The Hindu : From arclight to limelight

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jul 02, 2002

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National

From arclight to limelight

By Anita Joshua

Film stars Vinod Khanna and Shatrughan Sinha with their wives after they were sworn in Ministers at the Rashtrapati Bhavan on Monday. — Photo-V.Sudershan

NEW DELHI JULY 1. Bollywood's hitherto "unfruitful'' tryst with polity has finally paid off with the induction of two yesteryear actors — Shatrughan Sinha and Vinod Khanna — in the Union Cabinet today. And, it has been a long wait in the wings for stardom, which, as per cinephiles, was consciously used to swing an election in 1962 by none other than Jawaharlal Nehru himself.

While the Ministerial berths for Mr. Sinha and Mr. Khanna have raised many eyebrows — given their "political immaturity'' and lack of administrative experience — there are any number of cine-buffs who think otherwise.

Though the Congress was the first to cash in on the popularity of cine stars with Nehru appealing to the film industry to help V. K. Krishna Menon win a tough electoral battle against J. B. Kriplani from North Bombay, the party never rewarded Bollywood with a berth in the Union Cabinet. In that, even critics of the present dispensation agree, the BJP has stolen the march over its arch-rival.

Over the years, the persona of many film stars has been used by various political parties to swing the tide in electoral battles, though this strategy to draw crowds at election rallies and field actors to win seats is often a subject of ridicule also. While superstar Amitabh Bachchan is seen as the best case in point, the list is rather exhaustive with heavyweights such as Dilip Kumar, Dev Anand, Manoj Kumar, Sunil Dutt, Vyjayantimala Bali, Rajesh Khanna and others.

Some of those who never contested were rewarded for their services in elections with nominations to the Rajya Sabha, but that was as close as they could get to the seat of power at the Centre. That was till today when Bollywood had two of its men standing in the Ashoka Hall of Rashtrapati Bhavan, taking the oath of office and secrecy. Whatever the political compulsions that put them there, Bollywood has at long last made it.

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