Sometimes, it’s hard to beat the feeling that an ageing woman in the public eye can never win. If she decides to let the passage of time have its way with her, then she is told off for not bothering to make an effort. If she decides to go the full Botox, filler and drastic diet route, she is reprimanded for trying to outwit Nature.
Never is this brought home more forcefully than when the entire entertainment world descends on Cannes to walk the red carpet in all the finery that money can buy. Every day we are inundated with commentary on women’s faces, their bodies, their choice of clothes, their hair and make-up. And sadly, most of this commentary is laced with acid and saturated with cruelty.
Demi Moore (63 years) is excoriated for looking skeletal thin in her gown, with a background chorus tut-tutting about how Ozempic has not been kind to her. Photographers ruthlessly zoom in on her face to find evidence of fillers or Botox. Before and after pix are produced to show how — shock! horror! — Demi doesn’t look as dewy-eyed as she did when she made Indecent Proposal. (Duh, she was 30 when she made that movie!)
The verdict is damning. Demi has let her vanity get in the way of her common sense. And by dieting too much and getting too much work done, she has ruined the aesthetic that made her the Hollywood superstar she was in her prime.
Well, if that’s how it goes, then surely Aishwarya Rai Bachchan should get an easy ride, right? After all, at 52, she looks happy in her skin, embracing the more generous curves that come with age. Her face looks fuller as a consequence, and there is even a hint of a double chin when she smiles.
And she smiles a lot, demonstrating her confidence in her 52-year-old body, which she dresses in figure-hugging gowns, instead of trying to camouflage or hide the extra weight she is carrying since her Devdas days. With every turn on the red carpet, she shows the world that this what a 50-something body looks like — and that it is nothing to be ashamed of.
You would think that she would be celebrated for this. And you would be completely wrong. Instead of admiring Aishwarya, the critics go into full Mean Girl mode the moment she makes an appearance. Gosh, she needs to lose weight! Who told her that gown was appropriate for her body? She looks so much older than her age. Why doesn’t she just retire? The digs just keep coming.
So, you see, an ageing woman in the public eye simply cannot win. It doesn’t matter if she tries to age gracefully or disgracefully; she is wrong either way. And there is a reason for that. In the popular culture that we have created, beautiful women are simply not allowed to age. They must look the same at 48 as they looked at 18. They should have the same figure at 60 that they had at 30. And any deviation from this ideal is simply not tolerated by the commentariat.
Because in their twisted minds, a thing of beauty should be their toy forever. And remain frozen in time.
From HT Brunch, May 30, 2026
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