Fortyfied for getting naughty

What is drawing the filmmakers in making films thathave an older protagonist? In a film like, a 60 something man romanceswith a woman of half his age. While in, a father of a teenageddaughter falls for her friend.Amitabh Bachchan certainly ushered in this trend, which is now being followed by filmmakers like Sannddeep Kapur whose making Naughty @ Forty. Also Priyadarshan���s had Akshaye Khannadesperately wanting his aging father Paresh Rawal to get married.Isit the social acceptance of this age and do men start a new life at this age oris it that most heroes in the film industry like Amitabh Bachchan, Shah RukhKhan, Aamir Khan, Akshay Kumar, etc are above 40? Producer Sannddeep Kapurof Naughty @ Forty on his choice of making a film having a 40 plus bachelorfalling for a young girl says that he chose it as the subject was unusual anddifferent. ���The movie is loosely based on the Hollywood flick Virgin AtForty. I liked the subject and the story, hence I decided to make thisfilm,��� he says.Although Kapur says that he wasn���tconsciously trying to target men above the age group of forty, it was only theidea that appealed to him. Do we detect a change in mindset?WhileAnand Sivakumar, the scriptwriter of , reasons that there are not many young stars in the filmindustry. ���Except for Imran Khan, Neil Nitin Mukesh and Ranbir Kapoor, wedon���t have any young saleable actors. Even actors like Shahid and Hrithikdon���t look young enough to play college students. So, the filmmakers haveno choice but to have characters who are 35 plus. Hence the stories are alsowritten accordingly,��� explains Sivakumar.Filmmaker Jagmohan Mundra, who is currently directing Govinda in Naughty @ Forty agrees with Sivakumar. He says, ���Indeed it���s true that we have very few young stars these days. So, stories are written keeping in mind the actors who are well past their middle age. And that���s simply because their films get financed more easily than newer actors���,��� reasons Mundra. ���Although it���s funny that 70 per cent of the audience is young, still they want to see older stars on screen and are happy with films featuring 40-plus characters,��� he adds.The much talked about directorthese days, Abbas Tyrewala, cites his own reasons as to why such movies arebeing made now.���It���s not a recent phenomena. In the pastalso we���ve had movies like Shaukeen and Masoom, where there were adultprotagonists. But they were few and far between. Now I guess that filmmakershave started experimenting more with their ideas,��� he says. And for thatthey have the support of the stars like SRK, Saif and Aamir. Abbas adds,���Finally the stars are becoming more comfortable and confident playingtheir own age.���That says it all!