Vishal Dadlani’s tweet against Delhi Lt. Governor and Bollywood’s newfound political consciousness

So, you must have thought, what ‘glamour’ has to do with ‘good governance’. I mean, the bevy of beauties and the handsome hunks we see in Bollywood, do they give a fig about how petrol price hike is going to affect our daily life, or whether our laws are adequate to save our daughters, or how hours of power cut in summer make our life hell, or for that matter the Parliament sitting mum on a very pertinent issue that is pivotal to the common man of this country?

With a high-end lifestyle and all that jazz, the tinsel town projects an imagery of its own that is way above where we live in— the reality.

But don’t judge them just because one in that entire filmdom doesn’t know who the Chief Minister of their state is.

Of late, their open thrashing of the government at any fault tells us how serious their involvement is in the state-of-affairs.

Sample the recent tweet by musician-singer Vishal Dadlani:

No, Mr. Jung, you are NOT the government of Delhi, because the people of Delhi did NOT elect you. What you are, Sir, is a shameless flunky!

— VISHAL DADLANI (@VishalDadlani) July 22, 2015

It needs more than just guts to call a Lt Governor a “flunky” (Let’s make it explicit we don’t encourage bad-mouthing, neither do we think such words can serve the people of India when the government fails). We are looking at the eagerness of the film industry and how readily it reacts when the Lieutenant Governor of the national capital claims that he is Delhi’s government and cancels the appointment of the new head of the Delhi Commission for Women.

We understand Dadlani being an avid AAP supporter, it didn’t go down well with him. But let’s not get into politics. Let’s just see how celebrities, who were hitherto confined to the periphery of acting, music and dance and everything rosy, are keeping tabs on the powers that be.

Here are a few examples when they made no bones about it, be it the government’s beef ban or the craziness of the #SelfieWithDaughter campaign:

Dear Govt. With beef, let's ban teeth. We can live on vegetable smoothies and this way your politicians can't make hate speeches anymore

— Vir Das (@thevirdas) March 3, 2015

FYI- I said it's great to create awareness. Just needs an expensive phone to implement it et al. pic.twitter.com/Uq4FD7u7cj

— RichaChadha (@RichaChadha_) July 20, 2015

Shruti Seth too tweeted: “A selfie is not a device to bring about change Mr. PM Try reform. #selfieobsessedPM.”

When Mumbai rains lashed hard, actress Neha Dhupia didn’t flinch to lash out at the government.

One rain n the city comes to a standstill. Good governance is not about selfies n makin us do yoga,it's making sure ur citizens r safe.

— Neha Dhupia (@NehaDhupia) July 21, 2015

This intensive engagement certainly contests our belief that ‘glam and good governance shall never meet’.

Being so outright on Twitter and its social media networking peers can also be a publicity stunt, which history says is a favorite pastime of our celebs. However, we are just looking at the bright side of this celebs-bashing-the-government trend.

So, there’s a Big Boss that is keeping an eye on the Big Daddy– the powers that be!

No doubt, they are rising above their image. And if you thought, they are just the face of some classy beauty products and sell only at box offices, think twice.

Also read:

Opinion: Is abusing and threatening women in keeping with the #SelfieWithDaughter campaign?

Did PM Narendra Modi insult India? Well, some people think so!

Shruti Seth’s open letter: A slap in the face of those who abused her using #SelfieWithDaughter