Poll stars

Politics and Indian movies have for long gone hand in hand, feeding off each other in their bid to strengthen their grip on the minds of the people. While Bollywood luminaries possess charisma and popular appeal, politicians wield power that springs from the ballot. The cosy partnership of the two forces is on show yet again as the nation hosts election to the 18th Lok Sabha.

But are things exact the same as they were at the turn of the new millennium when a rash of movie stars jumped into the electoral fray? Perhaps not. One thing has definitely changed – the major political parties seem to have abandoned the tendency to rope in movie stars to campaign for their poll candidates.

Several film personalities are in the 2024 election fray across the country but all of them are confined to their own constituencies. Gone are the days when they would be required to criss-cross the country and appeal for votes on behalf of various candidates and parties.

Kangana Ranaut is far and away the most talked about celebrity candidate in the 2024 general election that kicked off on April 19. Known for her propensity for courting controversies, BJP’s nominee from Mandi constituency in Himachal Pradesh – Ranaut is a native of that part of India – has already put her foot in the mouth.

In a recent televised interview, Ranaut called Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose India’s first Prime Minister and suggested that Mahatma Gandhi did not let Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel become PM because the latter did not know English. Both claims are so appallingly erroneous that they can come only from somebody who knows no history.

An alarmed BJP leadership is reported to have instructed her to hold her horses and not speak out of turn. She has been told to only answer questions about the achievements of the outgoing government. One cannot but wonder what pearls of wisdom she will shower on the Lok Sabha (if the party bosses do not rein her in) if she were to win a seat. 

Another newcomer to the electoral fray this time around is Arun Govil, the actor who played Lord Rama in Ramanand Sagar’s late-1980s television series Ramayan. The BJP has nominated him from Meerut, his birthplace. He is going around the constituency with a portrait of the mythological hero and seeking votes.

Govil’s direct use of religion in the campaign isn’t understandably sitting well with the Opposition, which has accused the Election Commission of turning a blind eye to a flagrant violation of rules. The actor-turned-politician continues merrily regardless.

The BJP has turned its duo of Bhojpuri film stars – Ravi Kishan (Gorakhpur) and Manoj Tiwari (Northeast Delhi) – into a trio by adding Dinesh Lal Yadav Nirahua to its list of Lok Sabha contenders. Nirahua, who spent his formative years in Belghoria, a Kolkata suburb, is the party’s candidate from Azamgarh, Uttar Pradesh.

BJP has fallen back yet again on “dream girl” Hema Malini in the holy city of Mathura, the birthplace of Lord Krishna, although her record as an MP has been nothing to write home about. The BJP has fielded Malayalam film actor Suresh Gopi, a former nominated member of Rajya Sabha, from Thrissur.

Gopi contested from the same constituency and finished third behind the Congress and the Communist Party of India candidates. He tried his luck in the Kerala Assembly elections but failed to win.  Trinamool Congress (TMC), led by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, has unleashed a battery of films stars and former cricketers in the upcoming elections. On its candidates’ list is Bengali cinema superstar Dev (Deepak Adhikary), a two-time Member of Parliament who has been re-nominated from Ghatal, a predominantly rural constituency.

Dev’s principal opponent in Ghatal is another movie star, Hiran Chatterjee, who is the sitting BJP Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) from the Kharagpur (Sadar) constituency. The contest here is slated to be four-cornered because the Opposition INDIA bloc led by the Congress Party has failed to come to a seat-sharing arrangement. Both the Congress and CPM have fielded candidates in Ghatal – a fact that might queer the pitch a bit for the otherwise formidable Dev. 

Veteran Bollywood actor Shatrughan Sinha, who was a minister during Atal Behari Vajpayee’s reign at the Centre, is the TMC candidate from Asansol, where a large percentage of the population is constituted by Hindi-speaking migrants from the neighbouring states of Bihar and Jharkhand.

From the nearby Bardhaman-Durgapur constituency, TMC has nominated ex-cricketer Kirti Azad, who was a member of the Indian team that won the 1983 World Cup. Another former India cricketer, Yusuf Pathan, is the party’s candidate in Behrampore. If nothing, these two men break the clutter somewhat by representing the only domain that can compete with cinema for the attention of the masses – cricket.

Azad won the 2014 Lok Sabha election contesting on a BJP ticket from Darbhanga, Bihar. After a brief stint in the Congress, the cricketer has been with TMC since late 2021. Pathan, born and raised in Vadodara, Gujarat, is a bit of a dark horse. If he manages to make his way to the Lok Sabha, it would be a noteworthy achievement.       

TMC has several homegrown movie industry celebs in the poll contest. Film actress Satabdi Roy, no stranger to Parliament, is contesting from Birbhum, while Rachana Banerjee, whose filmography includes titles in Bengali, Odia, Telugu, Tamil and Kannada, and Saayoni Ghosh, president of the youth wing of the Trinamool Congress, are the party’s candidates from Hooghly and Jadavpur respectively.             

There is one outlier in all this – the inimitable Govinda. After a long absence from politics, the actor has joined the Eknath Shinde faction of the Shiv Sena. Govinda is now 60 and ready to start a new innings. It is never too late for a second shot at power. Certainly not for one who has tasted its benefits once.