The fifties and the sixties brought to fore the dancing hero, dancing heroines and plots with more pace. But we got stuck with Mr. Clean and Ms. Sati Savitri as hero and heroine. The hero never ranked second in the university but always stood first. The hero never lied. He would do or die for his family which generally consisted of a mother and younger sister. He may have danced and gyrated with any number of girls but once he met the heroine, he fell in eternal love with her which was termed as ‘SAAT JANAM KA BANDHAN ‘. He was also the lad of the community. He sparked off all the “Gali Ka” songs, and the entire mohalla joined him in the festivities. He was God-fearing and never question God’s decisions. He could single- handedly take on any number of goons and come out victorious with at the most a red band with a dot of blood on his forehead. Generally, he had a sick mother and didn’t have a father. The main qualification for the hero in that era was his ability to dance. He had very competent playback singers, so he didn’t have to bother on that front.

The heroine, on the other hand, had to be devout and pious. She was slightly naughty and played pranks with the hero at times. She would get into the act of coquetry but when the hero came near to embrace her,she would keep her two arms in between, right in front of the chest of the hero so that the hero doesn’t get a feel of her body. She was so pious. Generally, she didn’t have a mother. Her father only had given her both ‘MAA KA PYAAR and BAAP KA PYAAR’. Since she was a symbol of purity, she did not supply any sexy scenes for the film. Film-makers had to depend upon other female character artiste to fulfill this demand. These roles were of vamps. For her the ability to dance was a major qualification, and if she knew classical dance also, it was ‘SONE PE SUHAGA’.

The heroine, her mother and her younger brother were a vulnerable lot and, quite often they were kidnapped and locked up in a remote place by the villain just at the pre-climax of the film so that the climax could end up in a nail-biting finish.

Then we came to the seventies and eighties when the image of the conventional hero went for a toss. It changed totally and the main protagonist for this being Mr. Bachchan,. The ANTI-HERO was born. Now we had a hero who was victimized by the society, who was anti-establishment and who didn’t give love first priority. His first priority was to set the system right, which he did single- handedly. The audience just loved him for that because through his heroic deeds, the viewers could give vent to their own anger against the system. He was a One-Man Army. He was larger than life. Ability to jump into action was his main qualification. He had to excel in fight and action sequences and, at times, he didn’t use a double for stunts, and got hurt too. In this period the hero was either an upright and honest police officer or he was a commoner fighting a corrupt police officer who led him the hierarchical ladder right up to the senior politicians and ministers.

The heroine in this period was not in the spotlight because most of the films were male oriented. The heroine was mainly used as a showpiece. All she had to do was one or two dance numbers, and one of them was definitely to lure the hero and bring him back into a happy mood as he was always upset fighting the system.

And now we come to the present era where definitions of hero and heroine have changed once again. Hero is now a person who does not necessarily fit into commercial yardsticks. He may not be tall. He may not be well-built. He may not be a good or a classic fighter. In this era he has to be a person with a good sense of humour. And he may also be the main comedian of the movie. This is also the period of MATRIX, so the hero has to be intelligent and computer savvy. Brain power before the muscle power. So hero could be a man with ordinary looks, height and body.

The heroine in this period has also transformed. These are the times of MTV so the heroine does not hesitate to twirl her pelvis on sexy numbers and that too scantily clad. The makers do not now need the help of other actors and dancers to provide the required dosage of sex in their films. The heroine fits the bill.

So change is imperative. Change has to come and change is a must. Let’s see what we have in store for Generation next. You never know some alien might just become the hero,s as the trends indicate. Well, isn’t he already!