Shaheen Parkar (MID-DAY; May 12, 2014)

While most producers steered clear from the general election results day ( May 16) as their film’s release date, Himesh Reshammiya has decided to release his film, The Xpose, on this very day. The film was initially slated to release on May 23, but its release has been pulled ahead by a week.

The music composer-turned-actor is willing to take the risk of having his film hit the big screen on a day when the country will be glued to news channels to know the outcome — whether the Bharatiya Janata Party’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi attains the magic number. News channels are expecting maximum viewership not only on that day, but over the weekend as well.

Rakesh Upadhyay, creative producer of The Xpose, says, “We are aware that May 16 is counting day, but by afternoon, the results will be known and people will step out after that. Also, the election staff that has been tied up for the last several months will be looking forward to some relief after all these months. I am sure our film will provide them the much-needed entertainment quotient.” Another factor that dictated the change was the Indian Premiere League (IPL) schedule.

Upadhyay adds, “We had initially announced May 23 as we were unaware of the detailed schedule of IPL’s cricket matches at that time. Later, we realised that from May 23 to 25, there are qualifying matches for the semi-finals and there are two matches on a day, so we decided to pull forward the release.” Apart from Himesh, the film stars Honey Singh, Irrfan and newcomers, Zoya Afroz and Sonali Raut.

Rachana Dubey & Ankur Pathak (MUMBAI MIRROR; April 25, 2014)

While some B-town stars were away in the US for an award function or stuck at a shoot, others made a special effort to make their vote count.


AAMIR KHAN AND KIRAN RAO
He was reportedly in Istanbul with wife Kiran but the couple flew down to Mumbai a day earlier and were at a Bandra booth by 8 am.



PREITY ZINTA
The actress who was in Abu Dhabi, took a day off from her IPL schedule to air-dash to Mumbai and cast her vote at St. Ann’s School in Bandra. She is expected to fly back to root for her team in a few days. 


JUHI CHAWLA
Another franchise owner, Juhi Chawla also flew down from Abu Dhabi to cast her vote in a general election for the first time. After doing her duty, she’ll be back to cheer for her team.


DIA MIRZA
The actress-producer delayed her trip to the US for the awards by a day so that she could vote.


VIDYA BALAN
The Padma Shri awardee who is supposed to host a workshop in Florida also delayed her trip for the ballot. She was one of the first voters to show up at a polling booth in Chembur.


FARHAN AKHTAR
The actor-director who is hosting and performing at the awards show, cast his vote before heading to Florida.


KIRRON KHER
The actress-turned-politician who is contesting the election from Chandigarh, drove straight to the polling booth from the airport. She was accompanied by son Sikander. However, husband Anupam Kher is in Florida where his short film I Went Shopping for Robert De Niro is being premiered. “I don’t blame the ones at Florida as the award date was confirmed well before the election dates were announced so they were contractually bound,” she reasoned.


SONAM KAPOOR
Delhi had to wait for the politically-aware fashionista for 24 hours.


JAYA BACHCHAN
The actor-politician who has been extensively campaigning in UP flew down to cast her vote with husband Amitabh Bachchan, son Abhishek and daughter-in-law Aishwarya Rai.


RANVEER SINGH
The actor shot at Film City for an upcoming film till 2 am on Wednesday. Once he was home, he stayed up watching a movie and was one of the first voters to turn up at Bandra’s polling booth at 7 am. Only then did he catch up on his sleep.


RAHUL BOSE
He was at a SoBo election booth at 7 am, third in queue, and was inked by 7.15 am. He left for Kolkata for a film shoot later in the day.


ESHA DEOL AND BHARAT TAKHTANI
The couple was busy campaigning for Esha’s mother Hema Malini in Mathura but flew back to vote. Esha’s sister, Ahana who recently married Delhi-based businessman Vaibhav Vora, did not turn up.


TARUN MANSUKHANI
The Dostana director pushed forward his Manali holiday so that he could vote.  

MISSING IN ACTION!  

SHOOTING STARS
Anushka Sharma is filming NH10 in Jodhpur and Salman Khan is shooting for Kick in Poland.

HELLO UNCLE SAM!
Shabana Azmi and Rajya Sabha MP Javed Akhtar were in the US for a fashion show for Mijwan. Anil Kapoor, who campaigned for Kirron Kher, is away in the US for work. Deepika Padukone and Sonakshi Sinha who urged youngsters to vote, left Mumbai a day before the polls. Ditto Shahid Kapoor, Kareena Kapoor and Hrithik Roshan. Vivek Oberoi whose mother-in-law Nandini Alva is a contestant herself, gave the voting machine a miss. Priyanka Chopra too was among those who stuck to Tampa.

