South superstars like MGR, J. Jayalalitha, NTR became Chief Ministers: Amitabh Bachchan contested elections when Rajiv Gandhi asked him to do so, South stars dominate politics more than Bollywood
Elections have not only been an important subject of films, but many film stars have made important contributions to Indian politics. Be it South cinema or Bollywood, stars have been contesting elections for years. While on one hand stars like MGR, J. Jayalalithaa, NTR from South cinema entered politics and took over the post of Chief Minister, on the other hand, the political journey of stars like superstars Rajesh Khanna, Amitabh Bachchan, Shatrughan Sinha remained in the news. The list of film stars contesting elections is long, although there are only a few who have made their mark by being active in politics. Before the results of the Lok Sabha elections 2024 come out, take a look at the political journey of South and Bollywood stars- These South superstars were the most successful in politics- MGR was shot twice, he filled the application for Madras State Election from the hospital MGR i.e. M.G. Ramachandran. He has also been a superstar of Tamil films, whom his fans worshiped like God. To take advantage of his popularity, every political party of the 50s wanted to include him with them. This was the reason why MGR joined the Congress party in 1953. After some time, writer turned politician C.N. Annadurai convinced him to join his party Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK). In this way, MGR became an MLA for the first time in 1962. On 12 January 1967, during a meeting in connection with a film, popular villain of South films M.R. Radha opened fire on MGR. His popularity was such that as soon as the news of the shooting spread, 50 thousand fans gathered outside the hospital within an hour. During recovery, MGR filled the application for Madras State Election from the hospital. A picture of this also came out, when MGR was seen signing a paper with a bandage on his neck and head. Fans and DMK party workers spread this picture of him all over the city. The advantage was that in 1967, MGR became an MLA with a margin of 27 thousand votes. He was the MLA who got the highest number of votes in the history of Madras. After Annadurai’s death, when MGR raised his voice against the growing corruption in the DMK party, he was expelled from the party. After leaving the party, MGR formed his own party Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, which was later named All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam. It emerged as the biggest opposition party of DMK. The party won 130 out of 234 seats in 1977 and MGR became the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. Jayalalitha entered politics at the behest of MGR, took over the chair after his death. The relationship between superstar MGR and J. Jayalalitha was in the headlines. Even after separating from MGR, J. Jayalalitha considered him her guru. J. Jayalalitha entered politics at the behest of MGR. When MGR formed his own party, he also asked J. Jayalalitha to join the party. However, the party workers were against it. J. Jayalalithaa joined the Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam party and became the propaganda secretary, but due to opposition, MGR had to remove her from the post. The party people did not want the party’s image to be tarnished due to the relationship between J. Jayalalithaa and MGR. After MGR’s death, J. Jayalalithaa had to face opposition from his family. In a political journey full of ups and downs, J. Jayalalithaa became the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu for the first time in 1991. She was the first woman Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao aka NTR, who was the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao aka NTR, who was a star of South cinema in the 60s-70s, also achieved success in politics. He entered politics only because South film producer V. Nagi Reddy told him that no matter how much wealth or fame one earns, the real power lies with politicians. On hearing this, he formed his Telugu Desam Party in 1982. When NTR, who is worshipped like a god in the South, contested the elections, his fans loved him a lot. In 1983, he won the election and became the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh. From 1983 to 1994, NTR became the CM of Andhra Pradesh thrice. Chiranjeevi formed his own party, joined hands with Congress after winning the election. In 2008, South star Chiranjeevi formed Praja Rajyam Party in Andhra Pradesh. In the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, this party got 18 seats out of 294. Chiranjeevi contested from Tirupati and Palakollu, although he could win only from Tirupati. In 2011, Chiranjeevi talked to Sonia Gandhi and merged his party with Congress. After this, he became a Rajya Sabha member in 2012. After joining the party, he has also been the Tourism Minister. However, he is not active in politics since 2018. These Bollywood stars also tried their hand in politics Amitabh Bachchan entered politics at the behest of Rajiv Gandhi Amitabh Bachchan’s mother Teji Bachchan and Indira Gandhi were close