Our reel life heroes, who portray a larger than life of themselves on the screen, rarely replicate a fraction of it on real life. Many make a mockery of themselves by giving misstatements, only to regret or retract later. (It's another matter that a few deliberately do this to boost their faltering career or prospect of their soon to be released movie). Such avoidable statements in the guise of free speech attract controversies, often taking a communal tone. Arguably there is a political overtone, acting as a precursor or launching pad towards a career in politics.
Come election season, scores of movie stars (retired Bureaucrats and Military personnel too), make beeline to join political parties. Barring a few exceptions like Sunil Dutt, most of them have failed to leave their mark in politics. Amitabh Bachchan, the better known celebrity from the celluloid world, had a forgettable political career, resigning midway through his term as an MP from Allahabad.
Amitabh's self proclaimed rival in 80s and self overrated Satrughan Sinha, hardly did anything noteworthy as a minister in Vajpayee's government. He has since been sidelined (rightly so), sulking and whining to the hilt. Govinda, when a Congress MP, did so well that once he was chased and showered with rotten eggs, tomatoes by his constituents. Swinging hips doesn't necessarily swing voters towards you, but can propel a few vegetables as inswingers.
Dharmendra's repeated dialogues from the iconic movie SHOLAY "GAON BALON MEIN AA GAYA HOON" (Villagers, I have arrived) won him a seat, but histrionics apart, he hardly did anything noteworthy for his fellow villagers. His wife Hema Malini, is known more for her autocratic style than service to her electorates. BJP took Victor Banerjee to his fold couple of decades back in order to set a foothold in Bengal, but he hardly made a dent into the party's fortune. Examples are many.
In South, especially in Tamil Nadu and Andhra, there is a viscous line between the movie world and politics, which at times completely vanishes. Actors MGR and NTR had a fair degree of success in politics in their respective states, especially the former, who had a demi God status in Tamil Nadu. Many give the credit to him for initiating the Mid Day Meal Scheme in his state, which was replicated by other, catapulting India's fledgling Literacy rate to a respectable figure. However not all from South leave their mark in their newly adopted profession, many flop like flop movies. Chiranjeevi, the erstwhile Telugu superstar flopped spectacularly in politics, faltered and merged his Telugu Desam party into Congress.
It's said that MGR once warned NTR of entering into politics, saying it is easier to be a Superstar, than being a politician. This means something, when coming from a person who was so popular in Tamil Nadu that in 1984, he and his party won hands down, when he was going through Kidney dialysis in far away New York. (The other Superstar from his state, a cult figure called Rajnikanth, has wisely stayed away from politics, resisting the temptation to plunge into it. Interesting thing to be noted, MGR and Rajnikant, Deities in Tamil Nadu, are originally Tamils by origin. MGR was born a Malayali, Rajnikant a Marathi).
There is a lesson to be learnt here, if history throws some indications. Voters these days can't be taken for granted. Our movie stars often fail to realize the difference between the real life and real life. Politics, like any profession, is a performance based business, far cry from the celluloid world, where Superstatdom comes the inertia and benefit of doubt, to sustain your acting career. Perform or Perish, is the call of the day. Politics is not every body's cup of tea, forget Stardom, even Superstatdom can only take you so far.
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