Deshmukh and Bollywood Inc

The lowdown on former Maharashtra CM Vilasrao Deshmukh’s Bollywood connections

MUMBAI ~ Bollywood and politicians not only don’t make strange bedfellows, it’s often the other way round. But even by the standards of that mutual yearning, the links of Union Science and Technology Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh’s family to the entertainment industry are unusual.

Deshmukh’s eldest son Amit is married to Aditi Ghorpade, a former leading lady of the well known Marathi soap Kunku. The couple tied the knot when Aditi was at the peak of her career. Deshmukh’s wife Vaishali was a fan of the serial and keen that her son marries Aditi.

Second son Ritesh turned actor, a career no doubt bolstered by the family name. He recently got hitched to Bollywood actress Genelia D’Souza. Almost immediately after, third son Dhiraj married well-known producer Vashu Bhagnani’s daughter. 

The Bollywood connection has not always served Deshmukh well. Right after the Mumbai terror attacks on 26 November 2008, he lost his job as Chief Minister for taking director Ram Gopal Varma along during an official visit to the Taj Mahal Hotel and Palace at Apollo Bunder. Now, he might lose his job yet again for helping another ‘good friend’ Subhash Ghai procure prime land in Film City at Goregaon at extremely low rates. Ghai set up his acting school Whistling Woods here. The Bombay High Court has directed Ghai to return the land to the state and shift his school elsewhere. Strictures passed against Deshmukh, who was the State’s Chief Minister then, will be tough to shrug off both in court and in Sonia Gandhi’s darbar .

As it happens, Deshmukh’s tenure in the Rajya Sabha is also coming to an end. The buzz in political circles is that Rahul Gandhi is not in favour of granting Deshmukh another term. It doesn’t look as if a happy Bollywood ending is part of this saga’s script.

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Haima Deshpande