Urmila Matondkar says people feel ‘you have to be dumb, clueless’ to join politics as an actress

Actress Urmila Matondkar is among the few Bollywood celebrities who have joined politics and even contested elections. Recalling how people reacted to her decision, she recently revealed that the verdict was passed on her. In her words, when she announced her decision, the whole thing went ‘buzz’.

In March 2019 Urmila joined the Indian National Congress and contested Lok Sabha Elections. She lost the election, and after that in the same year, Urmila resigned from Congress and in December 2020, she joined Shiv Sena.

Talking about the judgment passed on her, Urmila suggested to Pinkvilla that all was ‘messed up’. She added, “Because suddenly this actress was… if you’re an actor, if you have a distinctly respectable face, if you’re recognized. To be this glamorous, you recognize a sex symbol, some tag that you call it. Want to, are you giving it all on a plate for them? And of course a woman, if it was once an actor she wouldn’t be now… So understandably, it’s a given element that makes you dumb, clueless and yes ‘what’s she doing’. Yet they assume that, trust me.”

Urmila shared how the media trashed her campaign during the elections and added, “So it was a joke on them, not so much on me because it was interesting. Even today I face it, and I face it, and now not only me, but many different women do too. I deal with it more because I’m an actor I guess. And I definitely want to make a change.”

The actor similarly credits her husband Mohsin Akhtar for being supportive of her political career, which was unexpected for her. Urmila will appear on zee TV’s reality show, Dance India Dance Super Moms to decide.