Actor Vivek Oberoi has been in news for a lot of reasons. From portraying the role of PM Narendra Modi in his upcoming film, doing a poster launch event with Union Minister Nitin Gadkari, and his recent press briefings, all have hinted at his keen interest in politics, triggering speculation that the actor may join politics ( BJP) soon.
Oberoi, however, dismissed the rumours. The actor, who has been a vocal supporter of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has said he has no plans to shift to politics.
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To a specific query if he wanted to join politics, Vivek told IANS: “No. In 2004, I was offered my first ticket as a Member of Parliament. It has been five times since then including the by-elections. I have been offered the MP ticket from regional and national parties, but I’ve said no.”
“Who wants to be an MP when you can be PM on-screen,” added the actor, whose film on the PM’s life is releasing on May 24.
The release of the PM biopic was stopped just a day before its scheduled date on April 11 when the Lok Sabha polls kicked off, to ensure a level playing field in the elections.
“We finished filming the biopic in just 38 days and the Election Commission (EC) delayed us by 40 days to release it. It took us longer to release the film than to make it. But it’s all in the past now,” Oberoi added.
On Monday, the actor was called out by netizens and fellow actors for posting an election meme that compared the poll results with Aishwarya Rai Bachchan’s relationships status at different points of time. The National Commission for Women and the Maharashtra Commission for Women issued notice to the actor for this, demanding a “satisfactory explanation to the commission on the matter on receipt of this notice.”
PM Narendra Modi has been called a propaganda film and several political parties had sought a stay on the film’s release till the polls were over. Oberoi said politics should not play spoilsport for cinema.
“I just feel that if they focused a little bit more on the work at hand, serving the people which they are supposed to rather than doing all this nonsense… If you did your work, then you would not have to run around doing all this… The appreciation comes with the work you do,” said the 42-year-old actor.