NOT ELIGIBLE, NOT ALLOWED
Alia Bhatt holds a British passport, Katrina Kaif is in India on work visa, Nargis Fakhri has spent her formative years in different parts of the world. Imran Khan is an American citizen and Jacqueline Fernandez is from Sri Lanka. Tiger Shroff was sent back from two poll booths because his name didn’t feature on the voter list.

ON LEAVE
Karan Johar, Aditya Chopra, Rani Mukerji and Uday Chopra were in Italy for Aditya and Rani’s wedding, along with their families.
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Gaurav Dubey & Sonali Joshi Pitale (MID-DAY; April 25, 2014)

Even as the city went to polls yesterday, Bollywood’s turnout at the polling booth was a mixed bag. While some made it a point to exercise their right in the world’s largest democracy and even posted selfies in keeping with the latest fad, some others appeared upset over their names missing from the voters’ list. And then there were some who pleaded others to vote but didn’t turn up on D-day. hitlist gives you the lowdown…

A close look at celeb voters, their selfies, the dilemmas of stars whose names were missing from the electoral rolls and the indifference of those who decided to not vote

Even the city went to polls yesterday, Bollywood’s turnout at the polling booth was a mixed bag. While some made it a point to exercise their right in the world’s largest democracy and even posted selfies in keeping with the latest fad, some others appeared upset over their names missing from the voters’ list. And then there were some who pleaded others to vote but didn’t turn up on D-day. We give you the lowdown…


Vivek Oberoi
Vivek Oberoi recently reached out to his fans on a social networking site, where he appealed to them to cast their votes. In fact, he also showed his support to Bhartiya Janta Party’s Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi; never mind that he then went on to campaign for his mother-in-law, Nadini Alva – who represents Janata Dal Secular — in Bangalore. What’s more, he chose to attend an awards gala in US; thus skipping his date with the voting booth.



Anushka Sharma
Anushka Sharma urged her followers on Twitter to go and vote. However, she also admitted that she wasn’t doing so due to her shooting schedule. Her tweet read: “I urge everyone to cast your vote today. Every vote counts and matters! Take the responsibility towards a better tomorrow. I am shooting in Rajasthan so wouldn’t be able to vote. But everyone who can, please do. And post pictures typing -#ivotedyo. It’ll be fun, come on.”

A posse of stars such as Sonakshi Sinha, Hrithik Roshan, Anil Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra, Bipasha Basu, Deepika Padukone and Madhuri Dixit, among many others, have flown to the US to take part in the IFFA awards that are taking place this weekend.

Those who missed out

Gaurav Dubey & Sonali Joshi Pitale (MID-DAY; April 24, 2014)

Even as Mumbai goes to polls today, several Bollywood stars are expected to come out and cast their vote. While some are travelling due to their work assignments, most celebs in Mumbai plan to exercise their right. That said, much like the hoi polloi, some tinsel town folks don’t have their names on the voters’ list. One would think that celebdom comes with its own benefits but it seems that having one’s name on the electoral rolls is a different matter. hitlist tells you who in Bollywood may not be able to vote due to his / her name missing from the voters’ list…

Sonali Joshi Pitale (MID-DAY; April 24, 2014)

While a fair share of celebs has flown down to Florida, USA, to take part in International Indian Film Academy Awards (IIFA) this weekend, the rest of the fraternity is doing its bit in order to step out and cast its vote today.

For instance, Kangana Ranaut, who is promoting her film Revolver Rani, has managed to get a day’s break. A source says, “She was supposed to go to Ahmedabad and Jaipur, but now that trip has been cancelled. Now she may visit these cities after the film’s release.”

Suniel Shetty has already postponed the promotional tour for his film, Koyelaanchal, to vote. Meanwhile, Farhan Akhtar who will be attending the IIFA awards in Florida, has declared that he will cast his vote and then go to the US. In a recent interview, he even appealed to everyone to vote.

The team of Subhash Ghai’s film, Kaanchi, which is slated to release tomorrow, has also decided to halt its promotions for a day.

Sukhwinder Singh, who has lent his voice to a song in the film, says, “When the film’s promotional schedule was being planned, all of us informed the team that we wanted to keep everything aside on Election Day. Our marketing team has planned the promotions accordingly. I was also supposed to fly to Bangalore for a recording, but I have pushed that ahead now.”

Taking a stand
At a Federation of Western India Cine Employees (FWICE) meeting between film producers and other artistes, it was decided that producers would either cancel their shoots today or begin shooting only after 2pm. Dilip Pithwa, general secretary, FWICE, says that he has already written to all four producers’ bodies
requesting them to let their unit members ( artistes and technicians) go vote.

Accordingly, the unit of the Neha Dhupia-starrer, Ekees Topoon Ki Salaami, will start its shoot late. Says a source, “Neha requested the producer, Abhinav Shukla, to let the shoot start late. Now all unit members will have enough time to cast their vote and head to the sets for the shoot. The producer has also agreed to the same.” At recording studios too, work will start only post 2pm. BM Tiwari of Sound Engineers Association adds, “All technicians have been instructed to report to work later on account of elections. Only those who have to send in their episodes earlier on have been given some concession. Then again, they have been asked to vote before getting to work.”

