Just about this time last year, Hollywood bigwigs were seen leading the celeb brigade to back Barack Obama. Now people from Bollywood are doing the same.
Just about this time last year, Hollywood bigwigs like Robert DeNiro, Oprah Winfrey, Kal Penn, Forest Whitaker and Scarlett Johansson were seen leading the celeb brigade to back Barack Obama.
Now, a year later with just a few days to go before the general elections in India, people from Bollywood are doing the same.
To begin with Katrina Kaif, Kareena Kapoor, John Abraham and Deepika Padukone will feature in a music video urging youngsters to vote. Bangalore-based rock band Thermal and a Quarter are on a five-city music concert to urge the youth to vote. Dia Mirza says she wants to motivate college students to cast their votes by speaking to them about the importance of public mandate. John Abraham held an open discussion recently with youngsters to discuss the pros of voting. Rahul Bose and Koel Purie are among a few celebrities who’ll judge street plays based on the subject of voting.
However, such initiatives raise one question – is it an impersonation of the West or are our celebrities using their power to reach out and sway the mindset of youngsters? Says Dia, “Being a socially aware individual, I think I should be doing this. Youngsters should be motivated to be a part of the process in which they select their leaders.”
Actor Rahul Bose goes one step ahead and says it’s not impersonation, but ‘fashion’. “Obama might have in a happy way started the fashion of getting people to talk about democracy, voting, etc. But the fact is that urban India is getting little more aware about how to exercise its rights. Post 26/11 and the various blasts across India, there seems to be a sense of anger.”
TV actor Renuka Shahane, however, says this is nothing new because even earlier celebrities have lent their support for natural calamities like earthquakes or floods.
“But after 26/11 the situation has completely changed. So a lot of young people from showbiz are showing their interest in politics. More and more people also want to get into politics, if not directly then indirectly through which they can contribute to the nation.”
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