UP campaign: Bollywood 'tadka' adds zing to political speeches

Bollywood provided the perfect fodder for witty repartees this poll season as Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav and Rahul Gandhi used dialogues from superhit films Sholay, Bahubali and DDLJ to launch attacks on rivals.

The classic case was that of the Prime Minister asking if the SP-Cong tie up was a case of "Aa Gale Lag Ja", referring to a movie by that name while Rahul Gandhi said that Narendra Modi had set out to be SRK of DDLJ with his "achhe din" promise but ended up as "Gabbar" of Sholay.

Interestingly, the ruling Samajwadi Party's star campaigner Akhilesh Yadav has been depicted as the main protagonist in the state in spoofs of some Bollywood blockbusters.

The ball was set rolling by Rahul at an election meeting in the Congress pocket borough Rae Bareli on February 17 when he termed the Prime Minister's promises before the 2014 Lok Sabha elections and his alleged failure to keep them by referring to the iconic 'Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayange' and Gabbar Singh of 'Sholay'.

"You must have seen the movie 'Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge', have you? Do you remember it? In the film there is a promise of 'achhe din' (good days). But after two-and-a-half years what has come out is Gabbar Singh of 'Sholay'," he had said referring to the fearsome character modelled on a real-life dacoit of the same name.

The Prime Minister also made references to films to drive home his point.

In Mau, from where mafia-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari is contesting as BSP nominee from jail, Modi had referred to the magnum opus 'Bahubali' when he asked "Katappa ney bahubali ko kyun maara".

"There is a movie called Bahubali. Katappa, a character in the film, destroyed everything of Bahubali. This man with a stick (referring to BJP's ally Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party election symbol on the dais next to him) has this power. This stick is sufficient. This is the stick of law and will show its power on March 11," Modi had stressed.

Earlier too, Modi had cited the example of a film "Aa Gale Lag Jaa" to make his point.

Targeting the SP-Congress "unusual friendship" which came through after Congress' campaign '27 saal, UP behaal', Modi asked in his inimitable style, "What happened ...