Bollywood has been a male-dominated industry for years and continues to be so even today. This is evident from the fact that while we do have stories for male actors over 50 but sadly, the industry still falls short when it comes to presenting stories with female actors over a certain age as lead protagonists.

Dia Mirza has spoken about the industry being ruled by men at length and has given valid arguments, in her interview with ETimes, to prove her stance on the very topic.

1. She addressed the bitter but unfortunate truth of Bollywood wherein not many roles are there for older actresses. She said, “I hope that this expression of female actors allows them to play the leading part even when they are older. But the unfortunate truth of the matter is that stories are not written for the female older characters as much as the male ones. It is even more unfortunate to see an older man playing younger parts."

2. She added how female actors over a certain age have to ask for work and she gave the example of Neena Gupta who despite being talented wasn’t offered any role and had to struggle for her due. Dia said, "An aberration to this would be an actress like Neena Gupta Ji. She literally has said it out loud more than once, 'I am an actor. I love my job. Please cast me.' Thankfully, some interesting filmmakers decided to cast her in lead parts that were defeating her age. But there are a lot of actresses in their middle ages who are struggling and aren’t being cast because no stories are being written for them."

3. Dia pointed out how the industry is comfortable with the fact that a 50-year old is sharing screen space with someone half his age but that’s not the case with older female actors. “The industry is male-dominated. Older men like to be cast opposite younger women to extend their own shelf life. It is bizarre that a 50 plus something actor is acting opposite a 19-year-old actress,” Dia stated. And she isn't wrong as actors like Ajay Devgn, Akshay Kumar, Shah Rukh Khan, and Salman Khan have shared the screen space with actresses half their age.

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