'Neta Abhineta' highlights Bollywood's muted and opportunist politics

This is the kind of book you may pick up at an airport but not feel guilty if you don't finish it

In 1961, J B Kripalani delivered a devastating speech in the Lok Sabha criticising Defence Minister V K Krishna Menon. This bout was to be replayed in the subsequent year when both contested against each other for the North Bombay constituency. For Jawaharlal Nehru, this was a matter of prestige, for Krishna Menon was his confidant, and he launched Menon’s campaign himself. Nehru followed this up with references to this battle in his speeches in Sangli, Poona and Baroda as well. 

Rasheed Kidwai’s book, Neta Abhineta: Bollywood Star Power in Indian Politics, reveals that the prime minister even placed a long-distance