Children of Indian lawmakers find stardom outside politics

New Delhi: Parents can have a strong influence on their children. And the power they wield can sway many, especially the offspring of politicians. But there are others, who despite being the progeny of political heavyweights, have preferred to ignore the pull of political supremacy and carved their own path.

Incidentally, some of them have chosen the entertainment industry as their career and made a foray into films. The most prominent names among them are Riteish Deshmukh, and Arunoday Singh and hitherto lesser known include Chirag Paswan and Ajith Antony. All of them have given politics the cold shoulder and struggled to find a slot in Bollywood.

On the other hand, ignoring politics and shunning the limelight as well, Perilla, daughter of Narbahadur Bhandari, ex-chief minister of Sikkim, has possibly become the only Indian woman captain in the US Marines. Perilla has been in action in three combat zones, including Iraq, and has received number of awards including Soldier of the Year 2004, Logistics Warrior and Military Leadership Award.

RITEISH DESHMUKH

Riteish Deshmukh is the son of former chief minister of Maharashtra Vilasrao Deshmukh. Before joining the Hindi film industry, 44-years-old Riteish worked as an architect on obtaining a degree from the Kamla Raheja Vidyanidhi Institute for Architecture and Environment Studies in Mumbai. He practiced for a year with an overseas architectural firm and on return became associated with Evolutions, a Mumbai-based architectural and design firm. He entered the film industry in 2003 with a romantic film Tujhe Meri Kasam. Paired opposite Genelia D’Souza, the two became close friends and after a courtship of eight years, married in 2012.

Riteish’s other films include, Masti, for which he was nominated for the Filmfare Award for the Best Supporting Actor in 2004, Namastey London, Apna Sapna Money Money, Heyy Babyy, Kya Kool Hain Hum, Housefull 2 and Double Dhamaal. Despite having done varied roles, Riteish has been on record saying he would never accept the role of a corrupt politician. Identifying politicians with his father, who expired last year, the actor feels that filmmakers have not been able to reveal the soul of politics and have never glorified the better part of politics.

ARUNODAY SINGH

Grandson of late Congress veteran leader Arjun Singh and son of Ajay Singh, senior Congress leader from Madhya Pradesh, 30-year-old Arunoday Singh has made his presence felt in films including Sikander (2009), Aisha (2010), Yeh Saali Zindagi (2011) and Jism (2012). Born at Churhat in Madhya Pradesh, Arunoday studied at a boarding school in Kodaikanal and later studied at the Brandeis University in the US.

Fond of theatre from school days, he is known to have taken a decision to become an actor after watching Marlon Brando in On the Waterfront. Seeing his interest in acting, he was sent to the New York Film Academy and thereafter enrolled in the Acting Studio in New York. Soon after he began giving auditions and was chosen to play a Kashmiri terrorist in Sikandar. In Anil Kapoor’s home production Aisha, an adaptation of Jane Austen’s novel Emma, Aronoday was paired with Sonam Kapoor. His performance in Yeh Saali Zindagi earned him a nomination for best actor in supporting role at the 18th Screen Awards.

RAHUL MAHAJAN

Born with a golden spoon, 38-year-old Rahul Mahajan is the son of Bharatiya Janata Party leader Pramod Mahajan, a charismatic leader, known for his pleasant demeanour. In a real life drama, Pramod was shot by his brother Pravin at his residence in Mumbai and died of wounds 12 days later in June 2006. Just as there were rumours of his son being inducted into the BJP to follow his father’s footsteps, life took a filmi turn for Rahul. The Delhi Police on charges of drug possession and consumption arrested him.

Freed on bail, soon after he got married to Shweta Singh. The two had known each other for 13 years, while they were in a flying school together in the US. But just a year later, Shweta filed for divorce on grounds of incompatibility. Amidst various twists and turns in life, Rahul, participated in the television reality show Bigg Boss-2, followed by Rahul Dulhaniya Le Jayega, where he went on to marry Dimpy Ganguly, a Bengali model and actress, who was one of the 17 participants on the programme. Ever since, he has been seen on television shows and has shown no inclination towards politics.

