With several Bollywood actors making a foray into politics, their film commitments seem to have taken a backseat

Earlier this year, when the names of candidates contesting the Lok Sabha polls were announced, it was revealed that the list comprised a fair share of Bollywood celebrities. Not surprisingly, most were asked this question: will your film career now assume less priority? And almost all of them seem to have replied that they'd strike a balance between their film commitments and the new political role. But post elections, the scenario is dotted with several instances where actors have let their film commitments take a backseat.


"Paresh Rawal, who has recently been elected as a Lok Sabha member from Gujarat, is playing a pivotal role in a comic-caper along with Rishi Kapoor. It turns out that he has informed the makers that he can start shooting for the film only around September 7 or thereafter"

Smriti Irani, who has been appointed as the HRD Minister, was supposed to shoot for Umesh Shukla's film, All is Well, in the second week of June, but she has not been able to make time for it so far. She has been repeatedly asking the film's producers to push ahead her dates. A source says that while she will shoot her portion for the film, she will do so only after she has attended to some of her ministerial duties. As a result, the film's schedule has apparently gone for a toss and the release date has also been pushed ahead now.


"Vinod Khanna, who contested the polls representing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), couldn't give much time to promote his film, Koyelaanchal"

It may be recalled here that the actress-turned-politician left the film's Shimla schedule midway, as she had to attend the swearing-in ceremony of PM Narendra Modi.

She was later inducted in the cabinet.

Campaign time
Similarly, veteran actor Vinod Khanna, who contested the polls representing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), couldn't give much time to promote his film, Koyelaanchal. The actor, was contesting from the Gurdaspur constituency in Punjab, was so caught up with his political campaigning that he just couldn't make time for the film's promotions. Needless to say, producer Asshu Trikha was not too happy with the turn of events.


"Mithun Chakraborty has been elected as a TMC MP in the Rajya Sabha. Earlier this year, the actor was busy campaigning with Mamata Banerjee and because of this, the actor could not shoot for Vibhu Puri's debut film, Hawaizaada"

In an earlier interview, he had told hitlist, `We are releasing our film on May 9, and the elections will go on till May 12. So I don't know when his constituency work will get over. The other problem is that not only is he campaigning for his constituency, but he is travelling to other places as well. This is taking up much of his time.`


"Raj Babbar opted to devote time to his political campaign in Ghaziabad instead of shooting for Boney and Sanjay Kapoor's film, Tevar"

Politics over Bollywood
Versatile actor Paresh Rawal, who has recently been elected as a Lok Sabha member from Gujarat, is playing a pivotal role in a comic-caper along with Rishi Kapoor. And it turns out that he has informed the makers that he can start shooting for the film only around September 7 or thereafter.

Meanwhile, there were reports that Raj Babbar had opted to devote time to his political campaign in Ghaziabad instead of shooting for Boney and Sanjay Kapoor's film, Tevar. A source says, `Rajji plays a pivotal role in the film and we had planned to shoot with him on April 1 and 2. But he told us that shooting on those dates was not possible as he was busy campaigning in his constituency. His shoot was accordingly postponed.`

On his part, the senior actor had told a daily that he had made it clear earlier on that he wouldn't be able to shoot for the film during the first phase of election campaigning. `I had told them beforehand about my plans in Ghaziabad. I had offered to complete my shooting before the campaigning but they were not ready,` he had said.

Another instance would be of Mithun Chakraborty who has been elected as a TMC MP in the Rajya Sabha. Earlier this year, the actor was busy campaigning with Mamata Banerjee and because of this, the actor could not shoot for Vibhu Puri's debut film, Hawaizaada. The film's shoot had to be postponed and it's only now that the actor will shoot for the film's remaining portion.