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Bollywood���s tryst with politics has been chequered so far. In the south though MG Ramachandran was the first actor to have joined politics, followed by J Jayalalitha. Both were chief ministers for long.
In neighbouring Andhra Pradesh actor NT Rama Rao ruled for a long time. Filmmaker Muzzafar Ali contested from Lucknow twice on a Samajwadi Party (SP) ticket but never won.Raj Babbar won the Agra seat on the SP ticket before quitting the party. Jaya Prada contested the 2002 Lok Sabha elections from Rampur on a SP ticket and won.
Leading southern stars Rajnikant, Chiranjeevi, Mammootty, Vijay Kant, Sharath Kumar and Rajkumar too have traversed the political path. Bollywood���s evergreen star Dev Anand floated his own party during 1975.
However, Anand couldn���t keep the party going because of his film commitments. Amitabh Bachchan joined politics at the behest of good friend, former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi. He contested the Lok Sabha election from Allahabad in 1984 and though he won by a huge majority, he failed to make a mark as a politician.
The list of actors moving to politics is long ���Sunil Dutt, Vyjanthimala, Rajesh Khanna, Shatrughan Sinha, Raj Babbar, Jaya Bachchan, Hema Malini, Dharmendra, Govinda, Poonam Dhillon, Nitish Bhardwaj , Deepika Chiklia and Smriti Irani. Here���s a quick look at some of the ���high profile actors-turned-politicians���
DUTT���S THE WAY: Born with a silver spoon in his mouth, Sanjay Dutt has always been in news for all the wrong reasons though. After years of struggle, finally he has got the big ticket into politics. Let���s see if his Gandhigiri gets him the votes!
Govinda ALA RE: Virar ka chhokra Govinda Ahuja was missing in action after his win. The much loved star became the most wanted when he wasn���t there at all through his tenure as an MP. His astrologer reportedly told Govinda to dedicate his time to his acting career. So, once again he chose to dance to the tunes of Bollywood. It���s another matter that tinsel town suffers from short memory syndrome and Govinda is struggling to regain lost ground.
TO B OR NOT B: When Amitabh Bachchan joined politics it made him a headline hunter���s favourite for months. Until of course he chose to give up politics and went back to being what he was ���the box-office shahenshah.
SAREE STORY: The legendary Satyajit Ray called her the most beautiful actor in India. Jaya Prada reigned supreme in Tamil, Telugu and Hindi films. Her conservative bhartiya nari image was just right for a political career. Following differences with Telugu Desam Party, she joined SP. Nowadays, the high-profile MP is campaigning for Sanjay Dutt.
HAMARI BAHU: From small screen bahu to Chandni Chowk, Smriti Irani drifted from kitchen politics to national political scene. Let���s see what���s in store for her in the next elections!
Politics does seem to be a favourite destination for actors.
Smriti Irani
���I���ve been a part of BJP for long. Politics to me is an opportunity to serve my country better. Anybody who is willing to word hard and is committed to people should be welcomed in politics, irrespective of his professional background. The will to serve should be stronger than any other issue.���
Poonam Dhillon
���Bollywood actors are also citizens of India. Anyone who wants to do something for the country should join politics. Throughout their life actors get a lot from public and that���s why they feel the urge to work for people more than any other ordinary citizen. They are more exposed to the public and have the capacity to serve people better.���
Vani Tripathi
���Actors have social responsibilities as well. They can���t just grab what they get from public without returning it to the society. Although, actors are used for campaigning for political parties, I feel politics is a serious business. So, some actors succeed and some fail to make a mark.���
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