With most of North America embroiled in election fever (Canada had a general election last week and the US presidential poll isnt far off), its time for democracy to make its appearance on Old is Gold. Today readers, we are going to select the �Evergreen� Baadshah of Bollywood!
We�re all familiar with the phenomenon of popular stars who continue to act �boyish� inspite of expanding midriffs, receding hairlines and increasing age. Mallika Pukhraj�s famous ghazal Abhi to main jawaan hoon (I am still young) is their motto and they�re sticking with it! Strangely, this phenomenon is confined to male stars and in over 100 years of Indian Cinema, its never spread to the feminine half of the industry! Actors from every decade of Indian cinema have been guilty of refusing to grow old (in their cinematic age) but the late 80s and early 90s are special in that they are overflowing with examples of stubbornly �youthful� superstars!
To help you decide who you�d like to crown the Peter Pan of Bollywood, I�ve made a list of the contenders:
10. Sunil Dutt
He was very handsome and debonair � once upon a time. Like most Bollywood heroes, he continued well past his prime and we were treated to the sight of hero Dutt in late 70s and early 80s with a pot belly and an �Uncle chest�.
Peak �Evergreen� moment: Dard Ka Rishta (1982) where he romances not one but two young beauties (Smita Patil and Reena Roy)!
9. Raj Kapoor
The Kapoors as a family have been at the forefront of this �jawaani-deewaani� (mad youth) movement - from tubby, Papaji (Prithviraj Kapoor) wheezing romance at an advanced age, to RK and his sons. I�ll come clean and admit to a strong prejudice against RK - I thought he always looked old, even as a relatively young man! But the blobbier he got, the more �simple� his characters became (Rum has analysed this in detail, here) while his heroines just got younger and more nubile. 
The zenith of his �evergreen-ness� was Sapnon Ka Saudagar (1968) which starred grandpa Raj and very cute, very young Hema Malini in her Hindi film debut.
8. Sanjay Dutt
Like father like son. What he lacks in the pot-belly stakes he more than makes up for in the Uncle-chest department! He has so many �evergreen� moments that its difficult to pick out the outstanding one. 
Should it be Munnabhai MBBS where his childhood playmate turns into a half-his-age Gracy Singh or should it be the newer Munnabhai movie where he partners an equally young Vidya Balan, or (help!) is his peak �evergreen� moment yet to come?
7. Kishore Kumar 
To be fair, I never understood his appeal (inspite of the great Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi) and have loathed most movies he lent his acting skills to. But nothing had prepared me for the sight of his chubby 40+ self playing a college student and romancing a 20 something Mumtaz in Pyaar Diwaana! 
Peak evergreen moment: Hard to pick. Should it be Pyar Kiye Ja where he plays Shashi Kapoor�s college friend but looks like he should be playing SK�s Dad or Pyaar Diwaana (1972) where he looks way too old to be still in college?
6. Dilip Kumar
I was so used to seeing him look old and romancing heroines less than half his age that I was shocked when I realised that he was charismatic and immensely good looking once upon a time! Be that as it may, like all Bollywood greats, here�s another one who stayed �young� too long.
Peak �evergreen� moment: Bairaag (1976) where a sagging jowled Dilip (according to imdb he was 54 then) romances a 20 something Leena Chandavarkar.
5. Jeetendra
Jumping Jack Jeetendra was young and handsome in the best tradition of the 70s. However, as anybody who watched him cavort with Jayapradha and Sridevi in ridiculous wigs and �staches through the 80s could testify - time wasnt kind to him. And he wasnt too kind to his viewers! 
Check out Jeetu Uncle romancing a very young Madhuri Dixit � this has to be the zenith of his �youthfulness�!
4. Rishi Kapoor
Cute, pretty, Chintu followed in his Dad�s footsteps for a lot longer than any other Kapoor before him (and hopefully after him). I became a die-hard fan of 60s and 70s Bollywood mainly through an overdose of watching a sweater-clad, pot-bellied Rishi romancing heroines half his age, well into the 1990s.
Peak �Evergreen� moment: Romance with cute kid Divya Bharti in Deewana (1992). Shouldnt this be classified as inappropriately gross? (He went on to assault viewers with a lot worse than this, but I had stopped watching!)
3. Amitabh Bachchan
My earliest memories of him are movies like Akayla (1991) and Khudah Gawah (1992) where he was ageing not-so-gracefully. Nothing though could have prepared me for the monstrosity that was Sooryavansham (1999)! Just when I had begun to recognise that he was a good actor and had some great films (in the 70s and early 80s), his hirsute 21st century avatar broke upon me and I realised that I will never love Big B!
Peak �Evergreen� moment: Sooryavansham � check out Ageing B romance �childhood� pal Rachana Bannerji. There was worse to come which thanks goodness, I didnt see!
2. Dharmendra
One of my favorite 60s and 70s star (Jaya Bachchan says he was �Greek God� good-looking and I dont disagree!), he was unstoppable and lit up the 1980s and 90s with his decaying beauty and soft middle. I still love him but wish the 80s and 90s hadnt happened to Dharam Paji.
The 80s and 90s are such a blur of Paji�s �evergreen� moments that its hard for me to pick and choose. imdb offers a wide selection � take your pick or check out the �naughty boy�!
1. Dev Anand
Now here�s one guy who has never learnt to act his age and is actually called Bollywood�s �Evergreen� hero! His charm is so irresistible that even nubile teenagers are unable to resist falling for his mummified beauty! One cant help but admire his refusal to age. 
I often wonder who funds his newer movies that (as far as I know) end up being box-office disasters! On the imdb entry for Dev�s Censor, user shahkaal speculates that �this [could] be the work of cross-border evildoers from an unnamed neighboring country�!
Now for the poll� On whom would you bestow the title of Sartaaj-e-Jawaani (leader of youth) in perpetuity? To whom does your heart call Bade miyaan deewaane aise na bano (Old man, dont be so foolish)?
Hint: For sheer Evergreen-ness, Dev Saab has no competition!
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