 Would you want to become a 20-25-year-old lad again
and stay young forever? If Ray Kurzweil succeeds in his
endeavour of halting and then reversing ageing, do you think such a development would have a positive impact
on your life?
It’s difficult for such a scientific development to happen. But if it does, I think the charm of life will be lost. The beauty of life is that one has to die. That’s the poetry of life. Life will be very dull and stupid otherwise. What would the charm of life be if it just keeps going on and on? Here, the beauty is that life is finite. If it is infinite, how would one value the present?
Even in relationships, the beauty of relationships is that they’re finite. Life would be boring if there was no death. I don’t think I would like to be stuck at one age for the rest of my life…
How do you think such a development would affect the film industry? Would Shah Rukh Khan and Aamir Khan rule the roost forever?!
I think and I’m sure that people will get bored of seeing Shah Rukh and Aamir. The beauty of a Shah Rukh or an Aamir is that people know that they are here for a limited period of time. That, I think, is what the actors also feel. The beauty of
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Dilip Kumar was that he was limited. If these guys had to go on forever, people would get bored with them. That is why we cherish moments, and that is why we want to look up the past and watch their movies. One would also want to mature as one grows old. A person’s entire perception of life changes as he/she ages. The way one views life at the age of 20 is different from how he/she views it at the age of 45. That makes the entire process of ageing beautiful for anyone, be it an actor, director, writer… anyone. This makes it wholesome.
If yesteryears' stars regain their looks and vitality through the reverse ageing technology, how would the competition in the Indian film industry become? As a director, would you be more inclined to cast the present crop of actors, or the young-again stars of the past, in your films?
Well, if that was to happen, I don’t think I would take anyone or incline towards anyone. That’s because if actors were to go on forever, I don’t think any of them would have the same charm. There will be no motivation or fun of making movies. Everything will be mundane and there will be no definition of any actor, no charm of any actor.
Talking about song and dance in Bollywood, do you think someone like Helen, if she opts for the reverse ageing process, could rule over the current 'item girls'?
We liked Helen because she was just apt for her time. Why would people want to watch Helen for years and years? Wouldn’t people want new faces? Helen was adored because her span was limited. People cherish what she did because she is no more doing the same thing. So there is no comparison of who would out-do whom here. Everyone is good because they are the best fit for their time.
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