Seema Sinha (BOMBAY TIMES; April 10, 2014)

He may have exhorted voters to exercise their rights, but it looks like Saif Ali Khan will miss his date with the ballot box this time around. Being contractually bound, the actor will not be able to cancel going for IIFA Awards 2014 in the US, said his spokesperson. Last November, Saif and his co-stars had participated in a voter awareness bike rally — as a lead-up to the Delhi Assembly elections — while promoting his film Bullett Raja. He had also reached out to youngsters, asking them to cast their votes.

However, the Nawab of Pataudi, along with several others, including Hrithik Roshan, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Priyanka Chopra and Farhan Akhtar, are scheduled to fly to America for IIFA Awards 2014 around the polls.

A member of the State Assembly had, a couple of days ago, written to the President of India, Pranab Mukherjee, seeking action against the actors who are planning to give the elections a miss.

We texted Saif, asking him about his decision to miss voting this time. He didn’t respond, but his spokesperson said, “Saif is bound by a legal contract, so he won’t be able to cancel his trip. The event dates were decided about six months ago. Well, if the event is rescheduled, Saif will be very happy to stay back and cast his vote.”

In the meantime, we learnt from another actor who is accompanying the same group, that he signed his contract recently but even he cannot think about breaking away because of the legal implications.

Sonali Joshi Pitale (MID-DAY; April 7, 2014)

TV actress Urvashi Dholakia was going to contest the Lok Sabha elections this year; she was supposed to represent Samajwadi Party. Known her portrayal of a vamp in several serials, she had filed her nomination papers over the weekend but they were rejected.

Says a source, “After Kamaal R Khan was ousted from the party, Urvashi was supposed to fill in for him and contest elections from the Mumbai North West constituency. But when she went to fill the form and submit the documents, the application was rejected as she had missed the deadline for the same.”

Farhan Azmi, who is contesting elections from Samajwadi Party, says, “Urvashi wanted to contest from the same constituency. She went to file the form and had completed all formalities, including a payment of Rs 25,000. She even got a receipt, but soon after she was told that her form has been rejected.”

The party will hold a press conference today in a bid to address the issue; it also plans to approach the court. Azmi feels that it was ploy against his party by a rival camp. “We want access to the CCTV footage as Urvashi was not late for filing the form. She just wanted to consult us and she called me to discuss the form. The authorities then told her that there are some minor spelling mistakes in her form and so on. We are surprised that they are not letting a woman contest the elections.”

Urvashi remained unavailable for comment.

With election day fast approaching, we find out who in Bollywood will be in the city to cast their vote
Sonali Joshi Pitale & Bharati Dubey (MID-DAY; April 5, 2014)

With the Lok Sabha elections less than a month away, many stars have been appealing to the public to step out and vote. Be it on social media or at social events, several celebrities have been talking about social evils and political apathy.

Interestingly though, most stars will not even be in Mumbai on voting day as it clashes with IIFA Awards 2014 that is being held in Florida, USA. So while on one hand, a record number of Bollywood personalities are contesting elections this year — including the likes of Hema Malini, Kirron Kher, Gul Panag, Nagma and Jaaved Jaaferi — a legion of celebs from the industry will be far away from ground zero.

It seems that the awards function had announced its dates much before the election dates were out and as a result, most celebs had chalked out their itineraries accordingly. Then there are some who will be busy shooting outside Mumbai and will thus not be able to vote.

hitlist gives you the lowdown on who is likely to get ink on their finger.

Keeping their date with elections



Aamir Khan: The actor will ensure that he is in the city on election day. He asked people to cast their vote on the finale of his show Satyamev Jayate, and it is a given that the actor will exercise his right to vote.

Amitabh Bachchan: Big B and his entire family, including wife Jaya, son Abhishek, and daughter-in-law Aishwarya Rai, never fail to cast their vote. This year too, they plan to do so.



Ranbir Kapoor: The actor is shooting for his film, Bombay Velvet, and he is not expected to fly out of Mumbai as of now. It is being said that after finishing his shoot, he will cast his vote.

Riteish Deshmukh: Hailing from a political family, the actor is only too aware of the importance of voting. He will be voting on April 17 from his native place, Latur, where his elder brother Amit is contesting elections. He will then fly out of town the same night.

Sonam Kapoor: The actress confirms that not only will she be in the city on election day, but she will also cast her vote.

Missing in Action



Salman Khan: The actor has been campaigning — although indirectly — for his friend, Priya Dutt, for quite some time now. Some time back, he drew flak for being seen with BJP’s Narendra Modi during the promotions for his film, Jai Ho. Now it turns out that he will not be in the country on election day. He will be in Poland for a film shoot.



