The earliest to turn up for voting was actor Varun Dhawan with his filmmaker father David Dhawan. The two arrived at St Joseph High School, Juhu, at around 11am to cast their ballot. “My father always encouraged me to vote. It is important for everyone to vote,” Dhawan told The Free Press Journal while posing for selfies with polling staff, police and young voters.
Actor and former BJP MP Paresh Shah also voted in Juhu and demanded action against those who don’t exercise their franchise. “All those who don’t vote should be punished and additional taxes should be levied on them,” the veteran actor said.
Actors Amitabh and Jaya Bachchan visited Jamnabai Narsee School in Juhu at 4pm. Big B showed his identity to the polling official and waited patiently for his turn to enter the EVM booth. The couple later thanked the polling staff and policemen before leaving.
Their daughter-in-law, actor Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, came 40 minutes earlier to the same booth and stood patiently in queue with fellow actor Sonakshi Sinha.
Actors Shahid Kapoor, Sanya Malhotra, Rajkumar Rao and Janhvi Kapoor, Anupam Kher, Suniel Shetty, Ranbir Kapoor, music composer Shankar Mahadevan, Prem Chopra with son-in-law Sharman Joshi, Shah Rukh with wife Gauri Khan, Saif Ali Khan with wife Kareena Kapoor, Rekha, Kiara Advani, Gulshan Grover, Bhumi Pednekar and Sanjay Dutt were spotted at various polling centres across Bandra and Andheri.
Aamir Khan made a quick trip to Mumbai from Delhi, where he is shooting for his next Sitaare Zameen Par, to join Kiran Rao and first-time voters children Ira and Junaid. “This is the biggest festival and everyone should vote as you will get this opportunity after five years. If you haven’t voted then you have no right to complain,” actor Manoj Bajpayee said after casting his ballot.
Bollywood power couple and parents-to-be Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh also exercised their right to vote while cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar and star batter Suryakumar Yadav voted early afternoon.
Khiladi Akshay Kumar voted early in Juhu. “I want my India to be developed and strong. I voted, keeping that in mind. India should vote for what they deem is right… I think voter turnout will be good,” the action star said.
Siblings actor Farhan Akhtar and director Zoya Akhtar show their inked fingers after casting their votes. Veteran actor and former parliamentarian Dharmendra and daughter Esha Deol also voted followed by Hrithik Roshan with his parents. Anil Kapoor was next to arrive to vote and said, “I have cast my vote. All citizens of India should vote.”
Salman Khan voted late evening amid tight police security at Mount Mary, Bandra.
