I’ll help Raj Thackeray get film roles

Many Marathi actors were seen lending their support to different political parties which are contesting this year’s assembly elections. While some invited the ire of their peers, some took digs at politicians and some expressed their anger at being contacted for campaigning. We give you a peek on the actors and their political connect.

Rakhi Sawant
Where there is controversy, there is bound to be Rakhi Sawant. This item girl entered politics a while back and made waves. Recently at a political event, Rakhi mocked rival party leader Raj Thackeray saying, “He should get into movies instead of politics; where I will also help him getting roles!” Though the leader chose not to react on Rakhi’s babbling, she did get some angry reactions on social networking sites. All said and done, the girl never ceases to be the centre of attraction.

Riteish Deshmukh
With elder brother Amit Deshmukh contesting the assembly elections from Latur, younger brother Riteish is also promoting his bhai in every way possible. He featured in a video dedicated to his politician father Vilasrao Deshmukh, appealing to support his brother. Riteish was even spotted rallying with another candidate hailing from his brother’s party a few days ago. Recently the actor posted a picture of his nephew Avir on his micro blogging site which showed the child sporting a tattoo related to the ongoing election fever. Being from a family which has been politically so active, we won’t wonder if we will ever see Riteish contesting the elections in future!

Aniket Vishwasrao
The actor was an ambassador for a leading political party and also did television and print ads for them. But when Aniket’s pictures wearing a rival party’s shawl leaked on television, he apparently faced a lot of flak from his peers and well wishers from the industry. Chinmay Mandlekar spoke against Aniket's actions on record. We hope the actors fans don’t get confused while voting!

Nana Patekar
The veteran actor is not supporting any particular party overtly. But that is not stopping him from making a friendly appeal to his followers. Recently at a promotional event, Nana urged his fans to vote for a genuine candidate. “Vote for whichever party you want but make sure you are not voting for a candidate with a criminal record!” said Nana. Coming from a person who is familiar with Maharashtra politics and who is also known to speak his mind, this is a genuine statement we must say. Hope his fans are listening.

Atul Kulkarni
For Atul Kulkarni, political campaigns are a strict no-no. While celebrities are getting involved with politics in one way or the other, the 'Natarang' actor took to a social networking site recently to express his stance regarding politics and political parties. He wrote: ‘Every time a political party calls me to campaign for money, I'm amused by their lack of information about the person’s philosophy they're calling.’ Though the actor doesn't seem interested in politics, he has not shied away from acting in films with a political bend. The National Award winning actor has acted in films like 'Satta' and more, which had strong political overtones in them. But we like the actor for his ‘politically correct’ stand!