I think they join the politics when left with nothing else to do. I also think that they do nothing but make a mess of everything. Examples- Shatrughan Sinha, Raj Babbar, Rekhs, Jaya Bhaduri, Amitabh Bacchan, Rekha, Hema Malini and the list goes on... Let's see what Rajanikant or Kamal Hasan do as politician.

The film stars and other celebrities are used to always being in the limelight, with few honorable exceptions of course. and so when there career ends, the absence of the public spotlight on them diminishes and so they find their way into politics as what better way than politics to stay in the public views! I personally feel that the entire structure of politics should be changed drastically and only those people who have some kind of qualification and career of administrative nature should be allowed to enter politics.

Kalyani Nandurkar wrote:

The film stars and other celebrities are used to always being in the limelight, with few honorable exceptions of course. and so when there career ends, the absence of the public spotlight on them diminishes and so they find their way into politics as what better way than politics to stay in the public views! I personally feel that the entire structure of politics should be changed drastically and only those people who have some kind of qualification and career of administrative nature should be allowed to enter politics.

Yes it right most of film start join politics when they have no work. Some time political parties nominate them in Rajaya Sabha to get benefit of their stardom. At present Heme malini is MP of BJP but in  public meeting she never speak of problems or about party agenda, she speaks dialouge of her  films. You are right that entire structure of politics should be changed but it is not easy. The only and only one qualification for candidates, who can won election.

While I totally agree that anybody wanting to enter politics should have certain basic minimum qualifications , not all the very qualified brains have been successful and able leaders ...prime example are Manmohan Singh and P Chidambaram , now facing corruption charges.

Also, there have been a handful of filmstars who have been good leaders . Jaya Lalitha, inspite of being corrupt did do a lot of good for Tamil Nadu . One can see it every where - good roads, easy loan facilities, amma canteens and so on. NT Ramrao, the very famous Telugu film star who founded the TDP was  also a good leader Sunil Dutt was an honest and committed leader but for his son , who wiped out all that he had achieved. 

usha manohar wrote:

While I totally agree that anybody wanting to enter politics should have certain basic minimum qualifications , not all the very qualified brains have been successful and able leaders ...prime example are Manmohan Singh and P Chidambaram , now facing corruption charges.

Also, there have been a handful of filmstars who have been good leaders . Jaya Lalitha, inspite of being corrupt did do a lot of good for Tamil Nadu . One can see it every where - good roads, easy loan facilities, amma canteens and so on. NT Ramrao, the very famous Telugu film star who founded the TDP was  also a good leader Sunil Dutt was an honest and committed leader but for his son , who wiped out all that he had achieved. 

That is true..even the most well qualified leaders haven't been able to stay off corruption, power corrupts most people, no matter what their qualification is. However, I feel that it is not the qualification but there own personal mindset and willpower that is to blame. In spite of this, there is no dearth of honest leaders eg. Parrikar, Suresh Prabhu, Devendra Fadnavis and others. Jayalalitha indeed did a lot of good for the people and yet could not abstain herself from amassing enormous wealth.

Celebrities and Politicians always remain in limelight. They both have followers and fan following. As Usha said, your previous background does not assure you to become a good politician. A might be a big superstar or a well learned person but yet you might fail as a politician. You might get the chance again and again because of your fan following but you fail to perform. On the other hand a person from modest background and less education might work well fro people because he/she wants to. It is not an issue if celebrities enter politics with a good motive to serve. But most of the time it is not so. They just do it to stay in limelight or influence voters. They have no intention of public interest and service. That is the main issue. 

usha manohar wrote:

While I totally agree that anybody wanting to enter politics should have certain basic minimum qualifications , not all the very qualified brains have been successful and able leaders ...prime example are Manmohan Singh and P Chidambaram , now facing corruption charges.

Also, there have been a handful of filmstars who have been good leaders . Jaya Lalitha, inspite of being corrupt did do a lot of good for Tamil Nadu . One can see it every where - good roads, easy loan facilities, amma canteens and so on. NT Ramrao, the very famous Telugu film star who founded the TDP was  also a good leader Sunil Dutt was an honest and committed leader but for his son , who wiped out all that he had achieved. 

Film start also citizen of India, they have right to join politics. Some film star join politics when they have not any work in Industry. Sunil Dutt was a patriotism person. He made Ajanta group to entertain soldiers on border during China war.

As many have already mentioned earlier, most of those celebrities who became politicians have not done any good for the public. But they are not the only one to be blamed, I actually blame the public. Most of the public get carried away by the presence of these film stars and celebrities. They don't question whether these celebrities have done any sort of social services to the public before casting their vote.

I think the film stars and popular figures coming from various other fields like sports feel that public would support them irrespective of what they do. The latest examples are Navjot Singh Siddhu and Shatrughan Sinha behaving so childish just because they were not given a ministerial seat. I don't think there shouldn't be any quota for sportsmen, film stars or other eminent personalities in the politics even if they have a mass appeal due to their achievements in their own field.