Matinee idols MG Ramachandran and M Karunanidhi in Tamilnadu, NT Ramarao in Andhra Pradesh and Rajkumar in Karnataka played dominant roles in the politics of their respective states whereas Hindi superstars like Amitabh Bachchan and Rajesh Khanna couldn’t take their political career too far. With much at stake in the upcoming national and state elections, every political party in Odisha is trying to rope in as many popular Odia film stars as possible, hoping that their popularity will translate into votes. Be it Sidhhant, Anubhav, Akash, Arindam, Mihir, Aparajita, Mahasweta, Anu or Pinky, they are all now associated with one party or another. Orissa POST asked some youths about this move to induct popular actors in electoral politics and whether this can bring in a change in the parties’ fortunes.
Shobhangam Mohanty, a student of Ravenshaw University in Bhubaneswar, said, “In our country, cinema governs the lifestyle of many, and movie stars are treated as God. As the actors have a loyal fan base, most political parties try to cash in on this aspect to boost their vote banks. It is not only in India, we have a long list of actors worldwide who joined politics… Ronald Reagan, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Clint Eastwood of the US and Alessandra Mussolini of Italy, to name but a few. No one can pull in crowds like the stars.”
Sunil Dutt joined politics to serve society after a successful acting career, he said. Different parties always try to draw in such personalities hoping to influence people during elections. But expecting a miracle from the stars is only wishful thinking, he added.
Sushrismita Samantray, a civil service aspirant from Balugaon in Khurda district who lives in Bhubaneswar, said political parties try to involve actors in election campaigns in a last-minute bid to influence the voters.
“But bringing in the stars in the final hours to sway the voters hardly yields any result. The photographs of actors mingling with the public and sharing meals with them look good on social network platforms like Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp, but I doubt the efficacy of such strategies. At times, parties manage to influence a small section of voters by fielding cine actors as an MLA or MP candidate. But at the end of the day, voters are too intelligent. The electorate exercises its franchise based on the changes, good or bad, that have taken place in their life in the last five years,” added Sushrismita.
Suchismita Nandi of Anandapur who works with an American marketing company said, “Most of the film stars in south India are known for their larger-than-life image. Every act of movie stars like Rajinikanth, Kamal Hassan, Vijay and Pawan Kalyan makes an impact on their fan following. So, if they join a certain political party it may affect the results of some electoral battles. But such kind of craze for stars is rare in Odisha. In rural areas, crowds may gather at a meeting to have a glimpse of their favourite stars. But now voters are too smart, and it is highly unlikely that the popularity of a star will translate into votes, she said.
BIJAY MANDAL, OP