April poll redux - best younger man for Shabana Azmi

It's well past time for the results of the April poll, which asked who would be the preferred younger man for a, shall we say May-September romance story with Shabana Azmi?



The clear winner, with 11 votes (a third of the total), was Irfan Khan, and may I just take this opportunity to say rrrowr! Irfan Khan is a very handsome guy and a fine, fine actor to boot. He has been matched with Shabana ji's niece Tabu more than once, and I think a romance between him and Shabana would possibly cause movie screens to burst into flames. Need I mention that Irfan received my own vote?

Not too far behind Irfan, though, two more Khans tied for second place: Shah Rukh Khan and Aamir Khan each received 7 votes, cementing their rivalry even here at SLP. So I propose a plot in which the two of them compete for Shabana ji's attention. Need I specify who wins that struggle in my imagined film? Well, okay, I will - Dimple Kapadia, in a twist that surprises everyone.

The brooding Rahul Bose put up a respectable showing with four votes, and this, too, is a pairing I would not be opposed to, as I think he has the gravitas and the skill to match up well with Shabana ji on screen.

Next is the young Kunal Kapoor, with two votes. Kunal is not to my taste physically (though he is generally considered quite dreamy) but seems to be a talented actor. Still, in my view he's too young for this job; it's hard to imagine effective, believable sexual tension between him and Shabana ji on screen.

Bringing up the rear are Akshaye Khanna and Saif Ali Khan with just one vote each. I'm not sure why they received such a poor showing. Saif Ali Khan managed some interesting tension with Dimple Kapadia in Being Cyrus and I think, given the right script, a romance between him and Shabana could be very sexy, in a creepy sort of way. As to Akshaye Khanna, perhaps memories of the lush chemistry between Shabana ji and his father hurt his performance in this poll.

Stay tuned for the June poll - I've no idea what it will be yet, but I am hopeful that inspiration will strike in the next several days.