Bhumi Pednekar on playing a senior role in ‘Saand Ki Aankh’

Earlier this month, the makers of ‘Saand Ki Aankh’ dropped their look as “shooter dadis” for Bhumi Pednekar and Taapsee Pannu-starrer on the internet. However, the make-up and the characterisation of the young actresses as old women didn’t go down too well with a the wider audience.

“Would have preferred to see Neena Gupta in this role; make-up is looking extremely bad and fake,” was one comment on Twitter, which pointed out that senior women artistes from Bollywood should have been cast in the film. Not only Gupta but senior actors like Amrita Singh and Dimple Kapadia were also spoken of for the roles, reports India Today.

Pednekar, who is essaying the role of Prakashi Tomar (a sharpshooter from Uttar Pradesh) in Anurag Kashyap’s production, has a fitting reply for them. She responded in an interview with Mid-Day saying no roles should be off-limits for artists.

“In the past, people have played characters older than their age successfully. Anupam Kher in Saaransh (1984) and Nargis ji in Mother India (1957) are great examples. If we can play characters younger than our age, why can’t we play older characters as well?” she said.

Adding to Pednekar’s statement, Pannu, who is sharing screen space with her as Chandro Tomar, said that the film industry is obsessed with the idea of young being beautiful. “I have played a college kid after turning 30, and no one questioned me then. Instead of making an issue, people should be surprised that we took up these roles, as there are few actors who take the risk of ageing on screen apologetically,” she said.

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