Indian election: Choosing Gleam over nation

While the Indians are in the midst of fulfilling their responsibility of choosing their next country leaders, some Indian film stars chose gleam over the fate of their nation. Business of Cinema reported that most of the Indian movie stars have chosen to attend the 15th International Indian Film Academy Awards (IIFA) and give their roles as voters a miss. Actors Vivek Oberoi, Shahid Kapoor have already landed in Florida leaving Sonakshi Sinha, Saif Ali Khan, Imtiaz Ali, Shabana Azmi, Javed Akhtar, Shankar Mahadevan and Rakyesh Omprakash Mehra whom were spotted at the Mumbai airport leaving to Florida, Wednesday night. Kapoor along with Farhan Akhtar will host the awards. But the “Bhaag Mikha Bhaag’ actor Akhtar, was one of the early birds to cast his vote in Mumbai.

Akhtar who spoke about the discrepancies at his polling station, said to the Bollywood Mantra, “Many at my polling station saying their names are not on the list. They voted the last time but can’t this time. Been turned away.” The actor added, “These discrepancies are really sad and are a denial of their democratic right. Someone needs to look into it. Where did their vote go? Saif, who will be hosting the Technical Awards, will also have to skip casting his vote. Saif’s spokesperson said the star is legally bound by a contract to IIFA and could not cancel his trip.

National Award winner Vidya Balan who was among the early voters at the Lok Sabha Polls in Mumbai, told media, “It’s my responsibility to vote…To point fingers at others and (if) I face a problem, I need to have this on my finger,” she said while displaying her inked finger after casting her vote at a Chembur booth. Famous stars like Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan, Deepika Padukone, Aamir Khan, Sonam Kapoor and Ranbir Kapoor will make a late arrival at Tampa Bay, as they will attend the awards only after the elections.

Meanwhile, Southern acting legends Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan were among the early voters in Chennai. Rajinikanth, was the first to cast his vote at the Stella Maris College polling booth. Kamal Haasan, who was accompanied by his companion Gauthami, an actress, told reporters that ‘I have done my bit.’