In a recent interview, Anil Ravipudi suggested that the significant age difference between Telugu movie heroes and heroines has a social explanation. He gave the example of couples in previous generations successfully navigating relationships with age differences of 10 to 15 years. In contrast, couples with smaller age differences may experience unique challenges. Husbands and wives whose age gap is 1-2 years tend to have compatibility issues, he stated.
The explanation emerges from Ravipudi's inability to understand the debate in the first place. Considerable age disparities between lead characters in movies is irrespective of the stories of those movies. Ravipudi's explanation works in the case of Sankranthiki Vasthunam because the age gap factor is a part of the story/conversations between the husband (Venkatesh) and his wife/girlfriend in the film. The film might be making a social point, which a section of the audience might appreciate (although nobody would like to emulate their grandparents in today's times).
But this explanation doesn't work for movies where 60-year-old heroes romance 30-year-old heroines only because they are cast as 30-year-old males in those films. The awkward casting is entirely because of the age-inappropriate roles being played by the male leads.