Always be who you are unless you can be a Bollywood hero. Then be a Bollywood hero.

Strategists of politicians trawling for votes certainly seem to think so. There’s Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat with six pack abs in a version of Baahubali that will not set the box-office on fire, and, now, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav as the hero in a new look Raees.

Even though morphing the faces of political leaders into those of Bollywood heroes may not have been commissioned by the parties themselves, the poorly edited videos are delightful, if not effective.

And so the video below starts with Akhilesh Yadav’s footage in sync with Shah Rukh Khan’s thuggish dialogues.

Advertisement

What follows is the hilarious entry and exit of familiar faces from the Samajwadi Party, such as Dimple Yadav, Mulayam Sngh Yadav, Shivpal Yadav, and its ally, the Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.

Prime Narendra Narendra Modi’s face replaces that of Nawazuddin Siddiqui, the policeman in the film who coldly remarks, “Zyada ooncha mat ud, kat jayega.” (Don’t soar too high, you’ll fall flat.)

Raees is such a hit that animators couldn’t resist replacing Shah Rukh Khan’s face with that of Modi’s, who is a former chief minister of Gujarat. After all, that’s where the film is set. “Gujarat ke hawa mein vyapar hai saheb.” (Business is borne on the very air of Gujarat, sir.)

Advertisement

For good measure, the video below throws Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and business tycoon Mukesh Ambani into the mix along with Modi.

“Ammi jaan kehti thi koi dhanda chhota nahin hota, aur dhandhe se bada koi dharm nahi hota.” (Ammi says no business is too small and nothing is bigger than business.)

Youtube Channel Pati Patni Noke Joke thought that this line from Raaes would be an apt one from Rahul Gandhi’s perspective. Gandhi’s nemesis here is seen to be Modi, who, even after being morphed twice in different roles, doesn’t fail to generate laughter.