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Framed to suit the role
In old Tinkle and Amar Chitra Katha comics, the wise fox or the owl were (and still are) always portrayed wearing glasses. Indian society has equated glasses with intelligence for decades and the film world has not been left behind.
Whenever directors want to show their lead characters in a slightly intellectual light, out come the glasses. And the geekier the better. Thus Uday Chopra makes a “spectacle” (pun intended) of himself in Pyaar Impossible and Priyanka Chopra, to portray the role of a shrewd businesswoman in one of her roles in What’s Your Rashee? takes the same route. John Abraham has also, once again, gone for the bespectacled look for his new film Jhoota Hi Sahi and sports black, broad-rimmed glasses.
Filmmakers, however, deny that there’s anything stereotypical about glasses and say it’s all about what the script requires. Pradeep Sarkar, director of Lafangey Parindey, says, “I don’t think there is any trend, it just depends on the movie and the role the actor is playing. There have been many movies coming up with actors and actresses in a geeky, intelligent or innocent role. But it just depends on the role they are playing. If my movie needs someone to look like that, then I might use them with glasses, and they do look nice with glasses on.”
Actor Ashmit Patel says, “If an actor comes to a press conference or a public event with spectacles, then it may be to set a trend but mostly we use them as they suit the role. I had played an intellectual, older and a mature man when I was 23 years old and I had to put on glasses for it.
No matter how good someone would look, if it doesn’t suit the role, it is a complete waste. Among our actors, I think Saif Ali Khan would carry off glasses in any role really well.”
Sometimes actors just want to experiment with new looks, “I think actors sometimes need to work on a new look to get out of the bracket and the identity which they already have. I don’t believe in trends but in scripts that demand people wearing glasses. Maybe Priyanka Chopra had to wear glasses in her movie What’s Your Rashee? or else it wouldn’t have made any difference and she did a great job with them. If I had to choose anyone who would look good with glasses, it would be Ranbir Kapoor,” says actor Namit Das.
Actors have always been trendsetters and that has been recently proved right once again as several fans have started sporting thin moustaches a la Salman “Chulbul” Khan from Dabangg.
Actress Vidya Malvade says, “Whatever actors wear or do — sets trends, Karan Johar and Amitabh Bachchan wear these thick glasses which look good on them, but I strongly believe that movies make trends, and I have been influenced myself by many movies. And I would say Shah Rukh Khan and Hrithik Roshan look stunning with glasses.”