Popular Bollywood actor, Sunny Deol, best known for his 'Dhai Kilo Ka Haath' joined BJP on Tuesday, adding more star-power to the party.
Deol, whose step-mother Hema Malini is also a BJP leader and is contesting from Mathura, joined the BJP in the presence of defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman and railway minister Piyush Goyal. Speculation of the 'Gadar' star taking the political plunge had been doing the rounds since last week when Deol met BJP president Amit Shah at Pune airport.
"The way my father (film star Dharmendra) was attached with Atalji, today I have come to join Modiji… Whatever I can do for this family (BJP), I will do it... I won't talk, I will show you through my work," Deol said. Deol has been fielded from Gurdaspur in the ongoing Lok Sabha Elections.
Nirmala Sitharaman on his induction to the party said that "I am indeed very happy to receive firebrand popular, very committed to his art, young great artist from Bollywood Shri Sunny Deol."
"The moment we got to know that he is coming to the party, I can only relate to the film Border he had made, post which the impact on the Indian audience of such a theme was really proven... The feeling of nationalism and patriotism, when so beautifully evoked through a film, can really touch the core of Indian citizen," the Defence Minister further added.
#LIVE – I’m indeed very happy to receive a firebrand, popular, very committed to his art and great artist from Bollywood Sri Sunny Deol: Defence Minister @nsitharaman on Sunny Deol (@iamsunnydeol) joining @BJP4India. | #LokSabhaElections2019 #ElectionsWithNews18 pic.twitter.com/jSuSjNQPSY — News18 (@CNNnews18) April 23, 2019
Young artist?He is older to you! — Preesha Nath (@eagleeyes3112) April 23, 2019
Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman ji is happy to recieve Young artist who happens to be older than herself. Fact Check: Sunny Deol Age: 62 years DoB: October 19, 1956 Nirmala Sitharaman Age: 59 years DoB: August 18, 1959#RahulLieFactory pic.twitter.com/ByHgEAzCp2 — Desi Bhai | JUMLA Expert ?? (@DesiPoliticks) April 23, 2019
62 yrs ka young artist — Gabbbar (@GabbbarSingh) April 23, 2019
Sunny Deol at 62 is young. That makes me a teenager. — Anurag Shrivastava (@hrnext) April 24, 2019
Has India started considering 62-years old as young? — syed afzal hussain (@syedafzl) April 23, 2019
Young? Sunny Deol is himself 3 years older than Mrs Sitharaman. https://t.co/euefeWAXfC — Md Salim (@salimdotcomrade) April 23, 2019
Twitter questioning him being 'young,' also brings up a very glaring fact-- it isn't only politics which considers old male actors, 'young'. Bollywood does it too. In fact, the last movie Sunny Deol starred in, Bhaiaji Superhit had Preity Zinta as his love interest, who is 44 years old.
Don't think just 20 years is a wide-enough age-gap? In 2013 movie Singh Saab the Great, Sunny Deol was 56, and his co-star Urvashi Rautela was then 19. Do the math.
And it's not just Sunny Deol alone who has been cast in these movies with a huge-age gap.
In 1999, Amitabh Bachchan was cast opposite Manisha Koirala in the film Lal Badshah. Koirala was 29, Bachchan was 57. When Om Shanti Om released in 2007, Shah Rukh Khan was 41, Deepika Padukone 21. Sonam Kapoor, then 29, played the romantic interest of Salman Khan, then 49 in Prem Ratan Dhan Payo. In an interview, Khan joked that it was strange to romance his friend's daughters.
So, Nirmala Sitharaman isn't the only one who thinks Sunny Deol is 'young.' In fact, if you ask Bollywood filmmakers, they'll probably give him another ten years at least.