Deepika Padukone: The actress is flying to US to take part in IIFA Awards 2014, which is taking place on April 26. Since she is likely to perform at the function, she will be reaching the venue a few days before the gala. Owing to this, she won’t be in Mumbai on election day.



Priyanka Chopra: Priyanka has been shooting for her film in Manali and is expected to return soon to Mumbai. But she too has been invited to IIFA Awards 2014 in the US and is thus likely to note vote this year.

Kareena Kapoor – Saif Ali Khan: The couple won’t be shooting for their films on election day, but they are taking part in IIFA Awards 2014 in the US.

Farhan Akhtar: Much like Javed Akhtar and Shabana Azmi, Farhan has never hesitated to support a social cause, nor does he shy away from expressing his opinion on any issue. However, he is likely to be out of country on voting day.



Vivek Oberoi: Vivek has been campaigning for his mother-in-law, Nandini Alva, who is contesting elections from Bangalore Central for Janata Dal Secular. But he won’t be in India on election day as he is likely to fly to US for IIFA Awards 2014.

Sonakshi Sinha: The actress has already made it clear that she won’t be campaigning for her father Shatrughan Sinha, who is contesting elections in a Patna constituency. But now it looks like Sona, who is expected to win an award in the US, won’t even be in town to cast her vote.

Other actors and actresses who are travelling to the US and may thus miss out on their right to vote include Parineeti Chopra, Madhuri Dixit-Nene, Shahid Kapoor, Bipasha Basu, Dia Mirza, Neil Nitin Mukesh and Vaani Kapoor.

Work calling




Ayushmann Khurrana: The actor will be in Hrishikesh on election day, as he is shooting for his upcoming film, Dum Laga Ke Haisha.

Arjun Kapoor: The actor will be in India during elections but since he is busy promoting his upcoming film, 2 States, he won’t be in Mumbai then. To add to it, he is yet to finish shooting for the film, Tevar, in North India.



Anushka Sharma: The actress is in Jodhpur for one and half months to shoot for her debut production, NH 10. This means that she will have come down to Mumbai to just cast her vote or wait another five years.

Shaheen Parkar (MID-DAY; March 28, 2014)

At first sight, it appears to be a list of contestants for the reality show, Bigg Boss, rather than a list of candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

Several oddballs from B-Town have entered the fray, not only adding a certain colour to the polls, but also providing unlimited entertainment.

Politics and Bollywood always make for a heady mix.

Rakhi Sawant loves to spring surprises. The item girl sure did it when she suddenly announced her candidature from the Mumbai North West parliamentary constituency.

Standing as an independent candidate with the green chilli as her symbol, she is keen to spice up the political scene.

Recall Govinda getting jiggy in Tujhko Mirchi Lagi Toh Mein from the 1995 David Dhawan film, Coolie No 1? Don’t be surprised if Rakhi too breaks into a jig as a fitting reply to her detractors, especially Kamaal Rashid Khan, who will be contesting against her as the Samajwadi Party’s candidate.

On his part, he declares that he doesn’t care about his opposition. “It does not really matter to me if Rakhi Sawant is going to contest from the same constituency. All she will manage is about a 1,000 votes from the 1.7 million voters in the area.” For the Mumbai North West seat, Congress veteran Gurudas Kamat is pitted against Gajanan Kirtikar of the Shiv Sena, besides Aam Aadmi Party’s Mayank Gandhi and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena’s filmmaker- turned-politician Mahesh Manjrekar.

Adding to this mix are Rakhi and Kamaal.

The Deshdrohi producer (Kamaal R Khan) has already declared on social media, “Most famous 2 constituencies are # Varanasi• # NorthwestMumbai today• credit goes to Modi Kejriwal KRK Manjrekar• Rakhi. (sic)”

While announcing her candidature, Rakhi claimed, “I have been virtually mobbed by people demanding that I should fight the election, so here I am. I was offered a BJP ticket from Srirampur in West Bengal. But I am from Mumbai and I know Hindi and Marathi. I don’t know the local language of Bengal, so why should I stand from there?” she said.

“My aim is to ensure women’s safety. I don’t want Mumbai to become like Delhi. I want to arrange for selfdefence classes for women, so that they can protect themselves,” she stated. The item girl’s detractors say that when she realised that she wouldn’t get a ticket from Mumbai, she decided to go solo.

On Women’s Day, Rakhi had distributed dustbins to vegetable vendors and slumdwellers.

On March 9, she claimed she was manhandled when she visited a school at Lokhandwala to check on her name in the electoral list.

Rakhi then visited Agra where she met Jain priest Pulak Sagar to seek his blessings. Clearly, she wanted God on her side as she embarked on a new phase in her life.