does it have two or more female characters, do they talk to each other, and do they discuss something other than men?
The unprecedented success of Badhaai Ho has catapulted Gajraj Rao straight into the spotlight. Although, the actor is no stranger to the Hindi film industry, it’s only in the 25th year of his career that he has become a film’s driving force and is afforded as much screen time as the lead, Ayushmann Khurrana.
Masaba Masaba, where celebrity mother-daughter duo Neena and Masaba Gupta play fictionalised versions of themselves, isn’t the most perfect show, but it remains immensely watchable. Set around late 2017, Masaba Masaba takes the candyfloss “girls can have some fun too” approach.
Badhaai Ho is a delightful comedy that exposes society’s hypocrisy toward sex. It underlines our unwillingness to view our parents as sexual beings, effectively asking, “Can Indians acknowledge love and intimacy only when it is young?”