For over three decades, Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan, and Aamir Khan have remained dominant forces in Bollywood, even as several contemporaries faded from the spotlight. While their star power once guaranteed footfall, audience expectations today have evolved, with viewers increasingly prioritising relatable storytelling over sheer celebrity presence.
Actor Imran Khan, Aamir Khan’s nephew, recently shared his perspective on how ageing impacts stardom and why established actors need to transition into roles that reflect their stage of life.
Imran Khan on ageing and evolving as actors
In a conversation with SHOWSHA, Imran spoke about the natural lifecycle of a leading man in cinema. He explained that actors eventually reach a point where continuing to play the same kind of romantic or youthful leads becomes difficult.
“As a leading man, actors also start to age out. There are certain years where you can work as a leading man, and then there comes an age where you are not able to play those roles,” Imran said.
He added that Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan, and Aamir Khan are now well into their 60s and have already experienced an extraordinary run of stardom spanning more than 30 years.
“They’ve had a kind of stardom that’s hard to imagine or replicate. I think it’s an inevitable part of an actor’s journey that as you age, the kind of roles you play also needs to change,” he noted.
How audience connection shifts with time
Imran further explained how audience relationships with stars evolve across generations. According to him, viewers instinctively gravitate toward stories and characters that mirror their own age, experiences, and emotional realities.
“There’s an audience that grows with you, and then there’s a younger generation that connects with actors closer to them in age and outlook,” he said. “When we watch films, we try to see ourselves in those characters. The younger generation might not want to watch the story of a 70-year-old man.”
Box-office context
Imran’s comments come at a time when Bollywood’s box-office trends reflect shifting viewer preferences. After Zero, Shah Rukh Khan took a four-year break before returning with back-to-back successes in Pathaan and Jawan. However, his third release that year, Dunki, did not match the commercial performance of the earlier films.
Similarly, Aamir Khan’s Laal Singh Chaddha failed to make a strong impact at the box office, while Sitaare Zameen Par drew attention more for its ensemble cast than for a conventional star-driven narrative.
Salman Khan has also faced a challenging phase in recent years, with most of his films since 2018 underperforming commercially, barring Tiger 3, which emerged as a notable exception.
As audience tastes continue to evolve, Imran Khan’s remarks highlight an ongoing conversation in Bollywood about reinvention, relevance, and the importance of embracing age-appropriate storytelling.
