The age-old saying ‘Jab gidarh ki maut aati hai to woh shehr ki taraf jaata hai’ rings true in the case of the 2014 General Elections in India. However, it should be modified to read ‘Jab actor retire ya jobless hota hai to woh politics ke taraf jaata hai’!

At the last count there were around 40 film and TV actors contesting the elections with each day adding new names to the list. It appears as though almost every retired, out-of-work actor has found a new job opening — poll tamasha — with most of them not even knowing the basics of what governance is about.

There are the old hands who are trying for re-election such as Hema Malini, Shatrughan Sinha, Raj Babbar, Jaya Prada, Vinod Khanna, Smriti Irani and others. Newcomers into the fold are people like Paresh Rawal, Kirron Kher, Gul Panag, Ravi Kishan, Rakhi Sawant, Mahesh Manjrekar and several others.

Every political party worth its salt is trying for one-upmanship by roping in film and TV stars to woo voters.

Elections are generally a paisa vasool entertainment time with aspirants choosing to expose and highlight the opponent’s failures and secrets. The inclusion of stars ups the masala quotient of this scenario. In such a scenario an ordinary politician who has worked for the electorate definitely doesn’t get the coverage in the media as a film star does.

Oomph girl Raakhi Sawant, who has floated her own party called the Raastriya Aam Party, came to first register and then file her nomination papers at the Election Commissioner’s office in Mumbai. Dressed in a green shalwar kameez, she had adorned her wrists and neck with green peppers. “Main teekhi mirchi hoon for my opponents,” said the lady known as much for her sexy image as for her motor mouth to the cameras zooming in on her.

Besides her colleague from the TV industry, Kamal Khan who is representing Samajwadi Party and film actor-director Mahesh Manjrekar from Maharastra Navnirman Sena, also in the fray against her are stalwarts and much-respected politicians. Chances of her winning may be dim, but once again Raakhi certainly rekindled her penchant to be in the limelight, albeit for a very short moment. It brings to mind Pakistani patakha and Pushto film actress Mussarat Shaheen contesting the general elections against Maulana Fazlur Rehman from NA- 24 in Dera Ismail Khan.

One can understand the reason behind getting film stars getting wooed by new political parties that need to let people know about their existence, but why the established and popular parties try to rope in stars is beyond comprehension.

Just look at the members from the entertainment industry contesting from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) which, according to the media, is a sure winner in this election. The question being asked is that as the media hype has already boosted their party then why field more stars? Perhaps they have doubts of winning without the star power?

Read the names of actors swearing in the name of the kanwal (lotus flower)— BJP’s party symbol and you feel you are watching an under-production film. It has Shatrughan Sinha, Hema Malini, Paresh Rawal, Vinod Khanna and Kirron Kher — all Hindi film stalwarts, followed by Smriti Irani, a former TV actress, singer Babul Supriyo and music composer-singer Bappi Lahiri; Bengali film actors Joy Banerjee, George Baker and Nimu Bhowmik; and Manoj Tiwari of Bhojpuri films. Last but not least there are a few from the South Indian film industry too.

The incumbent Indian National Congress, the country’s oldest political party, also has film wallas in the fray. Like Ravi Kishan (Hindi, Bhojpuri), Nagma, Jayasudha, Ramya, Cheeranjavi (South Indian films), Raj Babbar (Hindi) and a few others.

The newly formed Aam Adami Party which has caused many a ripple in the political scene also hasn’t lagged behind in roping in star power. Former Miss India and Hindi film actor Gul Panag, actor-dancer Javed Jaffery, Rina Rani from TV industry, newsreader Ashutosh, etc. are trying to sweep the elections courtesy the party symbol: Jharoo (broom).

In the past too, elections to the Indian Parliament have had film stars in fray and those who won and took governance seriously. In South India there were giants of film industry — N.T. Rama Rao and MGR (M.G. Ramachandran) — who made a huge difference not only to films but also proved their worth in politics.

In the Hindi film industry we had actor and most popular politician Sunil Dutt whose legacy is being carried by his daughter Priya Dutt, sister of actor Sanjay Dutt.

Earlier stars who tried their luck were director Prakash Jha, actors Amitabh Bachchan, Govinda, Dharmendra, Nafisa Ali, Rajesh Khanna and Shekhar Suman; singer Hans Raj Hans, Babu Mohan, Murli Mohan, Krishnam Raju, et al.

Then there are others who were nominated as members of Rajya Sabha such as the late Nargis Dutt, Lata Mangeshkar, Shabana Azmi, Rekha and Javed Akhtar. Most of them left disenchanted with the system and some even swore never to dabble in politics ever again. Bachchan Sr. went to the extent of calling politics a “cesspool” though his wife Jaya Bachchan is an active politician.

Whether they win or lose or make a difference to their respective parties or not, one thing that remains constant is that film stars certainly add a touch of fun to an otherwise dour and often vicious political scenario. Regular politicians have always taken a dig at the star presence in the office, But for now the tamasha continues in full swing only to end on May 16th — the day of the results. The very next day the whole of India shall witness which stars will continue to shine and which will fade away.