When Bollywood romanced older heroines

The taboo around romancing an older heroine seems to be fading away.

While 1977's Doosra Aadmi was one of the exceptions in those days, when the heroine -- Rakhee -- was cast opposite a younger hero -- Rishi Kapoor, the scene has become more flexible today.

Audiences -- and producers -- no longer shy away from casting older heroines opposite younger heroes.

Take a look:

Ki & Ka
Kareena Kapoor Khan, 35.
Arjun Kapoor, 30.
Age difference: Five years

Ki & Ka sees Kareena Kapoor Khan and Arjun Kapoor play a married couple.

We're used to seeing Kareena romance the Khans but she's not so bad with this young Kapoor either.

Fitoor
Katrina Kaif, 32.
Aditya Roy Kapur, 30.
Age difference: Two years

Katrina and Aditya looked odd right from the start, and the jodi as well as the film expectedly fizzled out.

Shabd
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, 42.
Zayed Khan, 35
Age difference: Seven years

Shabd had Aishwarya Rai playing wife to Sanjay Dutt but she romanced Zayed Khan, who played her student.

The film did not ignite much interest amongst the audience, and it flopped.

Bobby Jasoos
Vidya Balan, 38.
Ali Fazal, 29
Age difference: Nine years

One wonders why the makers chose Ali Fazal, in his first ever major role, opposite a powerhouse performer like Vidya Balan in Bobby Jasoos.

Of course, since Vidya played the central protagonist, Ali's part was limited in the film.

Still, the couple looked very odd together, and the film could not cover much distance.

The Dirty Picture
Vidya Balan, 38.
Emraan Hashmi, 37.
Age difference: One year

Vidya paired up with Emraan in The Dirty Picture, and they looked absolutely fabulous together.

Then again, it was probably the brilliant direction that made them look so good because the other films pairing them -- Ghanchakkar and Hamari Adhuri Kahani -- failed miserably.

 

Alone
Bipasha Basu, 37.
Karan Singh Grover, 34.
Age difference: Three years

Bipasha and Karan's love story in Alone seems to have made them a couple in real life too, never mind the three year gap.

They looked gorgeous in the film but that did not translate to box office gold.

Raaz - The Mystery Continues
Kangana Ranaut, 29.
Adhyayan Suman, 28.
Age difference: One year

Kangana Ranaut found success in one of her earliest films called Raaz - The Mystery Continues.

The film had her paired up with Adhyayan Suman as well as Emraan Hashmi.

While Kangana's career zoomed ahead, Adhyayan hasn't seen a success thereafter. Incidentally, they also reportedly dated for a while.

Udta Punjab
Kareena Kapoor Khan, 35.
Diljit Dosanjh, 32.
Age difference: Three years

Ki & Ka, Kareena will have Punjabi superstar Diljit Dosanjh cast opposite her in Udta Punjab.

The man has recently delivered a superhit in Ambarsariya and since Kareena looks like a million bucks, the age difference won't matter.

Baar Baar Dekho
Katrina Kaif, 32.
Sidharth Malhotra, 31.
Age difference: One year

Sidharth Malhotra will romance Katrina Kaif in the romantic film, Baar Baar Dekho.

We're eagerly waiting to see more of this film!

Ae Dil Hai Mushkil
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, 42.
Ranbir Kapoor, 33.
Age difference: Nine years

This is pretty much by design.

For his directorial outing Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, Karan Johar wanted two of his key protagonists to be in certain age zone.

Hence, Anushka Sharma is the younger of the two heroines while Aishwarya Rai Bachchan steps in for the mature part.

Ranbir Kapoor is the solo male lead, and looks forward to seeing the actors on screen.