friends. In such a situation, the friendship between Amitabh Bachchan and Rajiv was also deep. In the year 1984, when Rajiv Gandhi told Amitabh Bachchan that he should contest elections against Hemvati Nandan Bahuguna from Allahabad, Amitabh also agreed. Everyone’s eyes were on this seat because Hemvati Nandan Bahuguna had never lost an election, he was also the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh at that time. But when the election results came, everyone was surprised. Hemvati Nandan lost the election in front of Amitabh Bachchan’s star power. Due to being busy in films, Amitabh was getting away from politics, which his political opponents took full advantage of. Amitabh’s name started being dragged in the Bofors, Fairfax and submarine scams. Amitabh could not bear this pressure and he retired from politics in 1987. Rajesh Khanna contested against Lal Krishna Advani In 1991, Rajesh Khanna contested Lok Sabha elections from Congress against senior BJP leader Lal Krishna Advani. Rajesh Khanna gave a tough fight to the opposition in the election but lost by just 1589 votes. Advani got 93,662 votes while Rajesh Khanna got 92,073. When Lal Krishna Advani resigned from Delhi seat in 1992, by-election was held for Delhi seat. Congress again made Rajesh Khanna the candidate in this election. Rajesh Khanna and Shatrughan Sinha contested against each other, there was a rift after the results were announced. In the by-election, BJP gave ticket to Shatrughan Sinha against Rajesh Khanna on the request of Lal Krishna Advani. Rajesh Khanna won the election by 25000 votes and was a member of Lok Sabha from 1992-96. Rajesh Khanna had such dominance in that era that despite winning, he was hurt by the fact that how his friend Shatrughan Sinha agreed to contest against him. As a result, he stopped talking to Shatrughan Sinha. Years later, Shatrughan Sinha accepted it as his mistake and said that when Rajesh Khanna was admitted to the hospital, he wanted to go and apologize to him, but unfortunately Rajesh Khanna died before the meeting. Shatrughan Sinha has been an MP twice. In 2014, when he did not get a ministerial post at the Center, his relations with BJP soured. In 2019, when BJP made Ravi Shankar Prasad the candidate from Patna Sahib in his place, Shatrughan Sinha joined Congress. He remained in BJP for about 28 years. After this, his journey in Congress lasted only three years. Then he joined Mamata Banerjee’s party Trinamool Congress and is now an MP from Asansol. In this Lok Sabha election, he has been given a ticket from Asansol. Vinod Khanna became the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Atal Bihari Vajpayee gave him the post Actor Vinod Khanna also entered politics in 1997. After joining the Bharatiya Janata Party, he became an MP from Gurdaspur, Punjab. In 1999, he won the election and became the Union Minister of Culture and Tourism. After 6 months, Atal Bihari Vajpayee gave him the post of Minister of State for Foreign Affairs. Vinod Khanna is the only Bollywood actor who has won the Lok Sabha elections four times. Dharmendra left politics in four years, Sunny Deol is also now cut off from politics Dharmendra contested the election from Bikaner Lok Sabha seat of Rajasthan on behalf of the Bharatiya Janata Party in the year 2004 and then he won a one-sided victory. However, he never contested elections after that. When he could not balance films and politics, he resigned from politics in 2008. Following the path of Dharmendra, his son Sunny Deol also joined the Bharatiya Janata Party in 2019. She defeated Congress candidate Sunil Jakhar from Gurdaspur by 82459 votes. However, she is not active in politics at the moment. Hema Malini has been the party general secretary of BJP. In 1999, Hema Malini was a part of the election campaign of BJP candidate Vinod Khanna. After this, she joined the Bharatiya Janata Party in 2004. She was an MP in the Upper House from 2003-09. In 2011, Hema Malini became the party general secretary. In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Hema Malini defeated Mathura’s RLD chief Jayant Chaudhary by 330743 votes. Hema Malini is still active in politics. Jaya Bachchan has been a part of politics for 20 years. Jaya Bachchan contested elections on behalf of the Samajwadi Party in 2004 and became an MP. Since then, she is active in politics. Her statements given in Parliament are often in the news. Jaya Prada is active in politics since 1994 Jaya Prada started her political career in 1994 with South’s NT Rama Rao’s party Telugu Desam. In the year 1996, the actress was appointed as Rajya Sabha MP for the first time. After a few years, the actress left South India and entered the politics of North India through Samajwadi Party. Through this party, the actress has been elected MP twice. There have been some stars from the Bollywood film industry like Govinda, Shekhar Suman, Urmila Matondkar, Paresh Rawal, Shabana Azmi, who entered politics, but could not play a long innings. At the same time, stars like Thalapathy Vijay and Kamal Haasan from South Cinema have also formed their own party. However, they are not active in politics.
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