George Bush Jr: The current occupant of the Oval Office, the 43rd President of the US, was 55 when he announced the War on Terrorism and ordered the invasion of Afghanistan to destroy al Qaida and capture Osama bin Laden. He was 57 when he ordered the invasion of Iraq.

 

 

Osama bin Laden: The man behind 9/11 was 43 years old when he ordered the attack. There are many more years to go, if he remains alive and untraceable, as he supposedly is.

 

 

Saddam Hussain: The executed Iraqi leader had invaded and annexed Kuwait in 1990, sparking the First Gulf War. He was 53. A UN coalition led by the US drove out the Iraqis from oil-rich Kuwait the following year, but through his fifties, Saddam retained absolute control over his country almost till his capture in 2004. George Bush Senior was 66 when he sent the troops to Iraq.

 

 

Rajnikanth: At 58, he has featured in Sivaji, the Boss, as the eponymous hero in the Tamil film that is reportedly the costliest Indian film ever made. As Rajni in his fluorescent tees and blue jeans drawls “Cool!”, apparently the well-brought-up Chennai lady with oiled hair and demure bindi wishes to join the ranks of the front-benchers to just roar. As a critic puts it: “In the Tamil sexual imagination, the subaltern superhero’s near-mythic powers include the ruthless quelling of surging female sexuality.”

 

 

Amitabh Bachchan: At 64, he is probably the busiest star in Bollywood. But you can only sign him on if you can catch him taking a break.

 

 

Mithun Chakraborty: One-liners like “Maarbo ekhane lash porbe shoshane (Will hit you here and you will land in the burning ghat)” in MLA Fatakesto, “Publicer maar Keoratala paar (When the public hits out, you fly past Keoratala, the burning ghat) in Tulkalam and “Nursery-te shuru, half pant-e guru, full pant-e mahaguru (I started at the nursery, matured in my shorts and became the don in my trouser days)” in Mahaguru, Mithunda has pumped in more virility into the Bengali film industry than any younger hero, with or without coloured hair. Mithun is pushing 60, but he feels 27.

 

 

Jackie Chan: Kung fu champion and the current king of action comedy, the man is 53. His latest, Rush Hour 3, may have got some pretty rotten reviews, but Chan is sprightlier than partner-in-crime Chris Tucker, who has put on weight. In real life Chan looks perfectly comfortable with Mallika Sherawat by his side.

 

 

Narendra Modi: In 2002, when riots broke out in Gujarat, of which he was chief minister and is still, leading to the killing of about a 1,000 Muslims. He was 52.

 

 

Vijay Mallya: His latest acquisition is Spyker, the Formula 1 team. Besides that, he owns the United Breweries, Kingfisher Airlines, derbies, a yacht called the Indian Empress, the football clubs East Bengal and Mohun Bagan, many gold chains, rings and trinkets, and reportedly, the careers of many models and celebs. He is 52.

 

 

Richard Branson: He has just confessed to having been a member of the mile-high club (members need to have had sex in an aircraft, mid-air) and taken cocaine and Ecstasy, but all those were in the past. The boss of Virgin Airlines is far more outrageous when it comes to his product launches. He is supposed to be Mallya’s role model. Branson is 57.

 

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