Konkona Sensharma, known for her performances in films like ‘Dolly Kitty’, and ‘Aur Woh Chamakte Sitare’, has consistently chosen layered, human stories. This year, she appeared in ‘Metro… In Dino’, where she shared screen space with Pankaj Tripathi and also portrayed a romantic arc with younger actor Rohan Gurbaxani. Recently, Konkona spoke candidly about why women romancing younger men is often labelled “bold”.
Konkona Sensharma’s take on age-gap romances
The debate around age-gap romances resurfaced earlier when Kajol and Twinkle Khanna, on their chat show, asked Salman Khan and Aamir Khan why older male actors romancing younger women is termed “cinema magic,” while the reverse is called “bold.” Having experienced the scrutiny firsthand, Konkona believes the interpretation lies with viewers. She says, “It’s the audience’s prerogative and their right. Somebody can see it as bold, somebody else might not.” For her, such relationships do not feel radical or shocking. Real life already reflects diverse age dynamics.She points out, “For me, personally it’s not a bold concept because there’s so many different couples of different age groups in real life. We see it even amongst famous people, and it’s slowly kind of becoming normalised” As society slowly normalises this, she questions the constant spotlight. “So why do we need to keep on harping about all this?” she asks, adding that while she doesn’t find the debate exciting, she respects differing views.
Breaking the boxes women are put in
Konkona also addresses how women are often boxed into rigid ideas. She feels this limits how stories are understood. “There is no one way of being a woman, That is something even Durga exemplifies, showing all the different roles that women can inhabit and all different ways that one can be a woman.” she states, explaining that female identities hold many contradictions and strengths. Opening this lens allows audiences to see deeper emotional textures instead of surface-level labels.
Why the context matters in her films.
For Konkona, intention and storytelling matter more than headlines. “In both my films, the age gap served a different purpose, Just to see it from the lens of romancing a younger man and it being bold, it’s a little boring for me. I” she explains. ‘In Metro… In Dino’, the situation unfolds with humour and exposes a male character’s conflict. She notes, “No one talks about Pankaj going to a hotel to meet another young woman. I don’t know why that is not called ‘bold’?”In ‘Dolly Kitty’, the relationship reflects a woman’s journey through an unhappy marriage, “So she had this affair with this younger man, which was really on her path to self realisation of many things,” she said.
Konkona Sensharma on work front
She was last seen in the crime thriller web series ‘Search: The Naina Murder Case’. The series is directed Rohan Sippy, starring Shraddha Das, Shiv Panditt, and Surya Sharma. The series is currently streaming on JioHotstar.