Bollywood bonhomie in poll backstage

From ARC lights to Page 3 parties, Bollywood stars are rubbing shoulders on a different turf ? the rough and tumble of politics.

From ARC lights to Page 3 parties, Bollywood stars are rubbing shoulders on a different turf — the rough and tumble of politics. But they are wearing their camaraderie on their sleeves, despite owing allegiance to rival political camps.

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Take Samajwadi’s Raj Babbar’s case. He has been bumping into his Bollywood colleagues during campaigns. And he is happy. With little time to socialise, he gets a breather running into buddies. “Recently Shatrughan Sinha and I spent a lot of time together at many places. At sunrise, we would leave for our campaign duties and have dinner together,” Babbar said.

Babbar has also been running into Rajesh Khanna at the Delhi airport. Ask about his conversation with “Kakaji” and he says: “What do you speak about when you run into a dear friend?”

BJP minister Vinod Khanna says he has “only partied with party colleagues on the campaign trail”, notably Shatrughan. But airports have proved a venue for brief encounters.

A couple of weeks back, he ran into Dilip Kumar at an airport. Khanna has also once run into the other Khanna (Rajesh), he says.

So do stars pull crowds? Vinod Khanna feels “they certainly make a difference”. But Babbar has a point to make: “That is like asking me whether a film will be a hit. Film stars are just one component ... the candidate, the party and a thousand other things go into an election.”