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| Wednesday, 19 May 2004 |
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Bollywood stars prepare for new role as MPs NEW DELHI, Tuesday (AFP) India's incoming parliament, besides being younger than the outgoing one, also boasts a fair share of glamour thanks to a plethora of stars of the Hindi film industry who won parliamentary seats. The victorious candidates from Bollywood include yesteryear heroes Dharmendra, who won from the western desert state of Rajasthan on a Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ticket, former upper house MP Jaya Prada and current Bollywood leading man Govinda. Junior minister for foreign affairs in the outgoing cabinet Vinod Khanna - Bollywood's romantic hero of the 1970s - was re-elected, as was his film industry colleague Raj Babbar. The Congress party's Sunil Dutt also won a seat, from the busy financial hub of Bombay, where the Hindi film industry is based. They join another former Bollywood star, Shatrughan Sinha, who occupies an upper house berth for the BJP and was a minister in the outgoing cabinet. Television actress Smriti Irani, however, was unsuccessful in her attempts to convince voters in Delhi to elect her to parliament. The run-up to the polls also saw fierce competition among the various political parties to enlist stars to campaign for their candidates. The BJP was first off the starting block, announcing the enrolment of the "dream girl" of the 1970s Hema Malini; former stars Poonam Dhillon, Jitendra and Suresh Oberoi and former Miss World Yukta Mookhey. Not to be left out, the Congress signed up the bad man of Bollywood, Shakti Kapoor, and sex symbol of the 1970s Zeenat Aman, leading lady of south Indian films Nagma and former Miss India Celina Jaitley, as well as comedian Asrani. With the marathon election process finally over, the victorious stars are now getting ready to take the oath as MPs. None, however, have intentions of quitting their first love - acting in movies. The Hindu newspaper quoted the BJP's Dharamendra as saying that politics was like an addiction. "Once you have tasted it, you you don't want to let it go. At the same time, I can never get films out of my system. On the election campaign, people voted for Dharamendra. My films have made me what I am." Jaya Prada, who won from India's populous and politically key northern state of Uttar Pradesh, said she, too, would not be quitting films. "A lawyer does not leave his profession after coming into politics ... see Kapil Sibal and Arun Jaitely," she said referring to two well known Indian politicians. "It is definitely not going to be a case of politics' gain and industry's loss. Films are what made me. I came into politics because I am a film star. I won't leave films. |
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