Urmila Matondkar says people feel ‘you have to be dumb, clueless’ to join politics as an actress: ‘Even today I face it’

Actor Urmila Matondkar is among the few Bollywood celebrities who joined the politics and even contested elections. Recalling how people reacted to her decision, she recently revealed that there were judgements made on her. In her words, everything ‘went baloney’ when she announced her decision. (Also read: Urmila says Rangeela success was credited to her sex appeal, not acting talent)

Urmila joined the Indian National Congress in March 2019 contested the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections. After loosing the election, later in the same year, Urmila resigned from Congress citing ‘internal politics.’ In December 2020, she joined Shiv Sena.

Talking about judgements made on her, Urmila told Pinkvilla that all the ‘mess went loose.’ She added, “Because there was suddenly this actress… if you are an actor, if you have a pretty decent face, if you are known to be this one glamorous, you know a sex symbol, whatever the tags you want to call it, you are giving it all on a platter for them right? And of course a woman, if it was an actor maybe he would have not been… So it is understood, it’s a given thing you have to be dumb, clueless, and yea ‘what the hell she is doing’. They still do think that, trust me on that.”

Urmila narrated how media covered her campaign during the election and added, “So that itself was a joke on them, not on me as much because it was interesting. Even today I face it even now, and I will continue to face it, and so do many other women, not just me. I face it more because I am an actor I guess. And I really do want to make a change.”

The actor further credited her husband Mohsin Akhtar for being supportive of her political career, which was unexpected for her. Urmila will be appearing as a judge on Zee TV’s reality show, Dance India Dance Super Moms.