Walk The Talk

Kal Penn recently left the hit medical TV series House, when US President Barack Obama offered him the post of the associate director in the White House Office of Public Liaison – Kal’s reward for his commitment to the Obama campaign since 2007. Masala! takes a look at some Indian stars who are wearing khadi nowadays – but not always successfully, and not always with public service as the motivating force behind their move.

Sanjay Dutt

Blue may just resurrect his flagging career but chances are Akki is going to walk away with all the glory. Flabbier than ever before and looking more and more like Sunil Dutt, Sanjay has rightly recognised that the limelight will not be on him for long if he sticks just to acting.

2009 Politico speak:

“Lucknow is my home whether I fight this election or not. This is my father’s place and I owe a lot to Lucknow. I am not going to leave Lucknow no matter what happens.” Hmmm... let’s see how long he sings this tune! But worse still, Amar Singh is his ‘bhai’ and Nafisa Ali (the Samajwadi party candidate from Lucknow, now that Sanju cannot contest) is his ‘behen’. We are going to be sick!

Masala! thinks

Sister Priya Dutt, who worked at the grass root level with the late Sunil Dutt and now on her own, has proved her credentials. But Sanjay’s only claim to political fame is his khadi outfit and his new BF Amar Singh.

Nagma

Does anyone even remember the last Hindi or Tamil movie she acted in? Thought not. Nagma has also decided to move on to greener pastures – in this case the political arena.

2009 Politico speak:

Ever since she was refused, Nagma has spoken out against unnamed Congress leaders who discriminated against her because she was a single woman. Quite possible. But we are having a tough time with the fact that she is not burning her bridges and is keeping Sonia Gandhi happy by calling her ‘mamta kee murat’. Sigh!

Masala! thinks

If you want it bad enough no one can deny you your seat… just ask Mayawati!

Awareness drive

Aamir Khan, a celebrity with a lot of credibility, is appearing in three one-minute television films appealing to the public to ‘vote for good people’. While he’s denying it for now, a career in politics is quite possible for this Khan.

Just like Mamu

Aamir’s nephew Imran is following in his uncle’s footsteps. He’s involved in the making of a video, where he and other leading stars encourage youngsters to cast their vote.

The Hit and The Miss

Successful political stars include Shatrughan Sinha (first star to become a cabinet minister), Raj Babbar and Vinod Khanna. However, actors like Shekhar Suman who are contesting the election for the first time may learn more from the careers of flop politicians like Dharmendra and Govinda. Dharmendra’s parliamentary voting and attendance record was so atrocious that his local newspaper once ran a spoof advert headlined ‘Dharmendra Wanted’ as he was rarely seen in his constituency. Govinda too faced the same criticisms, especially during the 2005 Mumbai floods. This year the Congress party denied him a ticket, although Govinda has stated that he withdrew because of a busy film schedule. Right!

Star campaigners

This year has also seen stars campaign in droves and raise awareness among the youth of India to go out there and exercise their right to vote – a direct fall out of the Mumbai terror attacks.

Shah Rukh Khan, Preity Zinta and Celina Jaitley are the celeb faces of the Congress party, especially in Gujarat. Surely a precursor to an entry into
active politics.

Paresh Rawal is all set to campaign for Narendra Modi in Gujarat.

Prachi Desai and Poonam Dhillon are also in the fray.

But the entire election exercise has competition from an equally powerful force – the IPL.