At 39, Rohini Hattangady Was Too Young to Play Dharmendra’s Mother

When Rohini Hattangady arrived on the Ooty set of Humse Na Takrana, her first day came with an unexpected note. Dharmendra thought she looked too young to play his mother, so the make-up artist had a job to do.

The make-up request

Speaking to India Today, Hattangady recalled that her make-up artist began working extensively on her without explaining why. When she asked what was happening, he sheepishly told her that Dharam ji had said she was looking young.

Her reaction, as quoted in the interview: “I wondered how much make-up I would need and how much white hair we would need.”

The detail made the moment funnier. Hattangady was born in 1951 and was 39 during the 1990 shoot; Dharmendra was 55. The age gap ran firmly against the on-screen mother-son equation.

Why she never minded the mother roles

Hattangady had already played Amitabh Bachchan’s mother in Agneepath and Shahenshah, and she would appear as Dharmendra’s mother in Humse Na Takrana. She told India Today the casting never bothered her because she was there to play a character, not to think about which star was bigger or smaller.

Here is a quick look at the career that backs up that confidence:

• BAFTA first: the first Indian actor to win Best Actress in a Supporting Role, for Gandhi (1982).
• National Film Award: Best Supporting Actress for Party (1984).
• Well-loved films: Arth, Agneepath, ChaalBaaz, Pukar and Munna Bhai MBBS.

Her filmography is also a reminder of how often Bollywood has cast younger women as on-screen mothers to older male heroes. Hattangady’s anecdote lands without bitterness: she treated the brief as a professional challenge, not a slight. What makes the story worth retelling is the perspective. In an industry that often treats age as a sensitive subject, she has always described these roles as work, not an identity.

Where to watch her now

Hattangady can currently be seen in Meethe Mein Kya Hai, the Netflix film directed by Radhika Bansal. It follows a young widower whose grief eases during a Diwali reunion, until his sister’s sudden marriage creates chaos at home.

Source: The Times of India