Like Madhavan, Would We Be Ok With An Older, Grey Haired Female Protagonist?

Most 45 or 50 plus male stars are still found desirable, said to be ageing like fine wine, and paired with female stars half or more than half their age. 

Recently, Netflix had a show Decoupled in which actor R. Madhavan was the protagonist. He was shown to be a middle-aged, out of shape, grey haired, blunt author.

Many people liked this show and called Madhavan sexy and charismatic, and heaped praises.

In a country where Malaika, Shamita Shetty, etc. who are younger to Madhavan are called oldies, aunties such a scenario is highly unlikely.  Most 45 or 50 plus male stars are still found desirable, said to be ageing like fine wine, and paired with female stars half or more than half their age.

This is applicable for all the movie industries, Indian or not. Can we expect just the opposite, where older women are considered just as desirable for the screen?

Why is age shaming, body shaming, looks shaming just meant for women, more so after they have crossed 40? Why do all the beauty products, slimming centers, yoga classes specifically target women and assure them that they will knock off their age by 10-15 years and not target men?

Do men really not get old?

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An out of shape and grey haired man is still desirable but not a woman… why the double standards?

Next time, I want to see (which is not likely) a 45 or 50 plus female protagonist with the same attributes as the Decoupled male protagonist, and see if it evokes the same positive response. Will it?  Highly unlikely..

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