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Why Bollywood stars pale in the heat and dust of politics

artistes have a larger-than-life image and an unsullied, apolitical mass appeal.

With their stylish good looks and glamorous presence, Bollywood stars have contested in Indian elections for several decades. However, few have been successful in making a noteworthy transition into the field of politics. This year, various parties have again fielded host of film celebrities in the hope of translating their mass popularity into electoral votes.

For its part, the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) has again lined up its array of Bollywood heavyweights: the indomitable Shatrughan Sinha from Patna Saheb in Bihar, veteran Vinod Khanna from Gurdaspur and the ageless diva Hema Malini from Mathura. It has also added a host of new stars in this year’s elections with thespian Paresh Rawal from Ahmedabad East, Joy Bannerjee from Birbhum and Babul Supriyo from Asansol. Noted actress Kirron Kher is also contesting on the BJP ticket from Chandigarh and her twitter spat with glamorous star Gul Panag, who is fighting for the Aaam Aadmi Party from the same city, has whipped up quite a frenzy.

Celebrated filmmaker Prakash Jha, winner of several national awards, will contest the Lok Sabha election from Bettiah parliamentary constituency in Bihar on a Janata Dal-United ticket. For its part, the Indian National Congress has fielded screen scorcher Nagma from Meerut, thespian Raj Babbar from Ghaziabad and the flamboyant Ravi Kishan from Jaunpur. But the biggest slice of the cake has been offered by the Trinamool Congress, which is fielding Moon Moon Sen from Bankura, Sandhya Sen from Midnapore, Biswajit from New Delhi, superstar Dev from Ghatal and singers Soumitra Roy and Indranil Sen among others.

There are several reasons why political parties field film stars in elections. Cine artistes have a larger-than-life image and an unsullied, apolitical mass appeal. Even serious voters often believe that film celebrities, untainted by corruption, will be more responsive and mindful of the concerns of their constituencies than dishonest and wily politicians. Some political parties with a poor performance record field film stars to redeem their electoral fortunes. However, unlike several South Indian film stars who have been highly successful in politics, like the legendary N. T. Rama Rao, M. G. Ramachandran, Jayalalitha and DMK leader M. Karunanidhi (former scriptwriter), few Bollywood actors turned into noted political leaders. Despite the grandiose entry of Amitabh Bachchan, Rajesh Khanna, Dharmendra and Govinda into politics, these Bollywood greats had to abandon their political careers midway.

In Kerala, famous comedian Innocent has entered the fray and is hoping to shine in the Chalakkudi constituency where he will be taking on veteran Congress politician P.C. Chacko.

The only exceptions cited have been the late actor Sunil Dutt and Shatrughan Sinha who manged to become union cabinet ministers for a few months. It is usually said that South Indian movies often project their heroes as social activists and messiahs of the poor. Thus, they are able to build on this reel-life image when they eventually enter politics after ending their film careers. Bollywood superstars, on the other hand, usually gain popularity as romantic heroes and rarely develop the image of a Rajnikant or the late NTR. Their movies generally avoid political themes. Moreover, the Hindi film industry is based in Mumbai which is far removed from the Hindi heartland. Thus, film stars here are often far removed and not well aware and integrated into the society, as actors of South Indian movies.

Even when Bollywood stars win elections, their romantic charm pales in the sweat and grime of everyday politics. Political success demands consistent effort of several years and the usually crowd-wary Bollywood actors are averse to give up their film careers and mingle with common people to resolve their complex problems.

There is also a degree of social prudery in North India that actors suffer from when they join politics. Their profession is still looked upon with disrespect in some sections of society. “Bollywood actors are looked upon with added suspicion,” says actress Nagma as many feel they ‘parachute into politics’, while genuine people are marginalised. As Shah Rukh Khan once sarcastically surmised that as an actor he was “selfish, materialistic, capitalistic and too good-looking to join politics.” —news@khaleejtimes.com