Actors Akhil Akkineni, Shriya Saran, Prabhudheva, Sophie Choudhry 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 on women and his stance on immigrants) will be attending that event, everyone sits up and takes notice.
Businessman Shalabh Kumar who supported Trump by pumping close to Rs 6 crore into his campaign, has invited Tollywood and Bollywood actors to perform at a fundraiser, where Trump, will be addressing 10,000 Indians during the event, it raised eyebrows.
Two years back, 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 defence, 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 for a good cause 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 politicians 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 Sriram believes otherwise. “In today’s time and age, where information is available everywhere, ignorance is not an excuse.”