UDAYNIDHI STALIN

Grandson of M Karunanidhi, ex-chief minister of Tamil Nadu and son of M K Stalin, ex-deputy chief minister of Tamil Nadu, Udaynidhi is a Tamil film actor and producer. The movies produced under his Red Giant Movies banner include, Kuruvi, Aadhavan, Manmadan Ambu and Ezham Arivu. Not just content with production, he went into distribution of movies – Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa, Madrasapattinam, Boss Engira Bhaskaran and Mynaa. And then debuted as an actor last year in Oru Kal Oru Kannadi. The successful film released in Tamil was later dubbed into Telugu. It also stars Hindi film actress Hansika Motwani.

Interestingly, Udaynidhi is married to Kiruthiga, editor of lifestyle magazine Inbox 1305. Kiruthiga, who used to write stories and screenplays in her free time, turned her passion towards directing a full-length movie. Her directorial debut Vanakkam Chennai, a fun-filled entertainer, is being produced under the home banner Red Giant.

SIDDHARTH TYTLER

Fashion know-how came to Congress Party leader Jagdish Tytler’s son Siddharth, quite naturally. Siddharth has loathed politics and terms it as an ugly business, Having absolutely no intentions of ever joining politics, his abhorrence to the profession can be gauged by the fact when he said, “I don’t even vote, so this is how indifferent I am towards politics!”

Meanwhile, the father has never approved of his son’s career choice! Nevertheless, Siddharth has earned a name for himself in the fashion industry by becoming a designer, who is known for cuts and prints in his line of apparel. To hone his skills Siddharth headed off to National Institute of Fashion Technology, New Delhi, after graduating from St Columbus School in 1997. Thereafter, he went to the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York for further studies. Today, he stands tall among the country’s well-known designers and has held successful fashion shows in India and abroad.

CHIRAG PASWAN

Son of Lok Janshakti Party chief Ram Vilas Paswan, Chirag could not resist the power of glamour when he debuted in a Bollywood film Miley Na Miley Hum in 2011. During his growing up days, all Chirag dreamt of was films. He made no bones in declaring, “It’s my default that I come from a political background. But I always wanted to be an actor.” Fortunately, for Chirag, his father has been enthusiastic about his son becoming an actor. And it did not shock the family, as Chirag was associated with theatre since childhood and participated in school and college plays.

The actor admitted that having a heavyweight surname does help an easy entry into any field, but also maintained that if you don’t have the potential, no one will come to your rescue. His film, despite having three heroines, did not do well at the box office. But it does not irk Chirag, who is struggling to find a foothold in the film industry. Like sons of other politicians, Chirag too had campaigned for his father in the 2009 Lok Sabha and assembly elections and drew large crowds. But he failed to convert them into votes. Once done with films, he intends joining his father. Politics runs in the family.

AJITH ANTHONY

Son of Defence Minister A K Antony, Ajith is another celebrity kid, who having no connection with the film industry will be debuting in a Malayalam film Oberoi, slated for 2014 release. Interestingly, Ajith has also penned the screenplay for this movie. A strong movie enthusiast, he has been keen on films since childhood and approached director of Oberoi, Aji John on his own.

The 22-year-old arts graduate from St Stephen’s College, New Delhi said that initially when he told his father that he wanted to be a part of films, he was taken aback. But soon consented and gave his approval. Along with shooting, Ajith is also writing scripts for other films. Oberoi’s story revolves around two north Indian families, who are rivals in business and Ajith plays the son of one of the business tycoons. Confidently facing the camera, Ajith is sure the audience will appreciate his performance.

FLIP SIDE

There is also the interesting flip side. Prateek, the 25-year-old son of Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, had made a mark as a body-builder and showed no desire to join politics. But recently, he had a mind makeover. Prateek, presumably wants to follow his brother Akhilesh, chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, and has finally decided to entire politics. Ever since, party workers are quite upbeat and urging Mulayam Singh to let his younger son also contest in the next Lok Sabha elections.

Similarly, Tejaswi, son of former Chief Minister of Bihar Lalu Prasad, was a keen sportsperson. At a time when Tejaswi was pursuing a career in cricket, the father in his inimitable style had remarked that his son would one day play for the IPL. But if didn’t get a chance, at least he would be able to serve water to the cricketers! Tejaswi went on to represent Jharkhand in Ranji Trophy and Delhi Daredevils in the Indian Premier League. But for now, he is all set to follow his father’s footsteps and taken the plunge into full-time politics.