In a year dominated by mass entertainment, seasoned entertainers are proving that age is no barrier to box office success. Kicking off the trend was Shah Rukh Khan, 57, who returned to the silver screen after a five-year hiatus with Pathaan. However, he wasn’t alone in this remarkable revival.

Over a single weekend, not one, but three stars demonstrated their enduring power. Sunny Deol, at 65, wielded a hammer in Gadar 2 and passionately chanted Hindustan Zindabad, fuelling the box-office triumph. At 55, Akshay Kumar, who faced a string of no-shows, won over the audience with OMG2, co-starring Pankaj Tripathi and Yami Gautam Dhar. And then there’s Rajinikanth, at 72, who left no doubt about who still commands the hearts of audiences, with Jailer.

Anil Sharma, who directed the Deol-starrer says, “People are saying the movie worked only because of the handpump scene, nostalgia and so on. But that would have worked only on day one. The older an actor is, the more seated they are in the public’s hearts.”

Amit Rai, director of OMG 2, says, “Audience is maai-baap, vwoh content soongh lete hain. Star power se bhi bahut bada hai content. Viewers have given their verdict that they only want good cinema.”

There are very good actors in the new generation; it will take them time to build this kind of fan base. The exposure younger actors have is less, it will increase slowly.

These are the stars that have made a place for themselves over the years. And age is just a number, because people just want entertainment and these stars have given that bharpoor.