Hema Malini admits that she was clueless when she first came into politics. Hema quit her academic education after 11th standard to follow her passion for dancing. While performing at different classical dance events in Chennai, she began getting film offers. She made her Bollywood debut opposite Raj Kapoor in Sapnon Ke Saudagar. With that film, a star was born! Hema worked with all the top actors in Bollywood and delivered many hit films in her career. Later, she transitioned into politics, but that was a decision she didn’t make for herself.
It was actor Vinod Khanna who introduced her to politics. When she was unconvinced about jumping into a new profession, it was her mother who motivated her. In an exclusive interview with Bharathi S Pradhan, the veteran actress recalled how Vinod Khanna pushed her into politics and she had no choice but to swim in order to come out of it. She said, “He was contesting from Gurdaspur so he wanted me to campaign for him. I was like, I don’t know. Then again, my mother was like, you have to do it. I said why is it that you want me to do things every time. I said, “What do I know about politics? I have no interest at all.”
“She was a big fan of Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ji. She convinced that I must campaign as it is his party. She had a beautiful liking for that party and all those leaders. I was like, “What am I going to speak?” So she wrote a beautiful speech for me. She was excellent in Hindi. So, I gave those speeches and Vinod Khanna helped me. Then everyone came after me. Then they gave me Rajya Sabha also. I was nominated for 5-6 years. My God! What an experience meeting all those big shots!” Hema added.
The Baghban actress said, “I felt that what am I doing here? But when you are there, you have to learn. Many people used to come and help me. They told me the topics on which I should talk. Then I started liking it so much because there are so many things like the economy and whatever is happening in our nation. When you are in films, you are only concentrating on your acting and the roles you do. That’s all! You are not looking into the other side of life. So, I started understanding how people are suffering and how people are looting. So, I took an interest and decided that I would contest from Mathura.”
Hema Malini is currently serving as a member of Lok Sabha representing Mathura constituency since 2014. She was a member of Rajya Sabha from Karnataka from 2011 to 2012.
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