A sting operation recently exposed 36 Bollywood celebrities who agreed to spread the propaganda of political parties for money. The celebrities were caught on camera accepting the offer of speaking in favour of political parties on social media.

The media portal, Cobrapost, released a documentary film on the entire sting operation which they carried over a period of 3-4 months in 2018.

Advertisement

Actors Vivek Oberoi, Shakti Kapoor, Jackie Shroff, Amisha Patel, Mahima Chaudhary and Sonu Sood, and singers Kailash Kher, Abhijeet and Mika were a few of the prominent personalities of the entertainment industry who were seen agreeing to endorse the agenda of a political party.

The documentary titled Operation Karaoke was unveiled at Delhi Press Club on Tuesday in which actors, dancers, singers and models were caught accepting the offer for promoting political parties through hidden cameras.

The reporters, acting as agents working on behalf of the BJP, the Congress or the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) made an offer to pay 10-20 per cent of the agreed amount in cheque or bank transfer and the rest through cash, which the celebrities accepted.

Celebrities were offered Rs 2 lakh to Rs 50 lakh per message according to their brand value. Some celebrities even asked the ‘agents’ for up to Rs 20 crore citing the sway they hold on the Twitter-sphere.

Journalist and former Aam Aadmi Party member Ashutosh called these celebrities “paid syndicate mafia” during the press conference.

However, Vidya Balan, Raza Murad, Arshad Warsi and television actor Saumya Tandon were the only ones who refused the offer.

Cobrapost took to Twitter to reveal the names of the actors who straight away refused the offer, which increased the respect for them among the netizens.

Check out how Twitter is all praises for the four actors:

Respect !! #VidyaBalan , #ArshadWarsi ,#razamurad ,#saumyatandon https://t.co/RTMYIKCkS0

— Aftab Khan (@aftab_jmi) February 19, 2019

@vidya_balan @ArshadWarsi #RazaMurad @saumyatandon this country really need actors and citizens like you. Big Salute to you guys. https://t.co/hLWmU1EOVo

— Banarsi Babu (@iambanarsibabu) February 19, 2019

@saumyatandon @ArshadWarsi @vidya_balan were the few who didn’t got lured by the money. #Respect #BikaooBollywood https://t.co/nMk7DljciT

— Abhijeet Dipke (@abhijeet_dipke) February 19, 2019

Honestly infinite respect for @arshadwarsi and @vidya_balan so much integrity.

— SweetChaiOfMine (@RishInProgress) February 19, 2019

-With agency inputs