Actors Akhil Akkineni, Shriya Saran, Prabhudheva and Sophie Choudry, among a list of others, reportedly performing for a fundraiser is not really interesting, but when Donald Trump (who is in the news for his derogatory comments against women and his stance on immigrants) will be attending the event, everyone sits up and takes notice.
Businessman Shalabh Kumar who supported Trump by pumping close to six crore into his campaign, has invited south Indian and Bollywood actors to perform at a fundraiser, where Trump will be addressing 10,000 Indians during the event. This act is raising eyebrows.
Two years ago, when celebrities danced at the Saifai Mahotsav in UP, they were subjected to tremendous backlash, because the celebration was hosted at a time when the Muzaffarnagar riot victims weren’t even rehabilitated fully. Actors in their defense, said they weren’t ‘aware’ of the victims’ situation.
So, why then do actors perform at an ill-timed event such as the Saifai Mahotsav or at an event where a politician, in the centre of a storm (take Trump for instance) is set to address the crowd?
Just doing their job
Shiv Visvanathan, sociologist and author of the book Debating Gandhi, throws some light.
“There are several ways to look at this. Most of the actors take up such events because the money is good and after all, they are just doing their job. If I invited you to perform at a wedding and the pay is good, would you be bothered with what political party I identify with or would you consider the pay and perform?” asks Shiv, adding, “It all boils down to just one thing — one has to be more careful with their choices.”
When Shalabh Kumar was in the country for the press conference, Akhil Akkineni, in a video, spoke about how excited he was about his performance.
But, Akhil still maintains that he was doing this show because it was his job. “The first time I met Shalabh Kumar was at the press conference. For me, this entire performance is just my job. My manager got me the project and I said yes, also because the funds were going to be used to help Kashmiri Pandits and that interested me. Just because I am performing there, doesn’t mean I support Trump,” says Akhil, continuing, “I also confirmed that Trump is not associated with the organising committee.”
For most actors, apart from movies, it is performing at such events, that keeps them in the memory of the public.
Money, relationships and influence
Author Sriram Karri believes that there are three things that influence the decision of an actor to perform at such events — money, relationships and the influence. “Either the actor is getting paid very well, or the relationship with the politician will open up new ventures, and the politician’s influence will take them places. Look at Bollywood, there was a time where the industry stood by Dawood Ibrahim, because he funded films. If you were in his good books, you could get work, if not, you wouldn’t,” he explains.
Politically unaware
Alia Bhatt, who also performed at the Saifai event, later expressed her ‘regrets’ about ‘being politically unaware’ and how she was ‘unaware about the situation (of the riot victims)’, but Karri believes otherwise. “In today’s time and age, where information is available everywhere, ignorance is not an excuse.”
