Columnist, broadcaster, theatre actor, and casting director, Dolly Thakore has donned many hats with panache accompanied by her inimitable style of short grey hair, cotton sarees, silver bangles, and a big bindi. “I have never dyed my hair. It hasn’t bothered me at least. I didn’t give a damn about what others thought or looked like. I have been what I am,” Thakore said, days ahead of her 81st birthday.
Besides her strikingly cool look, Thakore is famously remembered as a broadcaster on Doordarshan and for her performances in the classic play Vagina Monologues and Madhur Bhandarkar’s movie Page 3. She recently also released her tell-all memoir Regrets, None, recalling the highs and lows of her multifaceted career and marriage to adman Alyque Padamsee.
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“Even at this age, people come up to me and compliment me on the way I look. They recognise me because of my look, which has remained unchanged for decades. I never thought of changing my appearance.”
Thakore says even as she sported grey hair and wrinkles during public appearances and on stage, she was fortunate to have never experienced discrimination over her look. “Lots of people in the media industry have botoxed themselves and have undergone surgeries because they feel pressured to look a certain way,” she said adding that one only needs confidence to counter such negativity.
Thakore says she learned about age and growing old and young through theater. When she was 35 years old, she played roles of a 16-year-old girl in A Streetcar Named Desire and an 80-year-old in Death of a Salesman. She advises young people to adopt healthier lifestyles instead of going for fillers to change the way they look. “I have never hidden my age. I am very happy with my age. I feel ageless.”
